Every appraisal cycle has one thing in common, and that is the types of employees the people from the HR team face! Surely, there may be several other factors that vary, but there are always certain kinds of employees faced by HR every year at appraisals, that pretty much remains the same.
From the highly expectant, over-enthusiastic ones to the anxious, silent-sufferer types, the HR knows them all and can identify their basic, individual traits at first glance.
Here are the Types of Employees that You’ll Meet at Every Appraisal Cycle
Appraisals can seem daunting to the employees, but for the managers sitting on the other side of the table, they are mixed with several emotions. What with the different kinds of employees, you may encounter as a manager, appraisals may still turn out to be unpredictable, tinged with a sense of deja-vu with respect to the previous appraisal!
These are the types of employees you will encounter at every appraisal cycle:
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The Perfectionist:
If you notice an employee believing in his work to the point where he turns a blind eye to even his mistakes or shortcomings, you have a perfectionist right there. He is unabashedly confident and believes that his work is perfect and that he can never go wrong. Should you happen to face such employees during the annual appraisal meetings, be aware that a bad appraisal may hardly hit the nail on the hammer for them.
Instead, this kind of employee insists that a bad appraisal is everybody’s fault but theirs. How should you deal with such an employee?
Appraisals are all about helping employees reach their goals by bringing to light how they performed throughout the year.
An employee, who is a perfectionist in all his forms, would most likely retaliate and not come to terms with the fact that he can be at fault, too. In such a case, stay patient, assertive, and ready with examples of how his attitude in the past affected his performance and, also, recommend ways to correct himself.
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The Back-scratcher:
Hilarious is the word that signifies this employee’s attitude at the workplace, especially when appraisals are around the corner! You may find him cribbing about everything at the office, from the work timings and the mandatory dress code to the enormous workload and deadlines. But you’d notice a complete u-turn in their attitude once they’d spot the managers or the HR around.
They get mushy and amicable about the same things, which earlier bothered them to the point that they kept nagging endlessly. Performance appraisals can surely lure many employees into displaying contrasting attitudes, just to score a good appraisal.
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The Know-it-All:
This is a perfect category of the employees who believe they know it all! They may come across as over-confident and someone who will definitely pass the annual appraisal with flying colours, without a deeper glance into whether their performance was actually up to the mark or not. In fact, they may have a hard time sitting in a meeting room and hearing it out from their bosses on points where they lack or can improve. For the know-it-alls, the boss may be just another employee who lacks the necessary skills to conduct an annual performance appraisal meaningfully.
The best way to deal with such an employee is to first let him or her brag about the things they feel are right, and then approach them with a clear focus on workplace expectations from them. Remind him/her that such an attitude would be counterproductive for him and the overall team and will not be fruitful in the long term. If things still do not improve, stay open to issue a verbal or written warning or consider an alternate course of action.
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The Hyper-sensitives:
Ever spotted someone in office who is continually cribbing about the problems, feels edgy on the smallest of issues and spins out of control on just about any random mistake? Well, you have a team member who gets easily ruffled and is quite sensitive. A key trait about such employees is that they are never satisfied with what they have. Even if they receive a flawless appraisal or even better, a promotion, the cribbing does not stop. They insist on believing in ‘grass is greener on the other side’ and feel that they always have less in comparison to others.
To handle such an employee, get them to focus on the solutions and not on the problems. Once they see that every problem eventually gets solved, they shift their focus to better aspects and feel less on edge. Get them to look into their own achievements and work feats than into how others are performing.
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The One Who Confronts:
No matter what you say to this employee, you can be sure to get into a lengthy discussion, followed by an intense confrontation even when it is not required. You can be sure to hear statements like, “You said I was going to get a raise,” or “You did not clearly outline expectations,” etc.
Most of their conversations tend to get accusatory and blame-ridden. Also, the “you’s” are often accompanied by “but’s”, which makes matters worse. For example, their “You said…but I think…”, would often end up in confrontational face-offs with their managers. Yet, such employees would insist on getting into face-to-face discussions without them showing any professionalism or maturity. Though a proper intervention is required to manage such an employee, it’s best to be humbler and handle the situation calmly during the appraisal.
Let the employee know the organisation’s reasoning behind all his complaints, with a gentle reminder that his behaviour is unacceptable.
Once the appraisal is over, chart out a plan to realign the employee with the workplace behaviour and expectations.
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The Stars:
Like every appraisal cycle brings out people with the traits mentioned above, there is also a category of employees who makes the annual performance review process entirely worth it: the star performers! These are hard-working, meticulous, and work-culture-aligned employees, who deserve every bit of appreciation or even a promotion, based on how they performed throughout the year.
You will have a great time appraising these employees and even providing suggestions if there would be any room for improvement, as they will take it in the right stride.
Even though every appraisal cycle feels similar, especially in terms of the kinds of employees you meet, yet there could be surprises in store. With the next appraisal hardly two months away, we hope that the above list will lend you a sense of perspective into what you are going to face.
