Coaching your leaders on how to effectively assess their people

Break the barriers with the right process

The performance management process is often perceived negatively by many of the involved parties. Why?

The cause for this often lies in a tendency among leaders to focus on errors and ‘wrongdoings’ of the subordinates when evaluating.

Different studies show that a right blend of leadership (by giving clear directions using informal and accurate feedback) and organizational focus (a structured, consistent approach to the processes of discussing of individual contributions and objectives) can drive an increase in performance of up to 40%.

Green-Jakobsen has the necessary knowledge base and expertise to coach your leaders and implement well thought-out processes to fit your company.

Establish an open and constructive dialogue

“It is a big challenge to assess people whom you have been living and working together with for months”.

We often hear this statement when working with clients who are working to improve the leadership and performance management on board.

It is absolutely true that it isn’t easy to tell people your opinion on their way of working, especially when you are as close together as you are on board.

Focus from leaders on guidance and support on how optimize individual skills, expertise and work practice is often limited.

Establishing an open and constructive dialogue between leaders and their direct reports on minor as well and major opportunities for improvement is the foundation for working with performance management. The most important part of this dialogue is informal, constructive feedback. It can serve as an important leverage for performance.

Changing the focus and approach in assessing subordinates sounds simple but requires the effort of changing lasting habits.

Being aware of your own style of leading and the effect of that and then the engaging change in behavior by constantly working with yourself requires experienced support.

Our leadership training can be a kick-start of this process and an inspiration to see performance management and assessment with a completely different view.

Research shows that people perform and go beyond expectations in their jobs when they clearly see the purpose and the higher meaning for their job, and if they have a personal interest in it.

It can be difficult to know where to start, but getting aligned on the performance criteria – the critical points of focus of the appraisal – is a good option.

Define performance and set evaluation criteria

Green-Jakobsen’s appraisal concept has a high focus on individual development, and includes the solid definition of performance and evaluation criteria, and a rating scale based on its wide level of industry experience of shore and seafaring roles.

We often see cases where the onboard performance appraisal does not provide real value. Crew only focus on the possible conclusion of the process related to ‘promotion’ or ‘re-hire’. Appraisers, such as Officers, are often not really prepared and tend to be biased in their evaluation. Crewing departments just fill in the reports and cannot really use the data because they do not find it reliable.

If we are to develop our employees, it is important that we have the necessary knowledge about where and how to develop. Setting expectations is the starting point for this process.

Being clear about defining ‘practical skills’ and what is meant by ‘attitude’ or ‘work approach’ within each performance criteria supports the guidance and development.

People see how they can influence

When everyone has a good understanding of the performance criteria and people can see how they can influence these in their daily work and behaviour, then engagement will be higher and performance assessments will be much clearer and easier. All performance appraisals must result in a development plan.

The overall benefits of a well-prepared evaluation or appraisal process is that it ensures a better basis for performance development. There will be a shared perception of expectations and development needs between the company and the employee.