How to Motivate Leaders to Conduct Evaluations

The key to ensuring employees remain motivated to improve their performance is that leaders themselves must also be motivated to conduct thorough performance reviews

 

Managers must depend on the performance of their employees in order to be successful and the effort and performance employees give is determined by how motivated they are as well as their capability beliefs.  The key to ensuring employees remain motivated to improve their performance is that leaders themselves must also be motivated to conduct thorough performance reviews timely and in a manner which empower their employees to be successful.

Supervisor Training Plan

A solid training program for supervisors giving performance reviews should motivate managers by demonstrating how individual performance benefits the organization, and how managers can measure performance in an objective manner. This way, a supervisor can see the correlation between a performance review system that adds value to their margins and the value in giving quality feedback.  A supervisor training program should also include training on conducting effective performance appraisals prior to the supervisor being required to conduct them, including familiarity with company policy, how to engage an employee in a discussion about their performance, how to explain performance standards, and how to listen and synthesize information gained from an employee. Continuing resources and high level support from executive management should also exist.

Time Management Techniques

One common problem that managers face concerning conducting performance evaluations is inattentiveness to deadlines stemming from poor time management skills. It is important that supervisors should begin to prepare themselves in advance for an employee’s performance appraisal in order to recall important details and properly document forms. One way a supervisor can achieve this is to review employee performance informally on a monthly basis to document any items that arise. This will also aid a supervisor in addressing critical issues and important developmental milestones.

Motivational Techniques

There are seven principles for motivating work. These are: developing an organizational community that motivates powerfully, being invested in your employees and their success as well as their goals and ambitions, creating work that generates its own motivation, believing in the capability of your employees and empower them, helping to set goals that are motivating to employees based on their unique preferences, and removing obstacles and giving encouraging feedback. These principles are easy to incorporate into performance reviews as supervisors can use them to develop goals and milestones, as well as to praise employees on accomplishments and ask for valuable feedback on their managerial style to increase their performance for their employees, which builds rapport. They are also principles that offer tools to aid supervisors in informal performance evaluations, and hopefully eliminate issues with neglecting to immediately correct problems and avoid negative situations. Praise offered to employees during performance evaluations should be honest, based on the information in the review, and given appropriately and timely.

Further reading:

Kirkpatrick, Donald L. (2005). Improving employee performance through appraisal and coaching, second edition. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.cityu.edu/book/id_11940/book.aspx.

Kroth, Michael. (2007). The manager as motivator. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.cityu.edu/book/id_18694/book.aspx.

Mayhew, R. (2011). Problems when managers complete performance reviews. Small Business Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/problems-managers-complete-performance-reviews-1859.html

Ortner, B. (2009). Motivating managers to give effective performance appraisals. Key Staff. Retrieved from http://www.mykeystaff.com/blog/post/Motivating-Managers-to-give-effective-Performance-Appraisals.aspx

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