The Art of Meaningful Employee Evaluations

In this episode, Sue engages in conversation with another member of Capstone’s coaching team, Julie Coneset. They discuss the intricacies of performance appraisals and the importance of transforming them from mere tasks into meaningful leadership practices. They explore the significance of preparation and planning, creating valuable conversations, understanding employee goals, and the role of self-evaluations. The conversation also addresses the pitfalls of overrating employees and the necessity of honest feedback. Julie shares insights for new leaders and the challenges faced by interim leaders. They emphasize the importance of continuous feedback throughout the year to alleviate the pressure of annual evaluations.

• Performance appraisals should be embraced as valuable leadership practices, not just tasks.
• Preparation and planning are crucial for effective performance evaluations.
• Creating a two-way dialogue during evaluations enhances their value.
• Self-evaluations provide insight into employee perceptions.
• Avoid overrating employees to avoid reinforcing undesired behaviors or subpar performance.
• Continuous feedback throughout the year reduces pressure during evaluations.
• Be present and free of distractions during evaluations.
• Training leaders on evaluation expectations can support their use of annual evaluations as a helpful leadership practice.

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We’re stepping forward in a bigger way—growing our team of rural healthcare experts, growing our capabilities by adding a strategic planning division … all of this so we can expand our ability to help even more rural hospitals and other small healthcare organizations in 2026. … We’d love to explore how we can support your organization in being the provider- and employer-of-choice so you can keep care local and margins strong! Learn more at CaptoneLeadership.net

Hi! I’m Sue Tetzlaff. I’m a culture and execution strategist for small and rural healthcare organizations - helping them to be the provider and employer-of-choice so they can keep care local and margins strong.

For decades, I’ve worked with healthcare organizations to navigate the people-side of healthcare, the part that can make or break your results. What I’ve learned is this: culture is not a soft thing. It’s the hardest thing, and it determines everything.

When you’re ready to take your culture to the next level, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Listen to the Culture Change RX Podcast
Every week, I share conversations with leaders who are transforming healthcare workplaces and strategies for keeping teams engaged, patients loyal, and margins healthy.

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3. Break through to the next level of greatness in your organization with help from my team and me.
When you’re ready to be the provider and employer-of-choice, we’ll help you implement proven frameworks that strengthen culture, improve experience and ensure your organization thrives.
You can email me at info@capstoneleadership.net and put “BREAKTHROUGH” in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details.