Some companies have two sets of appraisals used for onsite workers and for remote workers. The problem with this is that people who work onsite may feel that the remote workers have an easy ride and may not have as many things expected of them. Remote workers may feel the opposite is true.
In an ideal situation, a company has one performance appraisal for all employees, no matter where they are located. The basis for evaluation is the same and it does not differentiate between onsite workers and remote workers.
Appraising people based on how the manager or supervisor observes them is not always fair or equitable. Management must see the bigger picture beyond how the job is completed. We've all worked with people who manage to get top-notch appraisals and yet we know their work habits are less than desirable. So how does one appraise the work of a person that is not even onsite?
To manage remote workers, it is imperative for managers to:
- Set clear performance objectives - identify specific tasks and behavioural objectives to be accomplished, prioritize objectives.
- Clearly define criteria - how is work completed measured? By number of projects or piecework completed?
- Define deliverables and deadlines - put these in writing in advance.
These same criteria are also ideal methods to evaluate onsite workers. While this seems to be an easy solution to what is a hard question, the difficulty lies in actually implementing these guidelines on a company wide basis and using them to evaluate all employees.
