Poorly planned and executed appraisals are costing the UK economy over £2 billion.
This is according to Talent Q, a people assessment company that says just 58 per cent of the UK’s 29 million-strong workforce receive a formal appraisal.
The research found that where good appraisals are conducted, followed by effective development planning, productivity rose by 2.7 per cent, whilst quality of service also soared by 11 per cent.
Talent Q offer the following reasons for badly managed appraisals:
- Managers viewing appraisal as a ‘chore’ rather than a useful activity to manage the performance of their people.
- Due to a lack of commitment to the process, managers do not implement appraisal thoroughly across all of their people.
- The objectives of the appraisal are not clear or appropriate, either for the company or the employee.
- Managers not preparing in advance or allowing time for the employee to prepare.
- Appraisal discussions are one-sided, with the employee unable to contribute their point of view.
- Managers fudging results either to make themselves look good to their own senior managers, or to ‘be kind’ to the employee.
Alan Bourne, director of Talent Q, said: “Appraisal systems are often well-designed by the HR function but fall down when handed over to be implemented by managers who have not been engaged and don’t buy in to the process. A bad appraisal does nothing for morale or productivity, and works against the goals of the organisation.”
