One of the trickiest roles of being a manager is doing a performance review on employees. While the exercise is meant to assess how an employee is performing on the job, sometimes the use of wrong comments can cause more problems than good. Positive feedback may end up sounding insincere while criticism can be overrated. This can damage the purpose of doing the reviews in the first place.

Employee comments on performance review are statements that managers and supervisors use to explain how employees have performed for a particular duration. Its aim is to give feedback to workers so that they can keep up the good work or improve.

Due to the sensitive nature of giving comments, managers should try their best to give the best employee comments in appraisal, whether in praising or criticizing. This may require additional effort, but it may make the dreaded exercise much easier.

How to give the best comments on appraisal

Use of measurable comments. For instance, general terms such as excellent or good may not be quantifiable and could mean different things. However, words like demonstrates, excels and communicates can give more meaning.

Using clear comments that focus on behavior and results especially when giving criticism. Instead of giving vague comments, use specifics. For instance, telling an employee ?your work is bad? is not clear which tasks are wrong. It is better to use a more specific comment such as ?there are errors in the report?. This way, an employee knows the areas to improve. Using specifics is also important when giving criticism. For instance, if an employee has poor performance, the remarks should be more specific on areas that need improvement with concrete examples.

Use examples when reviewing employee intangible traits such as dependability, judgment or cooperativeness. Evaluating these traits can seem personal. However, focusing on examples of positive or negative behavior can help reduce bias when you are giving comments on these qualities. Avoid comments that can be termed as personal, too negative or that may erroneously send the wrong message. In most cases, employees detest evaluations especially if they are just a formality for criticism in the organization. Using a wrong comment can kill an employee?s morale, reduce productivity or even result in lawsuits. When giving comments on appraisal, remember that the purpose is to assess performance so that relevant action can be taken. You should not be guided by emotions, anger or fear during the exercise.

Sample employee comments

Comments on employee cooperativeness: Has good working relationships with colleagues

Apply these supervisory skills so that you can become a great and effective supervisor.

20 crucial supervisory skills

Supervisors do interact directly with their subordinates. Hence, it is important for them to have particular skills to ensure that the interaction is productive. What are the crucial supervisory skills should any supervisor uphold? Here is a list of a few skills that are needed for effective supervision:

Planning


One of the roles that one must take when they are appointed as supervisors is planning. There are various aspects of planning. Therefore, a supervisor should have skills in the following areas to ensure effective planning. They include:

  • Scheduling- Timekeeping is the mandate of any leader. A supervisor should be able to drive the subordinates to work within sustainable timelines
  • Budgeting- Often, organizations work within fixed budgets. Hence, sound planning is needed to make sure finances are located appropriately
  • Tasking- It is the duty of the supervisor to plan tasks and match them to appropriate individuals
  • Creating goals and objectives
  • Policymaking
  • Predicting the future

Leading

The key role of a supervisor is to lead others but not without specific skills. Here are a few of the leading skills:

  • Decision making- While it is important to consult others, the supervisor need to be the sole decision maker
  • Communicating- They must be able to communicate well with their subordinates
  • Motivating- Besides, the supervisor should be in a position to persuade the employees towards goal achievement
  • Developing individuals- It is the duty of the supervisor to see to the growth of the subordinates
  • Appointing people- Supervisors are also responsible for selecting people whom they think are suited for various tasks
  • Conflict resolution- Leaders act as mediators in conflicts that arise among the employees

Organizing

Supervisors also need organization skills such as;

  • Defining tasks- It is the responsibility of a supervisor to explain work to the employees
  • Grouping assignments- Supervisors are also mandated to group related tasks for effective implementation
  • Assigning tasks- They are also responsible for delegating duties to the subordinates based on the skill level of the individuals
  • Integrating work

Controlling

Lastly, a supervisor needs to have control over his/her subjects. They require skills in:

  • Creating standards- For effective evaluation, developing standards is inherent
  • Assessing performance- Supervisors should measure the performance of their subordinates
  • Evaluation of performance- The supervisors should evaluate the performance results critically to point out areas of improvement
  • Correcting performance- Where an employee performs averagely or poorly in their tasks, the supervisor should encourage and support them to improve their performance.
 

These articles may interest you