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StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 45 – An Interview with Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 45 – An Interview with Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook explores how to conduct personnel performance reviews that are a positive experience for employees and that helps them and the organization excel. During our discussion, Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource For Any Manager or HR Professional and Founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates, shares with us her insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • what is at the heart of manager and employee anxiety over personnel performance reviews
  • why some managers and employees approach the performance review process with a high degree of cynicism
  • key principles and methods managers and employees should practice when preparing, executing, and following-up on performance reviews
  • the most effective periodicity for conducting performance reviews
  • how executives and managers can ensure performance ratings are consistently defined and applied

Additional Information

In addition to the outstanding insights Sharon shares in The Essential Performance Review Handbook and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from her websites, www.SharonArmstrongAndAssociates.com and www.TheEssentialPerformanceReviewHandbook.com.   Sharon’s book, The Essential Performance Review Handbook, can be purchased by clicking here.


About the Author

Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook and The Essential HR Handbook, is the Founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates. Sharon has served as director of human resources at a law firm and several other organizations in Washington, DC. Since launching her own consulting business in 1998, she has provided training and completed HR projects dealing with performance management design and implementation for a wide variety of clients. To read Sharon’s complete biography, click here.

Performance Appraisals – Can They Really Be ‘Stress-Free’?

Performance appraisals are one of the most important responsibilities of a supervisor… and one of the most dreaded!

Why?

Perhaps the better question is – What can we do to remove the ‘dread factor?’

One way is to identify the five most important tips and make sure all your managers get a copy.

Tip #1 – Take time to prepare

Start by familiarizing yourself with the form and the ratings. Think about the goals each employee has been working on, the employee’s strengths and areas for development. Pull out all the examples and observations you’ve collected throughout the review period and add them to the appraisal form to support your ratings.

Plan your discussion in detail – not just compliments, but also areas for improvement.

Then, schedule the meeting and plan enough time for a thorough discussion. Select a time when you and the employee are not under pressure.


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About the Author

Sharon Armstrong, author of The Essential Performance Review Handbook and The Essential HR Handbook, is the Founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates. Sharon has served as director of human resources at a law firm and several other organizations in Washington, DC. Since launching her own consulting business in 1998, she has provided training and completed HR projects dealing with performance management design and implementation for a wide variety of clients. To read Sharon’s complete biography, click here.