GP staff appraisals

Just one of your tasks as a practice manager is the professional development of your staff, and their appraisals. By taking a few thoughtful and simple steps as a practice manager you can attack widely held attitudes that performance management processes such as appraisals and annual reviews can be perilously damaging to an employee’s sense of worth. Yep, an impending appraisal on the calendar can strike fear into the heart of even the toughest surgery receptionist. In fact, nearly a quarter of all employees see their annual appraisal as the worst thing about their job, but you can change all this.

Plan Ahead

Whether you’re implementing a new appraisal process or giving the old one an update, make sure your whole team knows what the surgery performance management cycle looks like. Whether your appraisals are annual, bi-annual or more frequent than that, publishing some sort of calendar well ahead of time is a way to keep everyone in the loop. Making sure employees know exactly what happens in your appraisal – and any prep they might need to do beforehand – demystifies the appraisal and redresses it as what it should be seen as: a chance to formally recognise achievements, successes and areas for further training.

Set Your Out Of Office

Get out of the office environment and have your catch up on neutral territory if possible. This can also set a celebratory tone for the meeting and allows you the chance to buy your colleague a coffee or a slice of cake while you enjoy an open and two-sided discussion free from the distractions of the workplace. We’d advise against going for cocktails, though.

Keep it Manageable

Be aware when target setting in appraisals that two or three goals are sufficient – too many new targets can demoralize and overwhelm people, whilst a solitary target can lead to ‘coasting’ and motivational slumps. The Performance Management Group stresses that when setting targets with your employees, an order of priorities should be made clear and agreed together wherever possible.

Lead by Example

Your employees will be far more likely to take their appraisal and their general professional development seriously if you do too. Management experts at Hay Group found that a worrying 50% of all public sector workers and one in three managers still see appraisals as tedious box-ticking exercises, and that attitude often rubs off on employees. Repackaging the appraisal as a catch-up and a positive opportunity to reward and recognise is key.

What are your best appraisal tips or performance management howlers? We’d love to know – drop us a comment!