Reinforce Teamwork with Performance Appraisals

Why should workers strive to help their teams succeed then their performance appraisals - and salary increases - focus on individual achievement? If your company uses team performance rather than individual performance, your appraisals must reflect those objectives.

Make sure to follow these pointers:
- Set both individual and team goals - Work with employees to get two sets of goals - one addressing individual performance issues and the other addressing team performance. For example, you may want employees to take the initiative in their individual duties rather than over relying on you for guidance. But when they're operating as part of a team, they need to work cooperatively with other team members rather than striking out on their own. Make clear that difference roles have different expectations and it's important for workers to adapt well to each situation.
- Link pay to team performance - How important is a given work team's activity to the overall performance of your department? Does it account for 20 or 50 percent of your workload? Determine what weight should be given to team activities, then rework pay and bonus structures to reflect those percentages. If 50% of an employee's time is spent acting as part of a work team, then 50% of the employee's compensation should be tied to the team's performance.