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Keeping the Right People
Performance Management
Designing a Well-Crafted Performance Management Form
The performance management form is a tool for guiding and documenting a discussion between the manager and employee about the employee's performance over the past year. A good performance management process can be undermined by a poorly designed appraisal form. It is therefore important that the form you use is developed carefully.
Components of a performance management form
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You should have the following sections in your performance management form: |
Below is more detailed information about what to include in each section.
a) Identifying information
- Employee's name
- Job title
- Review period
- Supervisor's name
- Date of review
b) Instruction section
Include some brief instructions on what is to be done, why, and how to complete the performance management form such as:
"Please refer to the performance management guidebook for more information and instructions regarding the annual performance review process."
- or -
"The performance management form is designed to guide the manager and employee in documenting the employee's results in comparison to the agreed upon objectives. Please follow the instructions for each section."
c) Performance objectives and measures
In this section of the form, document the performance objectives identified in the work plan and the measures to be used to assess achievement. Some formats include the objectives and the measures together; other forms (like the one below) separate the objective and its measures.
List the objectives in their order of importance, with the most important listed first. |
Example:
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d) Competencies
If your organization has a performance management process which combines management-by-objectives with an evaluation of competencies, include them here. Examples of competencies are team work, effective communication, and problem solving.
To view competencies associated with some of the common jobs in non-profit/ voluntary organizations, see the HR Management Toolkit's section on job descriptions.
For example:
Members of a special events planning team have an overall goal of planning the event and carrying it out as scheduled. However, if the members are to be effective in planning the event and in working together after the event, they also need to demonstrate effective teamwork skills. The aim is not to get the event planned at any cost; instead the aim is to get the event planned and preserve the working relationships after the event is over.
Example:
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e) Clear rating scales
Performance management forms often (but not always) include rating scales to help guide and simplify the assessment process. However, poorly constructed rating scales can be a source of confusion, subjectivity, ambiguity and conflict - all of which undermine the performance management process.
One of the aims of a good performance management process is to produce a reliable assessment - this means that consistent ratings need to be given for the same performance over time and with different raters.
To increase the reliability of rating scales:
- Avoid language that may be inflammatory
- Use words that are not open to interpretation, if possible
- For words that are open to interpretation, provide definitions and examples to clarify what is meant
- Use simple rating scales
For Key Work Objectives a rating scale like the following one is simple and can guide the discussion between the manager and the employee:
| 1. Exceeded objective | 2. Met objective | 3. Did not meet objective |
For Key Competencies (and any other behavioural measures) consider a frequency scale like this one:
| 1. Almost always | 2. Frequently | 3. Sometimes | 4. Seldom | 5. Almost never |
The reliability of this type of frequency scale can be improved by defining the percentage of time for each point on the scale. For example: "Almost always" could mean 95% - 100% of the time.
f) Employee training and development plan
As part of the performance planning process, the manager and employee may have identified areas for further training and/or development, as well as the types of activities that the employee could engage in. Document the expectations for training and development in the performance management form. At the end of the year, document the results of the learning activities.
Example:
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g) Sign-off section
End your form with an area for the manager's and emloyee's signatures.
The signatures should come after a statement which indicates that 'by signing, both parties are acknowledging that they have read and discussed the contents of the performance review form.' This allows the performance management cycle for one year to come to a close and the cycle for the next year to begin.
Make sure the employee understands that, by signing, s/he does not have to agree with all the comments made in the assessment.
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