Workshop Duration 3 days

Course Overview

Performance reviews are an essential component of employee development. Someone once said, “If you always

do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” And, remember what the German

philosopher Goethe said: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what

they are capable of being.” Setting goals and objectives to aim for will give supervisors and employees a unified

focus and targets to aim for. Supervisors must also learn how to give feedback, both positive and negative, on a

regular and timely basis so that employees can grow and develop. Performance appraisals involve all these

activities.

How you will benefit:

Recognize the importance of having a performance appraisal process for employees.

Understand how to work with employees to set performance standards and goals.

Develop skills in observing and giving feedback, listening and asking questions, for improved

performance.

Identify an effective interview process and have the opportunity to practice the process in a supportive

atmosphere.

Develop strategies for managing employee performance.

Workshop Outline:

Introduction and Course Overview

You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during

the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

Basics of Performance Appraisals

This session will begin with a lecture on the history performance appraisals. Then, participants will move into

small groups to discuss of the value of appraisals.

Employees’ Concerns about PAs

We will explore some concerns about appraisals and possible responses in a lecture.

What Makes PAs a Defensible Process?

This session will discuss some things that participants can do to ensure that their performance appraisal

process is defensible.

Stereotypes

There are four ways that a person can stereotype without necessarily being aware of it. Participants will also

explore their own stereotypes in an individual exercise.

The Performance Management Process

To begin, participants will look at the four-stage performance management process through a lecture. Then,

participants will work in small groups to review some sample appraisal forms.

SMART Goals

During this session, we will learn about the SMART acronym for goals and re-write some goals to meet these

criteria.

Goal Setting

We will continue our work with goal setting by looking at some other considerations and completing a short

individual exercise.

The Performance Management Cycle

This session will explore the first two stages of the performance management cycle: the basis for review and

the performance standard. BARs and KRAs will also be discussed briefly.

Setting Standards

We will demonstrate the importance of standards through a short exercise, and then we will discuss the

exercise and some general points.

Performance Development Plan

The fourth element in the performance management cycle is a performance development plan. We will briefly

discuss the components of this type of plan during this session.

Feedback and Communication

The need for basic communication skills and proper feedback will be demonstrated through an individual

exercise. Then, we will discuss some communication tips.

Listening and Asking Questions

We will explore these two key communication skills through a combination of lectures, individual exercises,

and small group work.

Feedback

Feedback is another critical element of the performance management process. After a brief discussion on

feedback, participants will work through several case studies to further explore feedback principles.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback

There are six characteristics of effective feedback. During this session, we will examine each characteristic

through a lecture and case studies.

Accepting Criticism

Accepting criticism from others can be very difficult. We will offer participants some ways to make accepting

criticism a little easier.

Planning the Interview

This session will look closely at some things you should do before delivering the performance appraisal.

The Interview

During this session, we will examine a basic interview format. We will then practice the format through a role

play.

Day Three Overview

The morning of Day Three will be spent role-playing each stage of the performance appraisal process. Each

role play will be followed by discussion and feedback from the trainer and from other participants.

Maintaining Performance

Once an employee has achieved a particular level of performance, we usually want them to maintain that

level. This session will explore some ways of doing that.

Behavior Contracts

This session will examine behavior contracts, a tool that can be used to help an employee achieve a goal or a

level of performance. We will also look at rewards that can be used.

Handling Performance Problems

During this session, we will discuss what to do if an employee is not achieving a particular level of

performance.

The Worst Case Scenario

The worst case scenario for many employers is having to fire an employee. We will look at how to handle this

situation in a lecture. Then, participants will practice their skills in a role-play.

Pre-Assignment Review

To sum up the past three days, participants will look at their pre-assignment, identify areas of improvement,

and develop an action plan.

Performance Management Checklists

To conclude the workshop, we will review some checklists that you can use during the performance

management process.