Managers today are busier than ever. With all the tasks that need to happen, it's easy to put conducting employee appraisals off until a later time. What's even worse is that when management is so busy and/or improperly trained, those appraisals that are conducted often fail miserably at their primary goal of motivating employees.

It doesn't matter whether employee appraisals aren't being conducted at all or whether the individuals responsible for doing them aren't putting forth the effort needed to do them right. Both situations can spell disaster for your organisation. The dangers might not be immediately noticeable but they're slowly building with each passing day.

If you organization is experiencing a higher than normal turnover rate, perhaps one reason is your organisation's approach to employee appraisals. Employees need constructive feedback to help keep them motivated and to help them do their jobs better. And more importantly, they deserve this feedback.

If you don't understand why, try looking at employee appraisals through the eyes of your employees.

Employee appraisals are great motivators. The first typically takes place after 3 months of employment. During this period you can be sure most employees are putting their best effort into their work. After all, it's usually the time when both sides determine whether or not an employee continues working at the organisation.

What do you think happens when no one from management takes time to discuss an employee's performance during that crucial 3-month period? Well the last thing they'll likely think is that management is simply too busy.

Instead they'll start thinking all sorts of negative thoughts. They'll think their work is inadequate, or that it's just taken for granted, or that management doesn't really care how they perform. They might even start thinking that they'll be let go, so why bother putting forth the effort any longer.

You may never really know what your employees think when your organisation doesn't do what was promised during the initial negotiations. But you can be certain their thoughts likely will be negative!

Miss one appraisal and you're setting the stage for disaster. Skip appraisals time after time and discontent starts to spread.

Employees might not interact much with managers, but they do talk amongst themselves. They'll share stories of miscommunication and missed pay increases. Their grumblings will start to erode motivation. Slowly but surely, your employees, even those whom you consider your best, start to feel there's no longer any reason to work hard. Some will even seek greener pastures.

When employees quit, they have to be replaced. Until that happens, it'll be very difficult for your organisation to be as productive as it needs to be. Those vacancies must be filled and that costs time. If you contract out the task, that costs money. Both affect your bottom line.

Few organisations can afford the hidden costs of missed or insufficient employee appraisals. Fortunately, there's no need for any of this to happen. A comprehensive software package like Simply Personnel HR software can facilitate your organisation's employee appraisal process. When it's used, the built-in scheduling tools, reminder system and templates help keep every employee appraisal on track.

Templates take the guesswork out of the appraisal process and help ensure consistency. When you're commenting about an employee's work performance, you know how important consistency is. Completed employee appraisals are stored in Simply Personnel's human resources database which means the supporting documentation is always there, whenever you need it.

Simply Personnel HR software really makes conducting employee appraisals so much easier. If you aren't using it yet, perhaps it's time you give it a try!