Information held by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation continues to show a crucial skills mismatch between what employers want and what jobseekers can offer and the REC has commented that often?the best training is in actually ‘doing’.

If, however, an employer is open to allowing for some in-house learning on the job another issue that needs to be considered is the effect this can have when the time comes round to the performance appraisal.

A new employee in this position would need some written guidance, and perhaps targets, for the performance level the employer expects them to reach and it may be that if this is not achieved on time the employee will receive a less than positive or even a negative performance review.

These can be difficult for an employee to deal with constructively and their response is likely to make a crucial difference to how they are perceived in the future and to their chances of improving.

The advice to any employee is not to argue or become defensive and to give themselves time to think about the points that have been raised. Keeping calm and being honest with oneself are both essential when looking at the examples that have been given. The employee should consider whether they were completely unexpected and also whether the comments were fair.

Although it is tempting to defend oneself or offer excuses this can actually be counter-productive and the best approach is to be open to suggestions for ways to improve. It is possible that another person’s perspective will offer a new approach that can be tried and the person has not previously thought of.

This provides an opportunity for an employee to demonstrate their ability to accept feedback and adapt. The ability to be flexible is generally prized in most organisations and it can be good for a person’s reputation to show that they can rise to a challenge.

Perhaps make a list of some steps that can be taken to improve and share them with your line manager.
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