Performance appraisals people actually finish: a practical setup
Agree goals early, score objectives and competencies separately, mix self and manager ratings, and keep the cycle short. A simple appraisal process that works.
Frank Oppong Konadu3 min read
In a lot of organisations the annual appraisal happens in a rush in December. Forms go out, managers fill them in from memory, half come back after the deadline, and nobody looks at them again until next year. Staff learn that the scores don’t mean much, and the process turns into a box-ticking exercise.
It doesn’t have to be like that. The appraisals that work share a few habits.
1. Agree the goals at the start, not the end
You can’t fairly score someone against goals they first see on the appraisal form. At the start of the cycle:
- the employee and their manager agree a short list of objectives for the period,
- each objective gets a weight, and the weights add up to 100%, and
- the manager (or the next level up) approves the list.
Three to six objectives is plenty. Weighting stops “attended the training” counting as much as “reduced stock losses by 20%”.
Good objectives are specific and measurable. “Improve customer service” is a wish. “Bring average complaint resolution time down from five days to two by June” is an objective.
2. Score what they did and how they did it
Score two things separately:
- Objectives: what the person achieved.
- Competencies: how they work, such as teamwork, reliability, customer focus or leadership.
Then decide how much each counts towards the final score, for example 70% objectives and 30% competencies. Someone who hits every target while making the team miserable shouldn’t come out top, and neither should a lovely colleague who delivers nothing.
3. Ask the employee first
A self-assessment before the manager’s review changes the conversation. The employee rates themselves and adds evidence. The manager then rates them, and the discussion focuses on where the two disagree.
You can also decide how much each view counts, for example 30% self-assessment and 70% manager. Most organisations weight the manager higher, but giving the self-assessment a real share tells employees their view matters.
4. Add a final check, but keep it light
A second-level review (by the head of department, say) catches ratings that are far too generous or far too harsh, and keeps scores comparable across teams. Keep it to a review and a sign-off, not another full appraisal.
Some organisations also use a rating distribution, a guide to how many people should land in each band. Treat it as a prompt for a conversation (“why is everyone in your team excellent?”), not as a quota.
5. Make the score mean something
Turn final scores into a small number of bands with plain names:
| Score | Band |
|---|---|
| 90 and above | Outstanding |
| 75 to 89 | Exceeds expectations |
| 60 to 74 | Meets expectations |
| 45 to 59 | Needs improvement |
| Below 45 | Unsatisfactory |
Then link the bands to something real, such as increments, bonuses, promotion shortlists or development plans, and say so up front. If the score changes nothing, people stop caring about it.
6. Keep the window short
Open the appraisal for a set window, often a month or two, and track who has finished each step. Reminders and visible progress do more than any policy memo.
How Eban handles appraisals
In Eban, you open an appraisal window and employees set their goals with weights, which their manager approves. At review time the employee completes a self-assessment, their manager scores objectives and competencies, and the head of department gives final approval. You decide how much objectives and competencies count, how much the self-assessment counts against the manager’s rating, the rating scales, and the remarks for each score band. Every step happens in the mobile app, so managers can review their team without logging in at a desk.
