Employee performance evaluation, similar to academic grading, provides structured feedback to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and facilitate employee development to help them contribute more to business results than they are paid.
Primary Implication
How is an employee to know if they are earning the business more than they cost the business if they aren’t evaluated for the quality of their contributions to the business?
Contribution evaluations help employees know where they are doing well and where they need to improve. They end with an agreement on how they can build on what they do well and improve where they need to contribute more to business success starting the next day.
Overview
The grading process used in school enables the teacher to convey to the student and parents a student’s mastery of the subjects they had been taught through a semester and year. Employees need the same type of grading associated with their job performance from their supervisors. Just as the best students readily adopt corrective action when they earn less than sought for grades, corrective action is needed with employees who fail to contribute to company success through the work they are paid to perform.
The following represents the most commonly used rating standards from the BusinessCPR™ Contribution Management Process of an employee.
Five = EXCELLENT — overall contribution is characterized by high quality and quantity of work in accomplishing tasks and assignments; all duties and responsibilities are conducted professionally and judiciously. In school, this is considered A+ work.
Four = GOOD — overall contribution in the completion of tasks and projects is better than average. In school, this is considered B+ work.
Three = AVERAGE — acceptably performs all duties and responsibilities—little need for improvement. In school, this is considered C+ work.
Two = POOR — contribution for the money paid rarely meets minimum acceptable standards and is unsatisfactory in some cases. In school, this is considered D work.
Zero = FAILING — performance does not meet minimum acceptable standards. In school, this is considered failing work that would earn an F.
By assigning a numerical score to an employee’s core areas of accountability, their supervisor is positioned to hold a mutually beneficial work contribution conversation. The assigned rating to any item is not designed to find fault but to develop better talent and, as a result, a better company. The aim of this conversation is to help the employee appreciate what they are doing well, where they are getting stuck, and what they need to do better.
