Performance Appraisals Start with Job Descriptions
Before you take the leap into performance appraisal with your team, does each role have a clear, current, and effective position description in place? Position descriptions or job descriptions are one of the most useful HR documents you can have.
Like most things, the format of the job description is not as relevant as the material it contains. If you use a standard template, or have someone else write your job description, you may end up with a document that does not reflect the nuances of the role. In my book, managers should be intimately involved in the drafting of each of the job descriptions for their reports.
Yes, you may have a generic set of position descriptions for common roles in the organisation (sales assistants, receptionists etc), but each manager should be involved in discussing with their employees how precisely each of the tasks, duties and deliverables in the generic position description are carried out in their particular part of the world.
So, what should go into a position description? Each job description should clearly spell out what exactly the employee is responsible for doing and the context in which the work is performed. That said, you are not writing “War and Peace” – you want something that is simple, easy to understand and hits the highlights and not dwells in the details.
Job descriptions should not use overinflated language in an attempt to “bump up” the pay scale, or include tasks that are not critical to the outcomes of the role.
One of the most critical elements that is often overlooked are delegation levels, or scope to act. Does the role have complete autonomy over a certain budget, type of decision or project, or do they need to clear things through different levels of hierarchy.
If you have a clear and agreed job description in place, reviewing performance will be a heck of a lot easier.
Until next time
Ingrid Cliff
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