LONDON - MANY British workers think their annual appraisals are a waste of time, saying they do not trust their boss to be honest or to take much notice of what is discussed, a survey released on Monday said.
The turn of the year sees a busy round of meetings, form filling, objective-setting and some soul-searching in many British enterprises and institutions.
Researchers found a quarter of respondents thought managers simply regarded the reviews as a 'tick-box' exercise while one in five accused their bosses of not even thinking about the appraisal until they were in the room.
Almost half (44 per cent) did not think their boss was honest during the process, 29 per cent thought they were pointless, and a fifth felt they had had an unfair appraisal, according to the YouGov poll of just under 3,000 workers.
Only a fifth believed their manager would always act on what came up during the review and 20 per cent said their boss never bothered to follow up any concerns raised.
However four out of 10 thought appraisals were a useful guide to an individual's progress.
'It is encouraging that many people now receive an annual review and the research suggests that they find the feedback useful,' said Simon Jones, Acting Chief Executive of Investors in People, which commissioned the survey.
'It's a great chance for managers to make sure their employees feel challenged and valued for the year ahead, rather than unmotivated and without guidance.'
The survey found those working in the public sector were the most negative about appraisals while those employed in accountancy and financial services were more likely to see them as useful. -- REUTERS
