How to Write Effective Job Performance Evaluations

Corporate jobs aren't the only ones with job performance evaluations.

Job performance evaluations aren't just a bureaucratic formality. A well-written, well-thought-out evaluation can help an employee improve his performance--and, thus, career prospects--or provide a critical nudge to get an underperforming employee to get his head back in the game. An honest yet tactful approach to writing the evaluations will make them effective without being harsh. The more information you have to base the evaluation on, the better--so keep careful notes on employee performance throughout the year.

Things You'll Need

• Employee file
• Job performance data

Instructions

1. 

   Careful, thorough record-keeping will help you write evaluations.

   Review your notes, reports, projects, job performance data, personnel file and any other information you have about the employee. Ideally, this information would include hard metrics, such as sales figures or money saved from a process improvement the employee instituted.

2. 

   Client relations are a vital part of any business or nonprofit endeavor.

   Brainstorm a list of general strengths and weaknesses, as well as specific tasks or processes that the employee does well and things she could improve. The more concrete you can be, the better, because it's hard to take action about a vague comment along the lines of, "Your project management skills could use some improvement." That said, observations about soft skills, such as customer interaction, are suitable for inclusion in a job performance evaluation. Just make sure those observations are backed up by specific evidence. ("Your tone when speaking with customers can come across as brusque. Several of them have commented on that in anonymous customer satisfaction surveys.")

   A good place to start is with the official job description. According to Stony Brook University Human Resource Services, a job description is "a clear, precise, systematic and logical analysis of content, accountabilities and the objectives of a position." Go through the duties enumerated in the job description and evaluate how the employee is doing with regard to each one.

3. 

   Extremely critical evaluations can dispirit employees, so use tact.

   Draft the job performance evaluation. Edit the list of strengths and weaknesses, eliminating the redundant, unimportant, and unsubstantiated items. Explain each item at some length, depending upon its importance. Organize the evaluation in sections, opening with a summary, continuing to strengths, discussing weaknesses, and closing with a brief reiteration of strengths and a list of recommended actions for improving performance. Creative Financial Staffing suggests, "High priority items should be given a specific time frame for improvement with plans to review the performance at some time in the near future."

4. 

   Always be open to discussing the evaluation with the employee.

   Edit the evaluation for length, clarity and appropriateness. You may wish (or be required) to go over the evaluation with a superior prior to giving it to the employee. Read it aloud to yourself in a private place to catch grammar errors and run-on sentences.

Tips & Warnings

• Near the end of the work day is the best time to give out employee evaluations--there's less of a chance that concern about the evaluation will affect the day's work.

• If you have to give a harsh evaluation of someone's job performance, give them the evaluation in a private place, away from co-workers, and offer to discuss it the following day.

References

• Stony Brook University: Job Evaluation Process--Human Resource Services
• Creative Financial Staffing: Writing Effective Employee Performance Evaluations