A key area of Guardian and Observer staff concern has been met with the announcement that Guardian News & Media has exceeded its target of achieving an 80% completion rate for appraisals for commercial staff by the end of 2009.
This is the first time in five years that the company has met its target on appraisals and it been repeatedly criticised by its independent auditors for lack of progress.
One key reason for delays in the past was the large-scale reorganisation within GNM to make it fit for purpose as the business increasingly shifts from print to digital.
The turnaround has come as a result of the board of directors prioritising the issue. A departmental appraisal league table has been presented every month at the Commercial Directors meeting and data on appraisals has been published on Spike, the staff intranet, so that all employees can also monitor progress.
Tim Brooks, GNM managing director, says: "Last year we set ourselves a target, in the non-editorial departments, that by Christmas 2009 we would have made sure that more than 80% of all staff had received an appraisal from their manager in the preceding 12 months. I am delighted to say we have passed that milestone three months early."
However, it looks likely that the editorial departments will again miss their targets, having committed to a quarter of its staff being appraised by December.
Brooks told staff: "Appraisal completion rates in editorial as at September 2009 showed that 4.1% of editorial staff have had an appraisal discussion in the last twelve months, an increase of 1% on last month and showing a definite trend in the right direction over the last few months and we anticipate that the figures will continue to rise steadily over the next few months."
Brooks sees appraisals as essential to ensuring the long-term health of the company: "There is no black magic about appraisal. It consists of a chance, outside of the normal day-to-day work interaction, to sit down with your boss and talk through what is going well, what is not, and what you each want and hope for out of the coming 6 or 12 months. What is helpful here I think is a distinction we operate in thinking of our company, between performance, and health. The performance of a business is measured, most obviously, in its monthly profit and loss account. Health is to do with the longer term, and is measured by a whole range of things - for example, what your customers think of you. A company can be performing well, but exhibiting symptoms of ill-health which will undermine future performance. High appraisal rates are one gauge of health. Everybody has a right to understand what their manager thinks of what they are doing; and likewise should have the opportunity to talk without pressure about their personal concerns or ambitions. That is what appraisal is. Well done to those departments already ensuring this happens regularly."
Despite high scores in many areas, the last employee survey in 2008 showed staff were disappointed about career progression, pay transparency and appraisals, issues which have been highlighted as weaknesses ever since the surveys were introduced several years ago.
Some of the lower scores were 28% saying they do not know who to ask about career development and 30% not getting regular feedback on their work performance.
Another survey is currently underway, with the results due to be announced in the late autumn.
To ensure an effective process, every manager conducting appraisals has received training and in the annual staff survey staff are asked not only if they received an appraisal, but if it was useful, and if it was followed up. Finally, each appraisal is logged with HR, which triggers an email to the person appraised, asking them if the meeting was useful; if a record was made of the key points; and if actions have been agreed for follow-up (e.g. training).
