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The COVID lockdowns, furlough and temporary business closures have made it difficult for many small and medium-sized businesses to keep their employee appraisals process on track, particularly when they have been concentrating on keeping their businesses alive and running!
Employee appraisals traditionally take place once a year, but many businesses now look to conduct short and potentially more effective appraisals several times over the course of twelve months. As an SME owner your time can be short and precious, but an appraisal can be one of the only times you get to have an honest conversation with your employees, praise their achievements and set new goals to match your changing business objectives. Of course, the best policy is to have an open culture where employees feel they can approach you with any ideas or concerns as they find them, but an appraisal offers a real opportunity to evaluate where your business is headed and how best to get your staff supporting you.
As with most things, the preparation to conducting an appraisal is key. Why not consider preparing a standard template that can be filled in by both the employee, their colleagues and you? It helps standardise the process and ensures you capture views from all areas.
The very basic points you should include are:
Download our appraisal form template for free
Firstly, set a date and time when you are committed to your employee. Set a time limit where possible but be open to some flexibility if it is needed. Make sure you do not get disturbed by emails or calls. Nothing is more off-putting or frustrating for an employee than an interrupted appraisal.
It can be difficult to strike the perfect balance of being positive and negative when you carry out an appraisal but try to remember that if you are highlighting concerns that you should approach them in a positive manner and always back up your comments with relevant examples. Try to end your meeting on a positive note by clearly recognising the goals and contributions achieved.
A goal or an objective is a statement of what an individual is aiming to achieve in a key area of responsibility, during the coming period. They should absolutely mesh with your overall business plan, so be very clear what you are trying to achieve as a business owner in the next few months before you conduct appraisals.
There are a minimum of two types of objectives you should consider:
Work objectives: Focusing on improving your employee’s contribution to the effectiveness of the organisation.
Personal objectives: Focusing on improving performance through developing skills, undertaking training, and gaining knowledge, developing deeper emotional intelligence, expanding their creativity or negotiation skills.
A good way of ensuring objectives you are setting are effective and appropriate is to follow SMART guidelines. Objectives should be:
The goals set must be attainable and measurable such that it motivates the employee to accomplish them. They must be consistent with the responsibilities of the employee. Most importantly, the chosen goals must be recognised with a reward or a recognition that drives the employees to achieve it!
Examples of goals which would fit into the two categories above are:
An appraisal is a two-way process. Its very nature is to prompt a discussion between you and your employee. If you have staff in managerial roles, it makes sense to expand your process so that staff reporting to the manager can offer contributions.
Remember to listen and give time for your employee to share their reflections. Sometimes it helps to give them some structure and idea of what you expect to see. Ask them to be honest and describe their achievement and any failures they may want to share. Ask them to describe how they might do things differently and don’t forget to ask them what they view as important for their development and goals. Why not ask them to provide a timeline and action plan for the upcoming appraisal period.
If you are undertaking your first employee appraisals or just want to refresh your skills after a break, our experienced team can provide you with guidance and bespoke documentation. Contact our team at AccountAbility-Plus on 01440 821991 for an informal chat.