Blog
Guest Post: Implementing your values and culture in your appraisal system
We’ve partnered with our friends at Ramsay Paterson LLP, an employment law firm that specialises in working with values-led organisations, to develop and share insights about what it takes to implement values and culture within purposeful and ethical organisations for HRZone.com. The following is an abridged version of Stephanie Paterson’s recent article in HRZone.
There has been a real shift over the past couple of years in organisations talking more openly about values and what’s important to them (beyond just making a profit).
Shouldn’t this therefore be reflected in approaches to appraisals too? Does your appraisal process sit comfortably with what’s really important to your organisation? For example, does it focus on individual contributions when your ethos is all about working together?
Appraisals could also be an opportunity to find out what employees understand and feel about the culture of the organisation, how they contribute to it and how they demonstrate the organisation’s values.
Get the purpose of your appraisals clear
Ask yourself what you want your appraisals to achieve. Is it to measure contribution of employees to financial growth? Is it to encourage open and honest dialogue or is it to map future career development? Or something else entirely?
Once you’re clear on your purpose, it should naturally follow that some approaches will support it and some won’t. For example, if your overall purpose is to encourage open and honest dialogue between your employees and their line managers, then having salary increases or a bonus linked to the appraisal might not be conducive to that purpose.
Think about how, when and where to carry out appraisal discussions
If your employees aren’t office workers, should you be holding an office-based discussion? If your employee is a driver, a chef in a restaurant or a farm worker, have you thought of stepping into their normal working environment instead? Ask where they’d feel most comfortable.
Do you need a formal appraisal system at all?
We’re increasingly hearing of large corporates ditching their formal appraisal systems (along with rating systems and forced timelines) and opting for a more fluid and real-time feedback approach.
Once you know what you’re trying to achieve, ask ‘what would really work?’ The answer may not be the same for every part of your organisation.
To read the full article, please click here.