Performance Appraisal Interview

1)         What are you looking for when evaluating an employee?

a)   I look for expectations, projects, and goals already on the employee’s docket and then compare that with actual performance.

b)   I also always look for their job satisfaction, our working relationship, and any other issues that may be affecting work and our overall company performance.

2)         Do your employees prepare anything to bring to employee evaluations?

a)   Depending on the employee, I have either a monthly report they’ve prepared for me, or we look at other measurable performance items such as call/email response time.

3)         How long do your evaluations take you to prepare?

a)   With the expectation that my employees come with information to review, I generally do not prepare anything myself.

4)         What categories do you rate your employees on?

a)   Expectations versus performance.

b)   Customer satisfaction/complaints.

5)         Are clear job expectations established upon hire?  If so, are these expectations discussed during evaluations?

a)   I define job requirements and company expectations upon hire and we actually adjust these as work/customers/positions evolve over time.

b)   These specific areas are discussed during evaluations.

6)         Is goal setting a part of your employee evaluation process?  How do you approach employees that are not meeting expectations?

a)   We have goals as a company and individual improvement goals that are evaluated at each review.

b)   Employees not meeting expectations are asked two things:

i)     Why they feel they are not.

ii)   What can be done to correct the problem.

(1) Sometimes this may actually be changing expectations because of a change in the work requirements, customer expectations, etc.

7)         Do positive employee evaluations impact employee performance? Negative?

a)   Both definitely have an impact.

b)   I personally feel positive evaluations, or better said, cooperative evaluations are best.

i)     When an employee, even when told he/she is not meeting expectations, feels we are working as a team to resolve problems, the solution comes more quickly and is accepted/adopted by more members.

   I interviewed the manager of OA Services, an HOA management company.  The owner/manager Brandon gave the above responses to the questions posed.

   I have always been interested in owning my own business, so I found the interview very interesting.  I learned a lot about employee evaluations and liked his approach to setting and meeting goals, he not only discusses the employees goals and if they are being met, but he also discusses the company’s goals.  I think this encourages a real sense of ownership in the company, and a vested interest in being successful.  He seemed to have a good relationship with his employees (they were joking and laughing when I walked in) and it felt as though they liked working for Brandon.