Tips for an Effective Employee Performance Appraisal Process Flowchart

Employee performance management is key to employee development, employee retention, and meeting organizational goals. But despite its importance to business units, many organizations struggle with implementation or a performance appraisal process that leads to meaningful or lasting change. Defining what needs to be included in the process, as well as formally documenting the process with documents such as process flowcharts, can help simplify the process and create a shape for managers, employees, and HR to follow and engage with.

Your performance appraisal process chart will depend on what type of employee performance appraisal method your business uses, but here are some suggestions of what you might map out on your performance appraisal flowchart.

What to include in your performance appraisal process flowchart

A flowchart should include several elements and should outline a process that includes actions, next steps and stakeholders, and documentation. A flowchart will usually start with an action and then move to the next, noting who is responsible for what steps along the way.  It’s also important to remember that the employee performance management process isn’t just about the appraisal – in fact, it starts with setting expectations on day one, so it’s important that this is reflected in your overall flowchart.

1. Start with establishing job duties. This should be communicated in the job description that is part of the recruitment process and should be reviewed with employees during the interview and then with the employee during onboarding.
2. An employee’s direct supervisor should have an initial conversation with their employee to establish and communicate what a good performance and adherence to these duties look like. This will help both parties during the appraisal process.
3. A manager will observe performance. Are employees following the guidelines established? Are they getting along with their teammates? Are they showing up on time and meeting deadlines? All of these things will likely be used to build an annual performance review.
4. The manager should be recording their observations of performance, both formally through a performance management system and with employees during regular check-in meetings. A rating of varying parts of performance should be part of a performance review and should be considered part of the flowchart for the appraisal process.
5. The next step is meeting with the employee to discuss the performance rating and any related elements, such as next steps, additional training, performance bonuses, or annual or performance-based raises. This can be set up by either management or HR personnel.
6. If performance is on track or improving, the flow chart can branch off to next steps that include recognition of performance and opportunities for future development. If performance is lacking, the flowchart should outline a next step that includes an improvement plan (which can develop into its own flowchart with steps that include training and more).

While this is just a basic outline that will help define steps to take and a process to follow, it can be added to and developed over time based on what your organization needs to support its appraisal goals and get better results. Overall, using a performance process chart can enhance the overall appraisal process.

Many businesses use HR software to help manage everything from recruitment to time management to payroll to employee engagement. Some of these tools have appraisal tools built in that help guide the performance appraisal process through the necessary stakeholders. Zoho, for instance, not only walks managers through an important part of the process, such as defining and adding goals and defining key areas and competencies to be measured, it also can be used to initiate the entire process through the software without having to track every step manually.

Even if you don’t have a performance management appraisal software or HR management tool, it’s still possible to create a performance flow chart with Microsoft Word – a tool most businesses have.

Steps to create an easy performance appraisal process flowchart

1. In a word, open “Flowchart” under File.
2. You can choose from several flowcharts shapes to create your own custom flow chart, including process, decision, and document specific shapes to help make it even easier to understand visually.
3. Shapes are automatically connected when you click the action button and generate connectors between two shapes.

Overall, a process paired with a flowchart can be a useful way to get HR and management working in sync and on the same page about expectations. It can also help to create a better experience for employees – a straightforward, streamlined process will not only encourage better participation in things like self-assessment but will also help to reduce stress about performance management, as a flowchart gives employees a firm understanding of what exactly the process entails.