Organising staff appraisals is a management responsibility that means that a number of activities are planned prior to implementation. 

At the operational level

Staff appraisals must be conducted with all employees annually. This also includes people on sick leave, parental leave or other leave of absence.  

If necessary, read more about what applies in the case of retirement or other planned departure, parental leave or sick leave, leave for trade union duties or other leave. 

The person responsible for holding staff appraisals must be the salary-setting manager and it must be clear in the organisation who holds staff appraisals with which employees. In exceptional cases where it is not the salary-setting manager who holds staff appraisals, this must be discussed and a plan for reporting back to the salary-setting manager must be in place. 

When a new manager starts his or her employment, the superior manager must ensure the new manager's competence regarding staff appraisals and, if necessary, implement competence-enhancing measures. If you need support in staff appraisals, contact your organisation's HR partner. 

The following should be discussed at the department/division/unit.

Activity-specific issues  

Organisation-wide focus areas, goals, priorities, etc., must be communicated to the managers so that these are addressed in the staff appraisals. 

Follow-up 

Planning for the follow-up of the appraisal should be in place for each activity. For example, measures for joint plans in the systematic work environment management, the systematic preventive work against discrimination and joint skills development activities. 

On an individual level 

Preparing the appraisal is a responsibility for both manager and employee and aims to achieve high quality appraisals.

Responsibilities of the manager 

• Inform in good time about the appraisal, where the timetable and question areas are described. Focus on issues that you as a manager or management consider to be a priority and use the available support material. Ask the employees to make suggestions and inform the manager in advance about any other issues that the employees consider important during the discussions. 
• Make an appointment and neutral location for the calls and set aside enough time for each call. It is less appropriate to hold the conversation in the manager's office. Set aside between 45 and 90 minutes per call depending on how much needs to be discussed. The appraisal should be perceived as positive for both manager and employee, which is why sufficient time should be booked. 
• Follow up on previous years' individual goals and professional development plan to be able to provide feedback to each employee on the results of the previous year's staff appraisals. Think about what goals are important for the coming years, both on an individual and operational level.  
• Consider what type of skills development may be appropriate for each employee for the coming year, depending on, for example, new and changed tasks and increased responsibility.  
• If necessary, collect information from other clients, such as project managers or research supervisors, in order to get an overall picture of the person's assignment and work situation.

Employee's responsibilities 

• Follow up on previous years' discussions and go through the individual goals and professional development plan that were set at that time.  
• Prepare a description of your work situation. 
• Prepare your own goals and assignments as well as the need for concrete activities and development to be able to carry out your mission and achieve the goals. 
• It is important that both manager and employee come prepared to the appraisal so that the appraisal is perceived as equal. The staff appraisal is not about the manager telling the employee what will happen in the coming year. The idea is that the manager and the employee will jointly plan the coming year through dialogue based on the overall goals that exist.

If necessary, see specific questions: 

• Before retirement or other planned departure,
• during parental leave or sick leave,
• in the case of leave for trade union duties; or
• other leave of absence.   

Before retirement or other planned departure 

When an employee leaves their employment for retirement or other reasons, it is important to make a plan well in advance for the transfer of skills and tasks for which the employee is responsible. Keep in mind that different job categories may have different notice periods due to length of employment or local collective agreements. 

• Identify what tasks the employee has and conduct a joint dialogue on how these can best be taken care of before the departure. 
• Identify work groups and other areas of responsibility that the employee has and is involved in so that they can be taken care of in a good way. 

During parental leave or sick leave

When an employee is either on parental leave or on long-term sick leave, the employee must be offered a performance review. If the employee does not wish to hold the interview during ongoing parental leave or sick leave, the interview is preferably held in connection with the employee's return to work. 

On these occasions, it can be a good idea to discuss the assignment that the employee will have when returning to work and what support and skills development the employee needs. 

In the case of leave for trade union duties 

When an employee has an ongoing assignment as a trade union representative, either full-time or part-time, the employment from which the employee is temporarily on leave remains in place. Employees who are trade union representatives must have a performance review with their regular manager and the review should focus on how the employee can maintain contact with the workplace and establish a plan for returning to work that can be activated when the employee returns to work. 

For an employee who is a trade union representative for a long period of time and on a larger scale, it is important to maintain contact with the workplace and maintain a certain level of competence. This is to ensure that the employee does not end up in a worse position than they would have been in had they not been a trade union representative. 

For other types of leave 

An employee who has been granted leave of absence for reasons other than the above is entitled to a performance review in connection with the return to thier original employment. 

The conversation is based on mutual trust and both parties have a shared responsibility for the conversation. Manage your time so you have time for everything. Performance appraisals must be documented and signed by both parties.

Things to keep in mind during the conversation

1. Phones should be turned off.
2. Raise agreed issues.
3. Park questions that take a long time and are not directly related to the intentions of the conversation.
4. Listen actively. Make sure you understand each other.
5. Respect each other's opinions and experiences.
6. Don't promise anything that won't be implemented.
7. The conversation is in confidence. Agree on what should be taken forward, if any.

Conduct the appraisal based on three time perspectives:

1. Retrospect
2. Current situation.
3. Future.

Retrospect 

Follow up and provide feedback on what has happened since the last staff appraisal by jointly reviewing the previous year's goals and competence development plan:

1. Evaluate the activities that were to be carried out according to the previous staff appraisal.
2. Follow up on previously set goals and what has affected the outcome.
3. The employee's view of the past year.
4. Constructive feedback on completed work performance.
5. Evaluate the interaction between manager and employee.

Current situation 

Make a joint reconciliation of what the work situation looks like at present, regarding:

1. Duties: main tasks, own achievements and results, desire for change – is the competence utilised in the best way?
2. Participation in the workplace: internal meetings, seminars, workplace meetings, active participation, changes.
3. Work situation: work climate, stress, anxiety, equal treatment.
4. Physical work environment: equipment, premises, aids.
5. Collaboration with others: colleagues and students.
6. Prerequisites: resources, authority, time, opportunity to influence.
7. Personal responsibility: commitment, initiative, responsibility, treatment.

Future (planning)

Create a common view of how the employee's tasks and how these should be prioritized, goals and development areas.

The goals of the organisation are broken down and provide a basis for the individual's goals. It is a good idea that the goals of the organisation have previously been discussed in the working group and that the employees are well acquainted with the planning of operations. The goals must be concrete, clear and possible to implement and follow up.

In connection with setting individual goals and concretizing the employee's tasks and assignments, it is important to talk about the employee's skills and skills development needs. This is documented in the competence development plan.

Briefly about competence:

1. Consists of knowledge, ability and willingness to act.
2. Shaped by the interaction between different individuals and their values.
3. Develop further through your own reflections, experiences and the desire to learn.

In a broad sense, competence can be defined as the ability to cope with the various demands of a certain situation in a particular activity. Competence develops when one is driven by curiosity, a sense of meaningfulness in the task and motivation to learn.

Competence development goals can refer to both the skills needed to perform the employee's duties, as well as skills development that enables the employee to develop their career.

Documentation of the staff appraisal

Based on the completed appraisal, the individual goals must be established and the Competence Development Plan updated (templates can be downloaded in the right-hand column). These are used as a basis for follow-up during the year and next year's staff appraisals.

As the documents form the basis for further discussions between the parties and serve as a starting point for the performance and results to be assessed in connection with the subsequent salary review, it must be clear what the parties have agreed on. Should there be a change of manager during the financial year, clear documentation makes it easier for the new manager to take over from the old one.

Keep in mind that the documentation from the appraisal may constitute a public document and sensitive information should not be documented here. If there is a need to document sensitive data, it should be documented in other ways. Rehabilitation issues, misconduct, etc., are appropriately addressed in another type of meeting and documentation is then kept in a manner appropriate for that purpose, for example in agreements on tests, written reprimands, etc. If you are unsure, contact your HR partner.

Both manager and employee sign the individual goals and professional development planas confirmation that the content reflects what has emerged in the conversation.

Identify any common issues that should be raised to the department or equivalent and result in measures for the entire operation.

A follow-up of agreed activities should be carried out on an ongoing basis during the year, as this is part of the strategic competence plan and to ensure that the development is in accordance with the set plan. Both manager and employee are responsible for carrying out the activities described in the plan for the performance appraisal.

Plan and implement common work environment measures in accordance with the development plan for systematic work environment management.

Comments on the conversation

The manager and the employee must jointly evaluate the conversation. This can be done at the next conversation as time is often needed to reflect before evaluation.

The purpose of developing and improving the form and implementation of the appraisal:

1. Evaluate the purpose and content and give suggestions for improvements.
2. Organization of the performance appraisals of the business.