Probationary Employee Performance Evaluation: Fill & Download for Free

A performance appraisal is a regular review of an employee's job performance and overall contribution to a company. It is also known as performance rating, performance evaluation, employee assessment, performance review, merit rating, etc.Performance Appraisal is carried out to identify the abilities and competencies of an employee for future growth and development. It is aimed at ascertaining the worth of the employee to the organization, in which he/she works.Objectives of Performance AppraisalTo promote the employees, on the basis of performance and competence.To identify the requirement for training and development of employees.To provide confirmation to those employees who are hired as probationary employees, upon completion of the term.To take a decision regarding the hike in employees pay, incentives etc.To facilitate communication between superior and subordinate.To help employees in understanding where they stand in terms of performance.

Bad performance reviews seldom happen without some advance warning, even if it's just a nagging feeling in your gut. Those nerves are a signal that you should prepare yourself emotionally, and be professional in your responses, to put your best performance forward. Always expect the worst. Always be as professional as you possibly can be.Some managers are better at communicating than others, and even the best managers may have good sound reason to not communicate certain information to you or other members of your team that may bear on your performance evaluation. Some managers are simply terrible communicators. It's your job to help your manager tell a story about your performance that is fair to you, and fairly represents your situation. Don't downplay your challenges, but do highlight your strengths and successes. Show your work, and your effort to do right.I prepare for my performance reviews by writing down aspects of my performance over the time period with specific examples of where I did well and where I might have cause for improvement, so that I'm "armed" when I go in for the conversation, or can respond in writing to particular issues and considerations in a polite, reasonable and professional manner. If you have people you work with who you trust, or sponsors or mentors within the organization, it's helpful to talk with them about how they think you might approach your manager and communicate with them effectively about the various concerns you might have with either your job, your department, the company, or your own performance. Keep in mind there are things you can change and things you can't.The measure of who you are professionally is not just about how you behave when things are going well, but how you choose to respond and react, and how you perform when you are being tested and under pressure. How do you want others to perceive you? If you were the manager, how would you deal with an employee like you as a part of your team? If you were the client and you were disappointed with your contractor's performance, what would you want them to do to remedy the situation? Is it possible or desirable for you to do those things?Think about it this way: it isn't about you, it's about your job performance. The evaluator may completely sympathize with you and respect you on a personal level, but if you failed to accomplish the goals that were expected of you, they cannot and will not reward you simply because you're a good person who is trying really really hard but just not getting "it". From the company's perspective, you failed to accomplish what you were hired to do. There are ramifications for the company because of your failure; missed delivery dates, unhappy clients and customers, regulators who might be even angrier than they already are, lost business, lost revenue, lost opportunity.Now is the time to for you to identify why what happened happened, and ways to keep the bad performance from continuing to happen.So, when getting a bad performance review:Be prepared.Be patient, with yourself, your co-workers and your manager. Give yourself time to think and respond, and ask questions, rather than making statements or defenses. If you are pressed for an immediate response, tell them you need some time to think about the information they've given you, and will get back within 24 hours. Be firm and give yourself some time.Be professional. An emotionally charged reaction will serve only to justify the bad performance evaluation. You may be angry, disappointed or feel that the evaluation was unfair; but keep that under your hat until you get home and have time to work it out. You do no one any favors, least of all yourself, by gossiping, moaning, and complaining about your allegedly unfair treatment. Your co-workers will treat you like a pariah or take pity on you when you need their help and respect the most. Be professional and act maturely.Ask for specific examples of situations and goals where the manager and the company believes you failed to deliver what you promised.Examine each example and identify the points where you could have made better choices, or reached out for help. Ask your manager how you could have done better, and what would be or would have been the right course to take.Listen, really listen to what the evaluator is saying and writing.Make a specific commitment for change; set measurable goals to demonstrate change and write them down, in agreement with your manager. Again, ask your manager for help. Identify reasonable timelines to demonstrate that you can change, i.e. "in 30 days I will have completed x", "in 60 days I will have done y". And do it.Recognize that there are some things you might not be able to change about yourself or your situation. You may have to reevaluate your goals. For instance, if you are unable to meet sales goals because the company changed your territory, request additional time to develop that new territory, and modify your goals in agreement with your manager. You might be in a sales role but unable to close or lousy at powerpoint; ask for sales coaching, or help with presentation development and delivery, whether through a class or better admin support. Try to improve your skills; if you continue to have trouble and difficulty delivering but want to stay in the industry, consider other roles within the organization. Your company might not have any more time or patience to get you up to speed for this particular role; accept that and consider with your manager what your next step should be, whether your role is able to be modified to allow you to focus on the things you are good at, or whether you might consider another, related role within the organization if it becomes available, or moving from full-time to part-time, contractor status, etc.Make sure you know what happens next. Keep in mind that the process in many companies is that bad performance evaluations are followed by a 30-day probationary window for change, after which immediate termination is likely if the situation has not improved to some degree. You may have a longer or shorter window; or this might not be relevant to the process in your organization at all. Thirty days is a very short period to demonstrate much other than desire, effort, and general "good citizenship", and to get your resume out if "the worst" should happen. If "the worst" does happen, as you approach the end of the period and things are not improving, come to an agreement with your manager with respect to your representations about your employment and a "story" about why you left. It's almost always easier to find a job when you have one. This is probably not a good time to take a two-week vacation.Consider the source. Many bad performance reviews are rooted in personality conflicts or bad cultural fits. You're not going to be able to change the culture; so either you have to be willing to change yourself, or be prepared to find another job. This does not mean that you have failed; it may mean that the job is not what you thought it would be, or it may mean that the job is simply not a good fit for someone with your particular skills and talents. It's your job to tell your story to your manager so that they can justify their support of you, and argue the case for why you should be given the opportunity to remedy your situation. I've seen situations where people were not good fits or unhappy in their jobs; and were promoted out of them, rather than fired or let go because the more senior or complex role fit their talents and capabilities better. It is up to you to earn respect and demonstrate your overall value to the company above and beyond a particular role.Sometimes your manager will not be accommodating, or might not have any interest or desire in helping you work things through. You may have a lousy manager. Maybe they don't like you; inherited you from another manager; or don't believe you work well with the rest of the team. Be polite, stay professional. Don't argue with them or get defensive. Talk with HR if you feel your manager is unreasonable and give them specifics; consider asking for a third party to help mediate the communication between you and the manager, if only temporarily. Even if you were unfairly treated and discriminated against, it is possible that you contributed to the situation somehow or can be accused of being a willing, consenting participant; be prepared. If you are a whistleblower and feel you are being retaliated against, absolutely consult the whistleblower policies at your company, the ones available to you under law, and an attorney.Think about looking for a new role either in the company or outside the company. Put your concerns in writing, and keep copies. Above all, be professional and polite. If the issues are especially serious and involve behavior you feel is potentially discriminatory or egregious, contact a labor attorney to identify your options. You might not have any at options at law, but understand that it is always your choice to stay or go with an at-will employer. If you're under contract, understand the ramifications if you terminate your contract or are terminated, and try to mitigate your worst case scenario. You always have the option to quit, no matter your personal circumstance. Even though it may be very difficult, maintain your integrity and self-worth. No job is worth a heart attack, or a bad back, or insomnia or deep depression. If you are manifesting physical symptoms and your health is compromised because of the stress of your job, something has to change. This "bad performance evaluation" is further evidence that perhaps the role as you currently understand it is not right for you, and might just save your life.No one is good at everything. Just because you receive a bad performance evaluation doesn't necessarily mean that you have a bad manager, that you work for a lousy company, that you are a loser and a failure, or that you are bad at your job. It's a signal for change. Identify what that signal means to you and your goals, and be the change you want to see.

It was a charge against another police officer.Roger (not his real name) was a sergeant when I was hired, and one of the most natural emergent leaders I’ve ever met. Take away the badges and rank insignia, and everyone would still look to Roger to be in charge. It was just his natural role in life. Like any good leader, he constantly looked out for his people. He seemed to know something was bothering you before you knew what it was.Our executive types did not like Roger. He garnered loyalty that they craved and were unable to obtain. It was very clear that he would never rise above the rank of sergeant, not that this bothered him.One of our captains got word that a junior officer on the graveyard (overnight) shift was falling asleep on the job. The captain ordered Roger to fire the officer, or at least persuade him to resign. Roger sought out the officer, and learned that he had a small ranch with livestock. When the officer was hired, he was on day or evening shift, and could manage the chores. On graveyard, he didn’t have time to do his chores and get enough sleep, and he was falling asleep in his car. He said this would not be a problem if he could get back to days or evenings, but he had been transferred in a random shuffle of patrol cops that had taken place a few months before (we later went to a system where we bid for shifts by seniority).Roger saw this problem as having a simple solution. He went to the evening shift sergeants and polled them to see if any had someone who would be willing to move to graveyard. One officer said he would do it. Roger had the two officers trade shifts. Problem solved.The captain was livid that Roger hadn’t fired the cop. Roger tried to explain that his solution preserved resources (the problem cop was otherwise a good performer), but the captain saw Roger’s actions as a form of betrayal and disloyalty. He believed his subordinates should do as they were told, even if it was bad for the troops and the department. Loyalty was everything. The captain told Roger, “I’ll break your back.”The captain put Roger on “special evaluations,” meaning he would have a quarterly performance review, like a probationary employee. It’s a typical first step in “package building,” where the brass try to document and spin everything an employee does wrong or can be couched as wrong, at the same time ignoring anything they might be doing right. The result is a “package” that can be used to discipline or fire the employee. This was a common practice at the police department.While all this was going on, Roger was having some personal problems in his life. He had made a major purchase toward opening a business, and the debt on the purchase was draining him. The business wasn’t making nearly enough money to cover the debt, and the assets were on the verge of being repossessed.Within a month or two, Roger had all he could take, and took a voluntary demotion to police officer. The sergeant who inherited Officer Roger wasn’t too pleased, as the troops on that team naturally looked to Roger for direction, rather than to the team sergeant. This wasn’t anything Roger orchestrated. It was just the natural order of things.One night, Roger assisted with an accident investigation where the driver at fault was a man of about 20 years. He was extremely drunk and extremely obnoxious. He cursed and resisted Roger at every opportunity, made frequent threats and generally behaved like an asshole. Roger had to take him to the hospital to have his blood drawn for alcohol content analysis.Roger lost his temper. While the prisoner was handcuffed, Roger hit him, with his fist, three times. Now, this was clearly wrong, and Roger would have been the first one to tell anyone so. He immediately called for a relief and for a supervisor. He didn’t wait for the prisoner to make a complaint.He probably should have. When the prisoner sobered up, he refused to make a complaint. He said Roger was the most patient and professional police officer he had ever encountered, and that he (the prisoner) deserved what he got.The police department’s response was to charge Roger with three counts of attempted murder, one for each punch. I should note here that Roger wasn’t an accomplished martial artist or boxer. His punches caused no injuries to the prisoner. Roger was, of course, fired.Roger was eventually able to get the charges dismissed, as the police department was about the only entity interested in prosecuting Roger. However, he became unemployable, and he had to withdraw his retirement account to pay for his legal defense, which voided his pension. He was a senior NCO in the Air National Guard, and they suspended him until the charges were resolved. After they were dismissed, they made him a full-time Air Guardsman, and then he got a job with the TSA. Roger got colon cancer a few years ago. It killed him within a year. I attended his funeral. There were only three of us there from the police department, and the other two had been fellow Air Guardsmen as well.Not all police departments are like this, but too many of them are personality-driven, rewarding loyalty instead of accomplishment. Where this happens, it requires a change in organizational culture to fix, and that takes both a lot of time and a powerful, ethical leader who is willing to brave the storm.