Make the most of your evaluation

An annual job-performance review is a source of dread for some managers and a source of stress for employees. Which means that
sometimes everyone involved loathes a chore that may hold the fate of an employee’s raise and perhaps even the employee’s livelihood.

By WAYNE TOMPKINS and JO DEE BLACK
Gannett Newspapers and Tribune Staff Writer

"It’s a process that leaves a lot to be desired," said Alan DeMuro, vice president of human resource strategy for insurer Humana Inc. in
Louisville, Ky. "Managers struggle with it. Employees struggle with it. There’s a lot that’s been written about the ineffectiveness of
performance appraisals."

But used correctly, employee-performance evaluations are a useful tool, other manager say.

Laura Vukasin, vice president of Russell Country Federal Credit Union in Great Falls, completed evaluations for her company’s 27 full- and
part-time employees last month.

"I love them," she said. "It’s an opportunity for staff to give input and for management to officially let them know how they are doing…where
their strengths and weaknesses are."

Nonetheless, she acknowledges the process is stressful.

"I try to tell employees not to be anxious about them, but I have one done on myself and it is stressful," Vukasin said. "No one likes to see
their weaknesses listed on a piece of paper."

An opportunity to address issues

Kevin Pierson, one of the owners of Strobel’s Rentals in Great Falls, said there are times employees are unaware of problems. Evaluations
provide an opportunity to address issues in a nonconfrontational manner.

Pierson said he’s found addressing specific points works best. His evaluations include exactly what an employee needs to work on and an
explanation of why. He also goes over how he expects employees to change a work habit or attitude.

Pierson said it’s important that evaluations also point out what employees are doing right.

"I always like to end on what employees are doing well, what we want them to keep up," he said.

Set goals

Before formal evaluations, Vukasin asks employees to write down how they feel they’ve done in meeting goals outlined in the previous
year’s evaluation.

She does the same thing; during the actual evaluation the copies are compared, noting similarities and differences. It provides a good
starting point, she said.

It’s important for managers to be clear about exactly what objectives the employees are expected to achieve in the year ahead, said Karen
Bearden, president of The Bearden Group, a Louisville human resources consulting firm.

A supervisor might instruct an employee, for example, to make sure every customer during the quarter is satisfied.

"I still find that people don’t communicate or clarify what the expectations are," Bearden said. "And it’s important that, if expectations are
not met, what are the consequences?"

Russell Country Federal Credit Union’s Karla Rustin, who works in member services, likes having the guidelines set out in her annual
evaluation.

"It lets you know what you need to work on over the year, to improve on," she said.

Rustin said her main goal last year was cross training tellers, helping them learn the ropes in members services. She also received
training in teller job duties.

The overall result of the goal is to give customers better service, since employees will now be better-prepared to answer a wider range of
questions.

One-on-one discussion

Evaluations give employees a chance to let managers know how they think things are going in a business, said Rustin.

"It gives me a chance to discuss things one-on-one, which is nice," she said.

Although Russell Country has just one formal evaluation a year, Vukasin said it would be a mistake to allow that to replace consistent
feedback.

At Strobel’s, Pierson uses evaluations more frequently.

"Unfortunately, I don’t do them nearly as much as I should," he said. "I think evaluations should be continuous and ongoing, not something
done every three or six months. And I think they should be documented and written down, verses the verbal ones we do."

Good record keeping is important when work examples are needed for evaluations. Otherwise, the task of gathering up needed materials
may add stress to the process.

Bearden said, "If both parties would keep better records of achievements, accomplishments, issues and how the issues have been worked
out, that would make it better."

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020422/localnews/184403.html