Management training explains the importance of a good appraisal system for any company that is serious about the personal development of their employees. Essential to any such system are the metrics for measuring performance.

The key to good appraisals is achievable targets. Some targets lend themselves to measurement very well. For example, expenditure targets can be measured to the penny. They are, by definition, fixed targets and, unless they are reviewed regularly throughout the year can seem very unfair to the person who has been given them. Equally, if they can be changed easily there seems little point in setting them in the first place.

Customer satisfaction is a popular area for setting targets. For example the company as a whole may be tasked with achieving a 98 percent customer satisfaction rating. This can be cascaded down to the company’s front line staff. How is the satisfaction measured? One way is to ask customers to give feedback each time they receive an order. This usually excludes customers who have complaints as they tend not to fill in unnecessary forms.

There are of course many skills which should form the basis of targets that can only be measured in a highly subjective way. An example of this is communication skills.