We all love praise and it’s particularly nice to hear it at work. And what better opportunity for the high performance employee than their annual performance appraisal. Even more so if it’s handled well by both participants.

If you’re an employee
Before you receive your performance appraisal, plan how you will handle unavoidable criticism. Stay calm, listen carefully and distinguish between fair and unfair criticism. Just as you are entitled to make a mistake, your boss is entitled to complain about it.

Accept fair criticism, don't get defensive or over-explain. If you're cool-headed enough, make a joke of your mistake. Unfair criticism is hard to take; if it's insignificant let it go, otherwise calmly state why you don't agree and move onto the next point.

If you’re a manager
In times when the competition for skilled resources is so intense, it’s not an easy task for managers to have to address issues with team members at annual performance appraisal time. So why not use the appraisal interview to motivate your team members.
Be sure any criticism is justified and fair — and important enough to include. The more you allow your team to do their jobs their way, the more you empower them, the more loyal they become to you; performance improves, results are better, motivation is high. All good reasons for planning the appraisal - and getting it right - by Eugenie Houston | Source : Monster Human Resources

Regards,

CHRM

"To win...you must stay in the game" - Claude Bristol