Meaning
More and more organizations are moving away from traditional appraisals. They are introducing the new assessment. But what does that actually mean? It means that organizations want to look at their employees' performance in a different way. In this new way of assessing, the employee has much more control and they themselves are responsible for setting goals. The interview cycle with three fixed interviews per year is a thing of the past with the introduction of the new assessment. Employees and managers are in constant dialogue with each other about growth and development .
What is wrong with the traditional way of assessment?
By the traditional way of assessment, we mean that you set your goals at the beginning of the year, halfway through the year you discuss your progress during your progress meeting, and at the end of the year you are assessed on them. Did you do everything you were supposed to do and achieve your goals? Then you get a good evaluation, which often includes a pay raise. This traditional way of assessment is not perceived as fun or inspiring by many employees and managers. That is therefore the main reason that this traditional way of assessing is being replaced by the new way of assessing.
Why the new assessment?
Employees are often tense before the time of review, and in many organizations these reviews are relatively subjective and you are judged on personal preference. In addition, the appraisal interview is often based on your performance over the past few weeks or just months, since that information is top of mind. Consequently, many organizations still think it is sufficient to have only one appraisal and performance review per year. Also, the appraisal is often given from the manager to the employee. But who knows better how you are performing than the people you are currently working with, and that really isn't always your manager. In the new assessment, this problem is often solved through 360 degree feedback .
How do you implement new grading?
You want to put people first. To go through this change, you have to do a few things. First, in the new way of assessing you go from fixed moments to a continuous conversation cycle and meaningful conversations, you go from long-term goals to short-term goals, for example quarterly. In addition, you no longer focus on things that go wrong, you focus on what is successful, and the goal is to reinforce that. You go from a one-sided process, in which the organization or your manager is responsible, to a collective process in which you as manager and employee together determine what the goals are and you are also jointly responsible for that. Finally, conversations are no longer just about KPIs, but rather, with the new assessment, you enter into a broad conversation about results, competencies and behavior.