Annual appraisal interviews are often perceived as a pointless formality (70% of managers think so!), relegated to the status of a mere administrative ritual. Yet their importance should not be underestimated. These privileged moments of exchange between managers and employees are much more than mere paperwork exercises.

The annual appraisal interview, also known as the personal interview, is an essential human resources management tool. It's a time for exchange, when the key players in a team come together to take stock of the past year, identify successes and challenges, and chart the way forward for the coming year.

All too often, however, these interviews miss their potential, hampered by a lack of preparation on the part of both manager and employee. And yet, with a well-structured, well-prepared approach, these meetings can become stimulating, constructive and fully exploitable opportunities for individual and collective development.

The aim of this article is to provide a practical six-step guide to preparing an effective annual appraisal interview as a manager. By following these key steps, you can turn these meetings into opportunities for mutual commitment, professional growth and continuous improvement. Get ready to make every annual appraisal a catalyst for success for your team and your company.

Empowering employees

The annual appraisal interview is often perceived by employees as a time when they are judged by their manager. To change this dynamic and make this interview more effective and constructive, it is essential to empower and support your employees in its preparation.

So how do you support and empower your employees to take stock of the past year?

Invite them to do a self-assessment before the interview:

• What were their main achievements and successes over the past year?
• What are their strengths and how have they been used?
• What difficulties did they encounter and how did they overcome them?

Encourage them to analyze their professional and personal skills:

• What are their strongest professional skills?
• What personal skills have helped them in their work?
• Which activities do they prefer and why?

Suggest that they think about their career aspirations and goals:

• What impact would they like to have in their current role?
• What is their main motivation, their "Why"?
• How can they express and align this motivation with the company's missions and projects?

Invite them to evaluate how their personal values are reflected in their work environment:

• What are their main values and needs in professional life (e.g. stability, recognition, development)?
• How are these values respected and implemented in their current work?
• What actions could they take to better align their work environment with their values and needs?

Ask them to propose concrete actions for the coming year:

• What areas of development do they wish to prioritize?
• What courses of action have they identified to make progress in these areas?
• How would they rank these actions in terms of impact and effort required?

Support them by providing resources for their personal and professional development:

For example, training modules, personal development playlists such as "Construire sa boussole" by NUMA, or coaching workshops. Access to these resources empowers them and encourages them to take charge of their own development.

If you'd like to support your employees in their self-awareness and help them ask themselves the right questions for ongoing development, NUMA has developed the "Build your compass" playlist, which you can discover here.

Defining a vision of success for the annual review

Ensuring that your employee arrives well-prepared for his or her annual appraisal doesn't mean that you don't have to do your own thorough preparation. The first step in this preparation is to clearly define your vision of success for the annual appraisal: "As a manager, I will be satisfied with this annual appraisal if... [complete this sentence]."

To define this vision, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• What do you want your employee to get out of this interview? Think about the impact you want to have on your employee's motivation and clarity of objectives. Do you want them to come away with a better understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement? Or do you want them to be more committed and aligned with the company's objectives?
• What behaviors or actions do you want them to adopt as a result of this interview? Think about the specific changes you want to see. Perhaps you're looking to encourage more proactive behavior, better communication within the team, or greater attention to detail in his work.
• What "pact" would you like to establish with him/her at the end of the appraisal interview, which will serve as a basis for assessment over the coming months? Consider a clear, mutual agreement on objectives and expectations. This could include measurable performance objectives, professional development actions, or commitments in terms of behavior at work.

For example, for a struggling employee, a vision of success might be: "I'll be satisfied with this interview if we agree on realistic objectives and associated actions, which will enable me to form a conviction about the employee's progress over the next six months." Conversely, for a top performer or top talent, a vision of success might be: "I'll be satisfied if we manage to re-engage him on his job for the coming year, giving him concrete actions to correct minor points that could become problematic in the future."

Define the objectives of the annual appraisal

Defining objectives during an annual appraisal interview is an essential step in guiding an employee's professional development and aligning his or her efforts with the company's priorities. Well-defined objectives provide a clear and motivating roadmap for employees, while contributing to the achievement of the organization's strategic ambitions.

Here are some tips for setting effective goals:

• Alignment with the company's vision and objectives: individual objectives must be aligned with the organization's broader objectives. Make sure that each personal objective contributes directly to the company's mission and vision. This strengthens the employee's sense of contribution and belonging.
• Specificity and clarity: objectives must be clear, precise and measurable. Avoid vague or overly general formulations. Use quantitative or qualitative criteria to assess their achievement, making it easier to monitor progress and provide constructive feedback.
• Realism: objectives must be realistic and achievable. Take into account the employee's current skills, available resources and constraints. Setting over-ambitious goals can be demoralizing and counter-productive. It's better to aim for challenging but achievable goals.
• Relevance: objectives must be relevant to the employee's role and responsibilities. They must represent meaningful challenges that promote professional growth and personal fulfillment. Well-chosen objectives encourage commitment and motivation.
• Timing: set clear deadlines for each objective to maintain momentum and encourage accountability. Stagger objectives over the coming year, taking into account priorities and specific periods of activity. This allows you to structure your efforts and measure progress regularly.
• Flexibility: although specific, objectives need to be flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances or new challenges that may arise during the year. The ability to adjust objectives in response to unforeseen developments is essential to maintaining their relevance and motivation.
• Collaboration: involve employees in the goal-setting process. Encourage dialogue and active participation to ensure greater commitment and better understanding of expectations. An employee who is involved in defining his or her objectives will be more motivated to achieve them.

By applying these principles, you can set objectives that not only stimulate employees' professional development, but also strengthen the company's overall performance. Well-defined objectives drive individual and collective progress, creating a dynamic, success-oriented work environment.

Collect feedback

Collecting feedback throughout the year is essential to accurately determine the areas of development on which to work with your employee. This approach transforms the interview into a genuine opportunity for actionable exchange and professional growth.

To identify these areas for development, we recommend gathering feedback from your colleagues. An informal approach encourages detailed, concrete exchanges, illustrating areas for improvement. Among this feedback, select those for which you have specific suggestions for action or which require in-depth discussion to better understand your employee.

In order to have a rich set of feedbacks for the annual interview, it is advisable to build up a feedback file throughout the year. To do this, create an Excel document or Google sheet, in which you list your observations under four columns: context, observation, impact and next step.

This file model is inspired by the principles of the COIN method, a structured approach that encourages constructive feedback and avoids the often ineffective "feedback sandwich" trap:

• Context: describe the context in which you observed a behavior or action.
• Observation: share the specific observation you have made about the employee.
• Impact: explain why this observation is important, highlighting the consequences for the work or the team.
• Next step: suggest something to think about or do, inviting your colleague to share his or her impressions and offering your support.

Using this structured approach, you can address development areas effectively and constructively during the annual appraisal interview. This promotes focused and sustained professional growth, turning every feedback into an opportunity for learning and continuous improvement. Implementing such a continuous feedback process not only enhances individual performance, but also strengthens the cohesion and effectiveness of the team as a whole.

Prepare an evaluation grid

Once you've clarified your vision of success, objectives and areas for development, it's time to prepare the framework for your interview. This framework will serve as a structuring guide for your discussions with your colleague during the annual performance review, and will include an evaluation grid.

The evaluation grid is an essential tool for structuring the interview and ensuring that all the important points are covered. It enables you to follow a consistent thread throughout the discussion, ensuring a complete and balanced assessment of your employee's performance and skills. To maximize the effectiveness of the interview, we recommend that you formalize this grid on a document shared with the employee in advance of the interview. This enables everyone to prepare properly and to have a common basis for discussion. This transparency fosters mutual understanding of the assessment criteria and objectives to be achieved, while creating a framework conducive to open, constructive dialogue.

At NUMA, we recommend that you structure your evaluation grid into 6 main sections:

1. Overall assessment: this is a clear message that helps the employee project his or her next 6/12 months with the company, in line with your vision of success. Some examples: "To date, you're not delivering, and that's a problem" "You've had a great year, I'm really pleased" "You're on the right track, but I've got some big feedback I'd like us to work on during our interview".

2. The employee's main achievements of the year : 1 to 2 real accomplishments. Use feedback from your peers, if necessary, to make your case for key points (positive or negative). For example: "His analytical skills really struck me on this sequence".

3. Its main strength: what makes it different.

4. Its 2 major development areas: these are the 2 key points to be developed, either on which we don't have the solution (behaviors, soft...) and on which we're going to start a conversation; or the things that put a strain on performance and which we know we can do something about.

When formulating the actions to be implemented to help employees improve in their areas of development, be creative!

• Propose a clear idea / actionable solution if you have it. Example: change certain rituals (change the way 1:1s work, new opportunities for collaboration with other departments, etc.).
• Dig deeper with him, explicitly proposing a coaching approach (list your questions in advance).

5. Collaboration with the manager: formulate a feedback request focused on collaboration and continuous improvement.

6. Medium- and long-term projection : sharing your medium- and long-term perspectives is not a promise that commits you. If you have a "flat" organization or little visibility, focus on the skills you need to acquire.

Download our annual maintenance template at the end of the article!

Prepare a list of questions

Perhaps you've already been through that annual appraisal interview where, after the performance review and feedback, the exchange seems to run out and you find yourself in a rather awkward situation. To avoid this, it's important to prepare a list of questions to ask your colleague beforehand.

The purpose of this list of questions is manifold:

• Encourage your staff to share their thoughts and impressions following feedback.
• Stimulate in-depth discussion of the past year's experiences and achievements.
• Invite employees to express their aspirations and objectives for the coming year.

These questions also help guide the appraisal interview in a more fluid and structured way. For simpler cases, you can ask your questions after following your outline, which encourages an exchange on specific points. For more complex situations, first let the employee express him/herself freely, then use your questions to clarify his/her remarks and engage in a more natural dialogue, before returning to your outline.

The annual appraisal interview is an important moment for both manager and employee. To make the most of this opportunity to look back over the year, our responsibility as managers is to guide our teams in preparing for the interview, specifying what is expected and when, with the help of a template for example.

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