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Appraisals have a bad reputation—and for good reason. Too often, they feel like a box-ticking exercise, a source of anxiety, or a pointless HR requirement. But when done well, appraisals can be a powerful tool for clarity, motivation, and meaningful progress.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Amanda Woolley, who shares how to flip the traditional appraisal structure on its head and turn it into a conversation that actually matters. She explains why mattering matters at work and gives practical, simple strategies to make appraisals feel productive instead of painful.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

✔ Why most appraisals fail and how to fix them

✔ How to structure an appraisal so it motivates instead of discourages

✔ Three powerful questions to ask that lead to real progress

✔ The role of visibility—and why underperformance is often just unnoticed effort

✔ How to track meaningful indicators of progress that go beyond generic HR metrics

When appraisals shift from judgment to collaboration, they stop being something to endure and start being something to use.

Almost every midlife professional I've spoken to over the years has

had a strong, often negative reaction to the words, annual appraisal.

Memories flood in, awkward conversations, pointless feedback forms, and frustrating

time wasted on a process that often feels like a tick boxing exercise.

When I used to manage large teams, I put a lot of extra hours and energy into

humanizing a process that everyone hated.

And looking back, I really wish I'd known today's guest.

Meet Dr. Amanda Woolley.

With a PhD in the psychology of decision making, she now leads an organizational

development practice specializing in team leadership and systems effectiveness.

If you're leading or participating in an appraisal anytime soon and

want to get more value and dare I say enjoyment from the process, grab a pen.

Note down Amanda's top three appraisal questions because they are magic.

They have the power to transform the dreaded annual appraisal into a powerful

conversation that can radically increase engagement, motivation to deliver.

and actual results.

If only I'd known these questions or Amanda herself back in the

day, I might have actually looked forward to appraisal time.

Let's dive in.

Amanda, why do appraisals have such a bad reputation in general?

So from my point of view, I think appraisals should be about really

clarifying what matters in your team.

And answering that question, is this individual meeting the expectations

that we all have to contribute to this organization's aims?

But so often when we do them, appraisals don't matter at all.

I've had jobs where I've never had objectives set.

I've never had an appraisal, even though I've meant to.

And I've had ones where I did do an appraisal and it was recorded, but

it was so unrelated to the actual day to day content of my work and

how I might do better at that.

The point was just to stop HR emailing my manager.

That's why sometimes we have appraisals.

On the other hand, sometimes they matter hugely.

But for the wrong reasons.

So they matter because they're about getting a particular

pay reward or a promotion.

And then they become something really to fear and that anxiety around them is huge.

And of course we would hate that.

And in the worst case, actually they're just a big distraction from getting on

and doing the work that really contributes to the aims that we're trying to do.

So I totally understand why people think about appraisals and think

what a chore to get through.

Oh my god, and we've all lived through them.

Almost every human I've ever met hates appraisals.

Just for all the reasons you've just said.

Yeah, every single one of them I've heard a hundred times.

But let's think more hopefully.

If an appraisal is done, well what differences does a valuable,

worthwhile appraisal make.

So work really it's a series of ongoing collaborations and we need to keep

contracting and re contracting with each other, what is the purpose of this, what

are we getting out of this, what are our responsibilities, our expectations?

And how are we going to be made accountable for our actions in this

work that we're doing together?

So an appraisal can be at its best a fantastic focal point

for that ongoing activity.

Now, I think it's really important to drive home the point that if

you are not already taking regular opportunities to share clarity and

feedback with your work colleagues, the most perfectly structured appraisal is

not going to be useful or worthwhile.

Yes.

Yes.

And for me, I think something really happens when you turn it around and rather

than the appraisal being about checking up on people or ticking off things that

have been done, really taking a stance of respect and trust for the other people.

In general, people want to do a good job.

They have their needs.

You have your needs.

And they want to get along and people like a win.

The way that appraisals are often structured is to try and

catch people out, it feels like.

And I think when you're planning them, that seems perfectly straightforward.

How do we always start the them?

Give a bit of good feedback, then you give a bit of bad feedback, and then

you say what you want to be done.

And I think there's something very powerful by flipping that on its head,

because we know about motivation, that it requires feelings of autonomy, feelings

of competence, feelings of connectedness.

And we also know that if someone feels that their work really matters, either

the outcome or to the people that they're working with, they make more

effort, they contribute more to that.

Mattering really is important.

Whether I feel like I've got control over what I am doing,

can I be successful in it?

Am I doing it for a cause that I care about?

All of those things make it matter.

And so if you take that appraisal conversation from that point of view

and say, how are we going to work together to achieve our shared aims?

That completely changes things.

And suddenly it's a useful conversation.

I love what you said, mattering matters.

Yeah, so that whatever work you're doing, whether it's your dream work

or whether it's the job J O B that you have, it matters that you understand

what's expected of you and that it's clearly communicated and supported.

Love that.

So I particularly, I really want to go very practical now.

So if someone is listening and they're thinking, oh, I want to

lead a better appraisal or enjoy a better appraisal, I'd love to know.

What are maybe three of the best questions to ask in an appraisal to increase the

chances of it being a valuable investment of time and energy for everybody involved?

Great.

So I mentioned flipping it on its head and I think that's the key to this.

So step one appraisal.

I say what I'm happy about that you've done and what I'm unhappy about.

Let's flip it on its head.

So great question to start with.

What have you been really pleased to notice about how you've been

working in the last six months?

And then keep shtum.

And actually the most likely thing is they'll tell you the stuff that You

were going to say anyway, and they know it and you get to reinforce it.

And also, I think this is really important for visibility.

One of the most difficult things, especially for middle managers,

is that when you're doing work well, it can become invisible.

Yes.

And the challenges aren't seen.

So if somebody seems to be underperforming, but actually they've

maybe been over performing and you've not noticed that, it gives a chance for

people to say I've been really pleased that I've actually held on just about

to this thing that for all these other reasons could have been a lot worse.

Secondly, I think my second question is to get into the nitty gritty of

what it would look like to improve.

So in six months time, if you were working in a way that was good or really good

for you and for me and for the rest of the team, what are some of the things

that you might notice that are different?

Okay, so we're getting into the art of the possible.

How might we work together in a future that really works for us?

You get to leave on time, I get projects finished, that sort of thing.

How do we get to the win that we all want?

Just going back, there's a limit how much this can achieve if you're

not already in the habit of offering and receiving good faith feedback.

Yes.

Yes.

because that can only strengthen over time.

And then the final one is a bit of a funny one.

Let's put this on a scale, okay?

All that stuff we just talked about, all these fantastic indicators of us working

together in a way that's really good.

If that was 10 and 0 was none of it, where are you on that scale?

And then crucially, if you're just one or two points higher, where would you be?

What would you be doing?

What are those, just those first things?

Okay, and now you've got meaningful indicators to track.

You've got the really useful things.

You probably have to put those down, don't you, in your appraisal.

What are your success factors going to be?

Now, some of the things that come out might not be the thing that you want

to put on someone's HR record, but they're still useful things to track.

I might be having my camera on more often in online Zoom meetings

if I was working really well.

That can be for some people, a really nice, easy indicator of

how engaged somebody is feeling.

Change really needs a combination of A vision of a positive future and

the available first steps that are greater than what's getting in the way.

And often we don't have a lot of control over what's getting in the way.

So if we can make that vision and those small steps much bigger, more vivid, more

noticeable, then we still get change.

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment.

It's a 30 minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas

of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down.

I call it Derailed.

It's a fabulous place to begin a joy at work redesign.