Reports from the Workplace Arena

I began preparing to do the year-end reviews for the staff at my Phoenix appraisal company, and it occurred to me that I will not be getting a year-end review. Whether you are a one person operation or the head of a large Phoenix appraisal company it is important to be able to rate your own performance and look for areas in which you had accomplishments and those areas that need fine-tuning.

I have previously asked employees at my Phoenix appraisal company to rate my performance, in the corporate world these performance reviews are referred to as 360-degree reviews. And I have found these reviews encouraging because they point out my good management traits. However in a Phoenix appraisal company of less than 100 employees, 360-degree reviews can be ineffective. There is a fear that in a company that is small that the manager may recognize the staff member responding to the review. So often times this type of review can be an ego booster but not a true measure of performance and skill growth.

Knowing this has led me to examine how to conduct a year end review for the head of a small company, specifically a Phoenix appraisal company or auction firm. For the purposes of this review let's assume that the focus of your firm is to grow. There are several ways to grade your performance as a leader, manager, worker and possibly as an auctioneer.

The task of conducting your own performance review is much more simplified if you set goals for yourself at the beginning of the year. These goals would allow you to gauge your success as well as your skill sets that need additional work. We will assume you did limited goal planning and you are vowed to do more in the coming year. So we will start with some basic questions.

Obviously the fact that you are conducting your own review means you owe yourself honesty. So make a promise that you will be neither too hard nor too easy on yourself in the review process. The purpose of the exercise is too see if there are ways in which you can grow your Phoenix appraisal company and yourself better and faster to achieve your business dream. You will need to create your performance review around your Phoenix appraisal company and your specific tasks, but here is a starter.

Leadership. Are you a better leader of your Phoenix appraisal company today than a year ago? A good gauge for this is to review whether you are spending more or less time dealing with issues around staff, processes and clients. Less time working on problems and issues rates better performance than more time "putting out fires".

Management. Do you manage people and processes at your Phoenix appraisal company with more ease today than a year ago? This two-part question can actually become three questions. Are you managing your auction processes more efficiently? Do you manage your auction staff with ease, working on better skills? Is the process of managing your clients for higher profit for both your firm and your client improving?

Worker. Are your own skills continuing to be developed? What have you done in the past year to gain more knowledge of your industry and its future? If you were your manager of your Phoenix appraisal company, how would you rate your performance as a worker?

Lastly, look at your goals for the upcoming year. If you aren't a big goal setter, at least take a few minutes to write down five areas you would like to see improved over the next year. How will you rate yourself at the end of the next year on your progress? And if you are really bold share both the goals and the measures for your goals with your spouse or your employees. Accountability is a wonderful thing and a great way to make sure you continue to grow in the new-year.

About the Author:

Deb Weidenhamer is President of Auction Systems, the Southwest's most active auction and appraisal company, as featured in TLC's newest reality show, AUCTIONEER$. Contact us for more information about our Phoenix appraisal company.

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