Tips For Conducting More Effective Performance Appraisals

I'm a big fan of Sharon Armstrong's, The Essential HR Handbook, and now she's released her newest book, The Essential Performance Review Handbook.

"Appraisals are meant to clarify and reward, and to be interactive and fair. They take real time, real dialog, and a real focus on the future, rather than just the previous few months," says Armstrong.

The 224-page book, at a nice price of $14.99 (now for about $10 on Amazon), provides lots of tips and examples, and even includes the actual appraisal forms used by 10 organizations and associations that are both interesting to review and handy to use as "best practice" documents.

Armstrong admits that performance appraisals can be one of the most anxiety-provoking aspects of one's work life for both supervisors and employees. That's what inspired her to write this book. In it, she provides leaders and managers of all levels advice on how to make the performance appraisal process more productive, less painful and more effective.

Armstrong told me that one of her favorite books is Leigh Branham's, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave. Branham leads the Overland Park, KS company Keeping The People.

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