Introduction and Course Overview You will spend the first part of the day getting to know other participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.
Basics of Performance Appraisals This session will begin with a lecture on the history performance appraisals. Then, participants will move into small groups to discuss of the value of appraisals.
Employees' Concerns about PAs We will explore some concerns about appraisals and possible responses in a lecture.
What Makes PAs a Defensible Process? This session will discuss some things that participants can do to ensure that their performance appraisal process is defensible.
Stereotypes There are four ways that a person can stereotype without necessarily being aware of it. Participants will also explore their own stereotypes in an individual exercise.
The Performance Management Process To begin, participants will look at the four-stage performance management process through a lecture. Then, participants will work in small groups to review some sample appraisal forms.
SMART Goals During this session, we will learn about the SMART acronym for goals and re-write some goals to meet these criteria.
Goal Setting We will continue our work with goal setting by looking at some other considerations and completing a short individual exercise.
The Performance Management Cycle This session will explore the first two stages of the performance management cycle: the basis for review and the performance standard. BARs and KRAs will also be discussed briefly.
Setting Standards We will demonstrate the importance of standards through a short exercise, and then we will discuss the exercise and some general points.
Performance Development Plan The fourth element in the performance management cycle is a performance development plan. We will briefly discuss the components of this type of plan during this session.
Feedback and Communication The need for basic communication skills and proper feedback will be demonstrated through an individual exercise. Then, we will discuss some communication tips.
Listening and Asking Questions We will explore these two key communication skills through a combination of lectures, individual exercises, and small group work.
Feedback Feedback is another critical element of the performance management process. After a brief discussion on feedback, participants will work through several case studies to further explore feedback principles.
Characteristics of Effective Feedback There are six characteristics of effective feedback. During this session, we will examine each characteristic through a lecture and case studies.
Accepting Criticism Accepting criticism from others can be very difficult. We will offer participants some ways to make accepting criticism a little easier.
Planning the Interview This session will look closely at some things you should do before delivering the performance appraisal.
The Interview During this session, we will examine a basic interview format. We will then practice the format through a role play.
Maintaining Performance Once an employee has achieved a particular level of performance, we usually want them to maintain that level. This session will explore some ways of doing that.
Behavior Contracts This session will examine behavior contracts, a tool that can be used to help an employee achieve a goal or a level of performance. We will also look at rewards that can be used.
Handling Performance Problems During this session, we will discuss what to do if an employee is not achieving a particular level of performance.
The Worst Case Scenario The worst case scenario for many employers is having to fire an employee. We will look at how to handle this situation in a lecture. Then, participants will practice their skills in a role-play.
Pre-Assignment Review To sum up the past two days, participants will look at their pre-assignment, identify areas of improvement, and develop an action plan.
Performance Management Checklists To conclude the workshop, we will review some checklists that you can use during the performance management process.
Workshop Wrap-Up At the end of the day, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and talk with the trainer.

Performance reviews are an essential component of employee development. Someone once said, “If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.” And, remember what the German philosopher Goethe said: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of being.”

Setting goals and objectives to aim for will give supervisors and employees a unified focus and targets to aim for. Supervisors must also learn how to give feedback, both positive and negative, on a regular and timely basis so that employees can grow and develop.