Most appraisal systems demand that you put your conclusions in writing. Write a paragraph for each goal that explains how you arrived at your assessment. Along with any forms you have to complete, you may want to include a summary statement about the employee’s performance during the year.
Here are three points to keep in mind as you prepare your first draft.
- Be as specific as possible. Use the active voice, not the passive voice, because the passive voice can cloud who did what. Further, in describing what an employee did, be as precise as possible. Avoid empty phrases like “maintains good production records” or “caused a significant loss in time.” Write, instead, that the employee “achieved 90 percent accurate production records” or “slowed work by 50 percent on a project by not. . . .”
- Compare the employee’s performance to the standards or goals set. Don’t compare performance to that of other employees. Even if you have people with the same goals, such comparison means little. However, where a standard is applicable to all employees, and where all employees except one have met or exceeded that standard, use this fact to counter the problem performer’s argument that the standard is too high.
- Use the language of the goals to show a clear relationship between the work done, the goals, and the rating. This supports your assessment.