Faculty Development

So, what are the benefits of appraisal? Having said that the appraisee as job holder is the person who should primarily benefit, which is certainly true, a well-applied appraisal process can have a wide range of other benefits. These benefits can be usefully thought through under three headings: benefits to the organisation (this may be the NHS trust, practice or the overall NHS), benefits to the line manager and benefits to the job holder.

Benefits to the organisation

• A consistent process for recognising and managing staff performance.
• A source of information for planning and decision making.
• A way of analysing and responding to development needs.
• Improved communication and staff motivation.

Benefits to the line manager

• A framework for sharing feedback, discussing performance and fixing problems.
• A structure for reviewing and aligning the contributions of team members.
• Planning future performance through the use of work-based or learning objectives.
• Feedback on own management style and approach.

Benefits to the job holder

• Constructive feedback, including praise and criticism.
• A chance to focus on developing their individual performance.
• Having a voice in the team’s planning.
• Having an opportunity to raise problems, barriers and obstacles.
• Coming away with a clear set of work and personal development objectives, a better understanding of standards and requirements, and an action plan for future development.

As you will have noted, many of the above ideas intersect all three areas, potentially resulting in a dynamic combination of benefits. And all of this essentially gained from the simple but skilful sharing of feedback.