Career Marketing

Appraiseeship

'The appraisal is just another chat with your boss'. 'The appraisal is like a job interview'. Which is right? The answer is, both!

Ideally, you talk with your boss throughout the year and know exactly where you stand on all appraisal issues. This is just a chance for a possibly longer, more private, and more structured chat. On the other hand, this is a major career marketing opportunity, to be approached as thoroughly as any job interview. Not only can you sell yourself to your boss at the interview, but the forms may be seen by his or her line management, personnel, and managers in other areas to which you have applied.

If you have followed the advice in the career marketing series, including the article on 'interviewee-ship', you should be well prepared. You will know what you want, what you have to offer, what your goals are, what your achievements have been, what your milestones are, how well you have done on factors such as those mentioned below, how to project the right image, how to listen at the appraisal and how to communicate, and whether your job description has changed. You should be self-confident.

Study the company's preparatory/background material in good time, and prepare what you want to say. Note your own performance against the factors on your company's appraisal form throughout the review period (and on your boss's own checklist, if any). In the interview you will then be able to give concrete examples or statistics on what you have achieved, which your boss may remember later.

Appraisals should summarise and rate your past performance, and discuss how improvements can be made, on both technical and managerial skills, as appropriate. The technical skills will depend to some extent on the job. The managerial skills may include:

establishing and carrying out the priorities at work
planning, organising and controlling work
resolving problems and taking the necessary decisions
delegating work and following up
motivating
training and developing
utilising resources efficiently
initiating and following up new ideas
adapting to change
communicating accurately with seniors/colleagues
client relationships

The appraisal should also include:

Objectives agreed for the next review period.
Your (reasonable) aspirations for your career .
Whether the you will be ready to take on additional responsibility, and if so, what type, and when..

Bibliography

Braddick, W.A.G	' Management for Bankers '	Butterworths, 1987
Davidson, Jeffrey P.	' Blow Your Own Horn'	New York, Amacom, 1987
Mulligan, John	' The Personal Management Handbook	London , Sphere, 1988