Performance Appraisals

Performance appraisals, performance reviews and/or appraisal forms are a part of the performance management process. In general, performance appraisals are not favored. People in organizations would prefer not to be advised they did not do tell this year compared to the previous years. Managers would prefer not to put themselves in a scenario that could possibly turn into an argument from an employee about a performance appraisal that was not that great. If the ultimate goal of a performance appraisal is employee development and organizational improvement, we have to consider moving to effective performance management system to avoid any conflicts. The successes of performance management strategies sound favorable to many, however, there are managers and supervisors that make decisions that affect the moral and performance of the employees. Moral can become the heart of an employee’s motivation to succeed and be happy at work.

Performance appraisal is a method which is increasingly used to evaluate employees to determine the degree to which they are performing effectively and encourage them to direct their energies towards organizational performance. Although the appraisal is being practiced, there are criticisms made against the system which generally arise from within the Orthodox and radical management frame work.

Development of a performance appraisal system that is effective in a human service organization is of benefit for the organization and the employees. For a performance appraisal system to be effective, the system has to be strategic, designed to fit the specific needs of the organization, non-discriminatory, non-bias, with correct implementation and administration. Many different components, must to be incorporated to make this type of system beneficial for all who use it, and all who are evaluated by the system.

The measurement of employee’s performance is only internal. A good performance appraisal should have multiple raters, both internal and external.

The performance appraisals process is flawed in many ways. Lack of preparation, time, training, and professionalism are a few examples of how the system is flawed. The individual completing the application often has many tasks that supersedes taking the appropriate time necessary to accurately keep notations of an employee's performance throughout the year. The lack of time leads to an employee receiving a performance review on the most recent accounts of his or her job performance instead of his or her performance throughout the entire year. Lack of professionalism can also hurt the appraisal process. An employee should be rated by his or her job duties instead of the personal opinion or feelings the manager or supervisor completing the form. All

appraisal that is legally defensible as well as an effective management and a coaching tool. The self-appraisal can help the employee by reminding his/her boss of overlooked accomplishments. For example, I list all the task I have completed. Half of the tasks listed, my boss is unaware until he reads my review. After all, few managers are aware of everything their employees do. Performance reviews can be the stuff of nightmares and fill competent professionals with fear, anxiety, and dread. Why? One reason employees dread reviews is because many companies, and even more managers, don’t understand the function and value of reviews as an opportunity for employee engagement, motivation and growth (Tourish & Robson 2006). Another downfall of annual reviews is many professionals approach their performance review as a one-way conversation and don’t do their part

At too many organizations, the performance appraisal has degenerated into a mere formality. Employers and employees are jointly complicit, dutifully sitting across from one another but simply going through the motions, ticking off goals and targets achieved over the past 12 months, those that weren’t, and a new set of goals and targets for the next 12 months. As performance management tools, these by-the-numbers appraisals don’t hold much value for most companies, and they do little to raise employee engagement, commitment or satisfaction levels. However, rather than simply abandoning performance appraisals altogether, as some have implied, a growing number of employers are turning around this state of affairs. They’re reinventing performance reviews and reaping substantial rewards.

Performance appraisal is an evaluation and grading exercise undertaken in organizations to achieve several objectives such as employee motivation, identification of training needs, rewards and remuneration, employee development through feedback etc. [Fig. 1]. All methods for performance appraisal have several advantages and disadvantages based on location of the firm, socio-economic environment, vision and mission of the firm, organizational structure and other factors. Organizations in different industrial sectors may have different focus areas of work and different values and thus, expectations from employees vary across sectors.

The performance appraisal system used by our organization is done annually. The purpose of the review is for employee as well as manager, to aptitude performance from the past year relating to the specific responsibilities and objective of that employee. This gives the opportunity for managers to give feedback on the strengths and development areas that are summarized from that previous year. Employees must also use this opportunity to give feedback on how they can best perform and develop themselves. This

shown marked improvement or progress. Lack of personal performance growth would result in consequences for the employee including a probationary period or dismissal. Personal conflicts between manager and employee should not be reflected in the appraisal process. Manager accountability would be reflected by the performance of the employee; hence, an ineffective manager could as easily be discovered through the process as an ineffective employee could be. The process would actually be a system of checks and balances. Ideally, this would promote team players and identify any weak links. The goal of performance appraisals is utilizing the employee’s performance and their behavior or attitude. With correct implementation, the attitude and behavior will not be the issue or focus of the manager. “For any performance improvement to take place, both parties must agree that improvement is necessary, that a plan for improving performance has been jointly formulated, and that periodic progress improvement sessions will take place, as needed. Thus, improvements in employee performance and attitudes can truly be enhanced.” (Peggy Anderson, 1998)

There are numerous reasons why organizations evaluate their staff, the main reason being to track employee progress and performance compared to expected objectives. I do not contest that performance evaluations play an important role in assessing the overall performance of an employee. However, given the large leaps taken with regards to technology and organizational changes within organizations, I think that performance evaluations have failed to advance at the same pace. The disconnect occurs when performance evaluations are used as the only organizational quality control tool rather than a source of motivation for progress and career advancement. Though I think employees should be evaluated, I don’t necessarily believe that it needs to be done in such a formal manner. I’m an extremely positive minded person who is not particularly attracted to this idea of stocking biases and negativity all year long only to open the box on the day of evaluations. In addition, I have a particular interest and have had some training in the field human performance improvement, which makes me even more skeptical of the effects of performance evaluations because I know that a majority of problems linked to poor performance are linked to the complexity and/or lack of understanding of processes, tools and job aids. As such, evaluating a job performer without weighing his work processes and tasks is clearly ineffective. An alternative to the traditional performance

“Performance appraisals can enhance employee performance as well as advance the mission and goals of an organization. There are many advantages of performance appraisals if they are applied fairly, consistently and objectively. Performance appraisals not applied fairly can be counterproductive and even destructive to

“In a recent survey, over 50 percent of respondents reported that they believe performance reviews do not provide accurate appraisals of their work, and nearly 25 percent said they dread performance reviews more than anything else” (Pulakos, Mueller-Hanson, O 'Leary, & Meyrowitz, 2012, p. 8). Negative perceptions of appraisals derive from feelings of being a waste of time or holding no value in the workplace. Organization leadership should develop a thorough evaluation form to combat the pessimistic discernment for performance reviews. Constructing a meticulous form, adhering to guidelines, and stressing the importance of the process will build staff support for the program.

In order for the design and administration of a performance appraisal system; to be effective; managers and employees must communicate on a regular basis. Allan and Rosenberg (1981) stated, “Performance appraisal system plays a number of roles in an organization that’s geared towards achieving the company’s goals and mission. Beginning at the corporate level, values, behaviors, and goals should be identified; these must support the company’s strategic mission and promote the success of the business. The basic purpose of performance appraisal system involves two parts, (1) an evaluation system, the evaluation

“Performance appraisal” is a discrete, formal, organizationally sanctioned event, usually not occurring more frequently than once or twice a year, which has clearly stated performance dimensions and/or criteria that are used in the evaluation process. Furthermore, it is an evaluation process, in that quantitative scores are often assigned, based on the judged level of the employee‟s job performance on the dimensions or criteria used, and the scores are shared with the employee being evaluated. (Angelo S. DeNisi and Robert D. Pritchard, 2006)