Childcare Workforce Development Team
Guide to Recruiting and Managing Childcare Staff
Appraisals
Regular staff appraisals should be carried out to identify the training needs of staff.
A programme of continuing professional development should be applied so that
these needs are met.
Appraisal is a way of regularly and systematically recording an assessment of an
employee’s performance, potential and development needs. The true aim of an
appraisal system is to develop, not to blame, reward or praise. If an appraisal is
conducted properly it will help the employee to form an objective view of their past
performance, as well as encourage better performance for the future.
Appraisals should be at least once a year and every 6 months is even better and
ideally this will be stated in an appraisal policy. The formal appraisal meeting
should not be the only opportunity that staff members have to talk one-to-one with
their manager. Appraisal should form an integral part of the performance
management process, linking closely to staff supervisions.
A staff appraisal should ideally be done by the employee’s direct manager,
supervisor or line manager. It should be done by someone who is familiar with the
employee’s work and who has regular contact with that employee in the
workplace. It should also be done by someone who has the authority to take any
ideas or opportunities forward i.e. if the employee requests to do some training,
the appraiser should be able to either agree this themselves or be able to take this
to someone more senior to make a decision. It is important that managers also
receive appraisals from the setting owner/ management committee as often as
other staff members do.
In the interests of fairness, all appraisals should follow a set format. The manager
should take brief notes and the staff members should sign them to confirm they
are accurate. Both the manager and the staff member should keep a copy of the
notes. The format should encourage open discussion rather than simple box
ticking. A review form is the simplest way to do this.
Appraisals need to cover the following areas:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reviewing the period since last appraisals
Major achievements
Planning for the period ahead
Support or guidance
Areas of difficulty and possible ways to overcome them
Career progression
Identifying training and development needs
Personal and work based well being
All information contained within this guide is current on 01/01/2011. However, for all statutory and legal
requirements, it is recommended further advice is sought from the appropriate organisation.
Factsheet C3
Childcare Workforce Development Team
Guide to Recruiting and Managing Childcare Staff
To prepare for an appraisal, a manager can consider the employee’s performance
and development needs and gather other peoples feedback if it is needed. However,
there is no need for any preparatory written notes or reports, because the appraisal
report should be drawn from the discussion during the appraisal meeting.
It is important that the appraiser considers how they can conduct positive and
constructive appraisals. Here are some of the important things they should consider:
• Make sure adequate time is free for the meeting , ideally 1 to 1.5 hours
• Meetings should be one to one without interruptions.
• Staff should be given at least two weeks notice of an appraisal meeting.
• Managers should try not to cancel or change appraisal meetings.
• Targets should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and
time-based).
• Manager should encourage employee to discuss issues rather than talking
at them.
All staff appraisal documents should be kept for current staff and filed confidentially.
Staff appraisal forms should be made available to the employee at any point they
wish to view them.
How appraisal sits within the performance management framework
Supervision
Appraisal
Description
A regular 1 to 1 meeting
between the supervisor
and supervisee
Focus
Organisational,
professional,
safeguarding concerns
and personal objectives
An annual meeting
(reviewed every 6
months) between the
supervisor and
supervisee
Longer term performance
review and development
planning / objectives.
 identifying what has
gone well, and what
hasn’t gone so well
over the last year
 setting measurable
objectives/targets in
line with team
objectives/targets for
the coming year
 having an opportunity
to identify learning
and development to
help staff member
carry out their role
Managing
the
business
Work
related
meetings /
chats
Dealing with
day-to-day
issues as
they arise.
All information contained within this guide is current on 01/01/2011. However, for all statutory and legal
requirements, it is recommended further advice is sought from the appropriate organisation.
Factsheet C3
Childcare Workforce Development Team
Guide to Recruiting and Managing Childcare Staff
Typical
frequency
2–6 weeks depending
on job and individual
requirements
Characteristics Planned & structured.
Some preparation
Annually (with 6-monthly
review)
Planned & structured.
Significant preparation.
As required
on any
working day
Ad hoc,
when
required
Supporting Documents
Acas Appraisals Guide [PDF 825KB]
Example Staff Appraisal Template [WORD 81KB]
Example Staff Appraisal Policy [WORD 22KB]
Useful organisations
Acas Independent advice, guidance and training for employers and employees
www.acas.org.uk
National Helpline 08457 47 47 47
All information contained within this guide is current on 01/01/2011. However, for all statutory and legal
requirements, it is recommended further advice is sought from the appropriate organisation.
Factsheet C3