From Easter eggs to appraisals

Yesterday I spent most of the day at Trowbridge Rugby Club (what a fantastic facility and venue) for the STAR awards for our under 11 looked after children. As well as lunch for the children and their families, we had a samba band, Easter egg hunt (I enjoyed hiding so much chocolate), Easter parade and the all important awards for achievement over the last year presented by one of our local Olympic gold medal winners. There were over 100 children present and judging by the looks on their faces they had a great time. I love these events as they remind me why public service in the county is so important.

Earlier this week I had my annual performance appraisal with the leader and deputy leader. This is always a good opportunity to discuss achievement of objectives over the past year, assess behaviour against our agreed framework and then look forward to the next year and agree objectives and measures to meet our business plan objectives moving forward. I always value the clarity and feedback that comes from this process. I would encourage you all, if you haven’t scheduled your annual appraisal yet to do so with your line managers. It’s an important and vital part of the management process for every single member of staff.

And here’s a final thought for those of you who are managers. According to this month’s Professional Manager, older bosses are throwing out the rulebook and basing their decisions on rationality not regulation. Veteran managers are 27% less compliant by the time they reach 50 compared to their late twenties – but 12% more rational. People stop and think for themselves more as they get older.
 
Speak again soon. I’m taking a week off next week so speak again after the Easter break. For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

Carlton