How to run an effective staff appraisal system

For any salon owner appraisals and reviews can seem a time consuming activity. Everyone knows that they should do them, but how often, and exactly how should they be carried out for maximum benefit to both salon and individual? Abby and Karly Whittaker from the Sarah Hodge Salon Group run 10 salons and two academies with a total of 150 staff members and 400 students. Here’s how they run their staff appraisal system and monitor its success. Staff Appraisals Ongoing, regular assessment and appraisals are not only built into our annual cycle ensuring up-to- date, consistent and regular interaction of all kinds with every employee, but also into our mindset. They are so important to the success of your business, after all your business is only as good as the people who work in it so it is essential we notice and capture every signal given off by a team member. Having a team of people who feel fulfilled in their jobs, able to discuss any areas of concerns and confident that their employers care about them makes for a much happier and more successful business. Here’s how we do it! How often do we do them? Our staff assessments run all year and each month they will sit down with their direct manager to discuss an aspect of appraisal, whether it is their skills performance, their sales performance, or their training needs, doing it this way ensures that every aspect is covered and then annually there is a full appraisal with directors. This appraisal takes into account everything through the year. In doing it this way, the annual appraisals are more of a review – to check that progress is being made. It also prevents the appraisals becoming an enormous ‘thing’ at the end of the year. There are never nasty surprises in our annual appraisals, because the monthly managers appraisals ensure that everything is dealt with as it happens. What do we cover in our appraisals? They focus more on development and growth than on sales and performance, although of course that is an element of these. They are designed to be positive and forward thinking. Of course they enable us to deal with any problems swiftly, but we always try to do so with a positive frame of mind so that at the end of the review they still leave feeling motivated. What happens after the appraisal? Both the individual and the manager will have actions to take for improvement or development and these are discussed with the directors in managers meetings. We try to have a rolling development programme so that all staff will be regularly booked on training throughout the year to either learn new skills or perhaps go back over things where we feel more help is needed. How we feel the appraisals help our business grow and develop Use your appraisals to keep up to date with your staff in terms of their development and also their ambitions. It can really help you to identify areas of the business that your key staff would be best suited in. For example: are they great teachers, or do they thrive on stock control or perhaps they get excited about presenting! We look at people’s strengths and use them to strengthen our business. Many people just focus on weaknesses, and yes we do look to improve areas that need improving, but we certainly don’t ignore their strengths! How do we know that your appraisal system works? The proof that our system works is our excellent staff retention rate which is currently 8.5 years with a growing number of staff being with us for over 10 years. We reward this loyalty with a Tiffany bracelet at seven years and an engraved Gucci watch at 10 years! Do you do anything else as part of your annual appraisals In addition to our performance appraisals we run regular, fun incentives for the staff and every two months organise a staff event out of salon hours for motivation and team building – we have done murder mystery evenings, pole dancing, trips to West End shows, shopping and concerts. Our year always culminates in our Sarah Hodge Summer Party and Awards where we reward our staff for their hard work and get them to invite friends and family to watch them receive their awards and enjoy being part of our Sarah Hodge Family. 10 Tips for successful appraisals Do be prepared and don’t be afraid to get advice as to what you should include in your appraisals and create any forms and other documents up front Do explain the appraisal system to all staff Do plan dates well in advance and stick to them, giving out any pre-materials in good time Do listen and encourage the individual to assess themselves Do tackle any issues in a positive way – always looking for a positive outcome Do give actions a date to be completed by Do follow up on the actions that you said you would – ready for next time Don’t make them a negative experience – reviews and appraisals are a time to check back, and then move forward! Do remember that these individuals have different strengths, desires and ambitions and if you harness them they will stay with you forever. Finally, make appraisals part of your mindset, they soon become just part of what you do and then they become less of a chore.