How can I run a better appraisals process? | Be The Business | A more productive economy driven by inspired business leadership

If done badly, appraisals are a process carried out on no consistent timeline that both manager and employee dread. Conducted well and they serve as a way to unlock potential and keep individuals consistently motivated and understanding where their day-to-day efforts are helping a business with its wider ambition.

Ways to help you deal with it:

Action plan

Improve your employee appraisals process

Effort: High

Impact : High

Appraisals are a process conducted in very varying degrees of quality by businesses of all types. Done well and they provide clarity, direction and a renewed sense of purpose.

ACTION PLANS are a structured list of steps designed to help you approach tackling a particular business challenge.

We explain why each step is important
Customise by setting your own completion dates and assign tasks
Helpful tools are provided for certain steps
A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available

Action plan

Improve the way you performance manage staff

Effort: High

Impact : High

Action plan

Establish your company culture

Effort: Medium

Impact : High

Guide

An introduction to running a better appraisals process

Does your appraisals process effectively monitor and improve staff performance – or is it a box-checking exercise that’s endured? It could be time for a change.

GUIDES break a challenge down, providing important context and real-world experiences.

Based on SME experiences, not corporate jargon
Filled with real-world stories
Achievable steps every business can take

Other support that's available

How other businesses have tackled something similar

Real business story

Getting the best from your staff, every time

Appraisals are an important part of both employee and business development, so it’s vital that these meetings are productive for all involved.

Real business story

Find out exactly what incentives your people are driven by. Then you’ll get the best results

Thinking creatively, businesses from all corners of Britain have introduced work incentives both big and small to keep staff motivation high. Each have learnt that the more inspired a workforce is the more productive they tend to be.

Real business story

Double-down on employee engagement during difficult times

Employee engagement is rooted in culture and communication. How leaders engage with staff on a daily basis can have a huge impact on performance and productivity across the business.

The questions lots of businesses are trying to answer

What issue is keeping you awake at night? A bit of targeted support is often all you need to overcome those challenges.

Select a topic

Digital

How can I improve the digital presence my business has? How can I streamline and automate some of our business processes? How can I understand what digital tools or support my business needs? How do I effectively seek external digital support? How do I know if my technology is robust enough for growth? How do I assess and choose the right technology to improve business operations? How do I work out the best digital sales channels to use? How should I best budget and plan for new technology investments? How should I go about collecting data to improve my business? How should I use the data I have to improve decision making?

Leadership & Strategy

As a leader, how do I learn to trust others within my organisation? How can I balance short-term needs with long-term targets? How can I reflect on my own strengths and weaknesses as a leader? How do I learn to become a better leader? How do I improve the communication in my business? How do I apply learnings from other businesses to my own company? How do I get better at noticing and reacting to warning signs? How do I get staff interested in our vision and values? How do I give my team autonomy and get better at delegating? How should my role as a business leader evolve with the company’s growth?

People & Team

How can I develop career paths for my staff? How can I develop the skillsets of my workforce? How can I improve my hiring and onboarding practices? How can I increase staff engagement and motivation? How can I keep my best members of staff? How can I reduce employee turnover? How can I run a better appraisals process? How do I deal with a challenging member of staff? How do I manage an effective remote workforce? How should I performance manage my staff?

Planning

How can I balance ambition with setting realistic goals? How can I get staff interested in the financial situation? How can I work out what required skillsets are missing in the business? How can I define and communicate my vision for success? How can I get better at looking internally at my business? How can I make my business more resilient to change? How do I ensure my business can navigate a dip in trading? How do I better inform my business plans? How do I know when to invest in my business? How do I know when to scale up my business?

Sales & Growth

How can I get a better return on investment from my marketing? How can I identify new customers to target? How can we better serve our most loyal customers? How can we develop new products and services? How do I create targets and KPIs for my staff? How do I benchmark my business against competitors? How do I build a network to support my business? How do I develop a clear unique selling point? How do I financially plan for new opportunities? How do I make sure my team and processes are ready for growth?

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