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What is an appraisal?

Each year, we ask everyone working at Berkshire Healthcare to complete an appraisal with their manager.

This meeting is an opportunity for you to talk about:

• Both the highs and lows of the last 12 months
• Your overall wellbeing and how we can maintain and/or improve your working life
• Your performance in your role, including your set objectives and your more general behaviours at work
• Your career plans and development opportunities to help you achieve them
• Your goals and set objectives for the next 12 months in your role

To help prepare for your appraisal, we provide you with an easy-to-use template as well as example answers and supporting materials, such as a list of expected behaviours for different roles and bands to browse.

As part of your local induction, you’ll meet with your manager to set your first objectives in your new role. Each member of your teams’ personal objectives should be designed to help you collectively achieve your agreed team objectives. You’ll get an opportunity to begin reviewing your progress towards your objectives in either September (mid-year appraisal) or May (annual appraisal) depending on your start date.

Setting SMART objectives

We believe in setting objectives that let you feel empowered and confident in your role without adding additional stress to your daily working life.

To achieve this, we train our managers in setting SMART objectives.

S = Specific (a clear and detailed description of what success looks like)

M = Measurable (can be measured against an original figure, e.g. something increasing or decreasing as a result of your objective)

A = Achievable (you have the needed resources and support available)

R = Relevant (meets your skillset and aligns with the team objectives)

T = Timely (can be completed within the 12 month appraisal period)

Personal development and training opportunities

Our appraisal process is a fantastic tool for you to review your own career plan with your manager and set personal SMART objectives for your own learning and development.

Depending on your ambitions, you can choose to take advantage of our in-house training courses on various leadership and management skills or look to external providers for courses to help you specialise and better develop your existing skills.

You can apply for funding for external courses through our Training Needs Analysis (TNA) process which runs several times a year.