# Battling the performance appraisal – Part 1

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/19/battling-performance-appraisal-part-1/
- Published: 2008-11-19T18:32:20+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

It’s the time of the year when HR departments (or at least those individuals responsible
for the ‘people stuff’) are pursuing line managers the length and breadth of the
country to begin the formal performance appraisal process for their respective teams.

I have to confess that this whole process used to frustrate me intensely. If I’m
upholding my end of the bargain by ensuring team objectives are both realistic and
aligned to the organisation’s strategy and we have a culture of ongoing feedback
between team members and leaders, why do I need to spend two weeks form-filling 
and conducting ‘interviews’?

My experience within the charity sector to date has shown me that there are probably
three main reasons why this is potentially even worse for managers here:

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 1. Charities seem to love having, and then diligently following, robust processes 
    for each and every facet of their operations.
 2. Charities pride themselves on being better at people development than the commercial
    sector (I’ve heard this sentiment reiterated from the platform at two recent events)
 3. Unlike huge tranches of the commercial sector, charities often experience a peak
    in activity rather than a trough in the run-up to Christmas; the appraisal process
    then just adds to the workload

I’ve even seen this positive obsession incorporate separate interviews, forms and
follow-up procedures for both appraising performance and for planning personal development.
Imagine you are the manager with a team of 23 call centre helpline operatives to
cover off before Christmas!

A timely survey from [BNET](http://tinyurl.com/5ka7u3) shows that the biggest issues
with a formalised process seem to be that if managers are doing their jobs properly,
the end of year pressures wouldn’t be a factor.

 [⌊appraisal chart⌉](http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1plmy5iKCqhOPVTVTWuNc_4OJSYeLXfTRhoi1f8woRwJuBSKw-2PzDyYIvDJ0ebQiYegTbyl2k8HHiYvpx77fLew)

The obvious solution is probably to ensure we maintain the open and constructive
dialogue with sensible (but not anal) record-keeping during the course of a year.
This way, the annual review can be a much simpler affair.

As a communications specialist and working with like-minded teams, an unexpected
pain was often wordsmithing the final documents. Communications skills are a lot
like football management; everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks they can do
a better job than the person whose responsibility it actually is. I did not enjoy
debating how to articulate a development area with a copywriter for over an hour!

So what’s to be done?

I’m afraid you’ll have to pop back next week for my suggestions on how to make the
process as effective and painless as possible.

 * **[Battling the annual performance review – Part 2](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/24/battling-annual-performance-review-part-2/)**(
   24 November 2008)
 * **[Fundraising Director Alan Gosschalk to leave Shelter](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/12/19/fundraising-director-alan-gosschalk-leave-shelter/)**(
   19 December 2008)
 * **[Groundbreakers offers scholarships for women charity leaders](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/01/05/groundbreakers-offers-scholarships-women-charity-leaders/)**(
   5 January 2009)