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Formal Evaluation (Appraisal)

So, it's time to do a formal performance appraisal. Is it really worth doing? There are many good reasons to conduct a formal performance appraisal. If assignments and standards have been clear, if coaching through informal evaluation and feedback has been ongoing, a formal performance appraisal should be merely a summary of what has already occurred. It should include no surprises for the employee or the supervisor, because both should already know how successful the employee has been in meeting performance standards.

The format for a performance appraisal at The University of Arizona has become fairly flexible in the past few years. The traditional eight-factor Report of Performance Appraisal is still an acceptable format and is still used by many departments. Some departments, however, have been authorized to develop their own appraisal format that is designed to better meet their unique performance evaluation needs. Other departments interested in the tools and minimum requirements for customizing their own appraisal format, are encouraged to visit Performance Appraisal Alternatives.

If this much flexibility exists in doing appraisals, then what are the requirements? An employee's performance should be appraised after the first three months of the initial probation period, at the end of the initial probation period, and at the end of the first full year of Regular Staff employment. The policies of the Arizona Board of Regents require that regular employees receive a formal apprisal at least once each year after that. Because appraisals continue to influence decisions on salary increases, layoffs, etc., the appraisal should contain an overall rating on whether the employee is successfully meeting job requirements.

Future performance appraisals usually are done around the anniversary of the employee's date of hire or at the end of the employee's most recent promotion or transfer probation period. They can be done on any date that is convenient, however, as long as the employee receives a formal appraisal at least once every 12 months. (This may mean doing two in one year when changing to a different date.)

Supervisors often coordinate the scheduling of appraisal meetings, but this is also flexible. Some supervisors and employees may negotiate that the employee may do the scheduling, especially if the employee is doing a self-appraisal and/or is responsible for requesting feedback from coworkers or customers for the appraisal. The supervisor may then serve as a central point to receive all the appraisal input.

Those who contribute to an employee's performance appraisal should be as fair and unbiased as possible. Raters should be aware of and try to avoid common rater errors. They should also provide as many specific examples as possible to support each factor rating. Again, a memory file of outstanding examples of the employee's performance can be very useful in this process.