The Head's Appraisal - what works best?

How appraisal works
If you’ve led a UK independent school you may already be familiar with what is generally seen as good practice in the appraisal of heads. It involves the collection of 360-degree feedback from a range of stakeholders including staff, governors, students and parents, as well as the head’s own self-review and data collection, to produce a report which is then discussed between the Head and the Chairman. The work is usually undertaken by someone external, such as a former head of a similar school, and is done every two to three years. Each appraisal should be unique and we are always learning about the finer points of the process. Here are some aspects which we think contribute most to it being a worthwhile experience:

Make it personal and developmental 

It’s about this leader, in this school at this stage in their career. We avoid standardised report headings or competencies and focus on what is most helpful in each case – i.e. what is going to make a difference in this individual’s success. 

In some cases, for example, the focus might be about managing up and alignment with the board; in other cases it could be about delegation and holding people to account. We usually find half a dozen key strengths emerge from the feedback and a smaller number of development areas – but these are unique to each report.

Include detailed feedback

A typical report is 15-20 pages and includes many verbatim feedback comments. These are unattributed and unidentifiable but are usually categorised in some way – e.g. from a member of staff, or a Board member.  We find this illustrates the key themes and explains it better than editing a summary.

Collect feedback through conversations   

We typically visit the school for two days to hold around 25 meetings or phone conversations with a representative sample of stakeholders. We don’t ask for questionnaires to be completed but ask people to prepare their thoughts on what the Head does particularly well and what s/he might consider doing differently. Through conversations we can explore and understand feedback. These are usually one-to-one interviews, but for parents and students we recommend focus groups of five to ten.

We also recommend offering all staff who are not interviewed the opportunity to provide feedback on email. In our experience, few take up the opportunity, but it helps make sure that staff don’t feel left out.

Self-review

We ask the Head to review a number of questions to help take stock and review progress. This includes listing the key priorities in the job and some data collection. It also includes questions to encourage self-reflection and consider what might be most useful to gain personally from the process. 

The job holder makes some notes which s/he talks through at the meeting, but they remain confidential and are not included in the appraisal report. 

Focus on the future

As well as analysing and giving detailed feedback, a key part of the report is helping the Head consider what to do next. We err on the side of too many ideas and try to create a menu of options from which the job holder can choose those which are most appealing. These typically include options such as recommended reading, working differently with the SMT or Board, reorganising, utilising the support of others differently, further analysis or exercises, ideas to allocate time differently or improve work life balance, different approaches for people management – e.g. relating to delegation or communication, individual coaching, mentoring or some other training intervention. 

The appraisal report should lay the groundwork for the Head to agree a personal development plan which will include some quick wins as well as actions to be taken over coming months and years.

Put the job holder first

It’s interesting to note that most of our appraisals originate from a request from the Head, rather than the Chairman. Whilst the appraisal benefits the Chairman, board and school as well as the Head, we tend to organise the approach with the Head as the primary focus. We send the report first as a draft to the Head, we meet with him/her first before any feedback is collected, and indeed we start the whole process with a planning discussion with the Head to tailor the approach to their circumstances. 

Choose an external, competent appraiser(s)

It’s important to remember that the final appraisal meeting is still held with the Chairman, as well as interim, shorter discussions in between the external appraisal which may be undertaken once every two to three years. The external appraisal report is therefore detailed input into this final appraisal meeting, and the advantages of using an external consultant to manage this include: 

• Often board members don’t have the expertise or time to undertake such a detailed exercise. If the external appraisal is held every two to three years, they may focus on shorter, regular discussions in between these external appraisals.
• A more objective view.
• Able to bring insights from elsewhere in the sector, provide a benchmark and external assurance.
• Stakeholders are more likely to provide open feedback to someone outside the school’s hierarchy.

The work should be led by a former head with relevant experience to the school in question. In our model, this person is often supported by someone from a different background - e.g. leadership development in business. This combination of expertise in schools and leadership development best practice often brings additional insights and helps the process to be completed efficiently.
 

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Barry Speirs is Head of Leadership Consultancy at RSAcademics. He and a team of former Heads have completed about 20 appraisals of school leaders in the last two years, and have about the same number already scheduled for this academic year – both within the UK and internationally. Further details of their appraisal process can be found here.