Objective 317.1.6-03-06 and 317.1.6-08-10 Essay

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.

One stage in the management of performance system is when managers evaluate employees’ performances and provide them with feedbacks. One of the purposes of this stage is to identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses. As a result, managers should be able to identify performance and training gaps.

We were tasked with critically evaluating our organisation’s performance system and make recommendations on how that organisation can improve its employee performance. We started off by defining and then discussing what a Performance Management System (PMS) is. Then we discussed why we need this system and what the organisation can do with information/ results drawn from the system .We also showed that implementing such a system is not easy as there can be hindrances to implementing it such as political, organisational, interpersonal hindrances as well as biases.

An appraisal is one of the most commonly used methods of formal assessment and is used to evaluate and assess the performance of an employee against agreed targets and objectives, with the aim of improving employee performance. Where an employee has been able to achieve their targets, the appraisal can be used to recognise successes. This often helps to increase an employee’s confidence and motivation and can lead to better organisational performance. Many organisations will use the outcomes of an appraisal to identify potential candidates for promotions or even an increase in pay. At the same time, an appraisal meeting may include discussions on underperformance, identifying why this has occurred and how this can be avoided in the future.

“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 an organization employees are the important asset and play a significant role in the progress of an organization. Nowadays firms usually focus on the human capital in the form of the employees by giving them training, assisting them in career development and also work on performance management in order to keep the employees motivated and dedicated by giving them feedback through performance appraisals. Through these performance appraisals the employees are informed about their strengths that they can enhance and about their weaknesses that they can improve in the future.

Performance Management Within the Workplace The basis of the mainstream of performance appraisals within the modern workplace is one person (a manager or executive) rating one more, an intrinsically individual process. There are distinction such as 360 degree appraisals that include the judgment of others such as clientele and peers/colleagues in the process but it is the action of one person transitory judgment upon another that is subjective in nature and the root cause of many of the problems encountered in the research associated with performance appraisals. Performance appraisals are of importance to the organisation, as they often provide the only measure of an individual's contribution and

“Performance appraisal can be viewed as the process of assessing and recording staff performance for the purpose of making judgments about staff that lead to decisions. Performance appraisal should also be viewed as a system of highly interactive processes which involve personnel at all levels in differing degrees in determining job expectations, writing job descriptions, selecting relevant appraisal criteria, developing assessment tools and procedures, and collecting interpreting, and reporting results.”( The University of Georgia, & VirginiaTech, 2008)

In addition, the company needs to know where the employee stands. Performance evaluation is a means for the company to gauge the contribution to the company that the employee is making. The employee will then be compensated on the basis of that contribution. In order for this system to be effective as a form

In this phase the raters are educated on the reasons a performance management system is being put in place and provided information on the appraisal form and the actual performance management system. They are also trained on how to identify and rank job activities, how to observe, document, and measure performance, conduct a performance review, and most importantly minimize rater errors. The focus on rater error training is essential as it points out and identifies biases and lack of knowledge or program understands that leads to rating employees incorrectly. There are several types of errors that can occur and in the preparation phase employees are educated on how to prevent making these errors. The final step that occurs prior to implementing the performance management system is pilot test; this is imperative to do in order to identify errors, issues, and any improvements that needs to be made before implementing the system to the entire organization which can save the company money in finding issues

“Performance appraisal is the process through which employee performance is assessed, feedback is provided to the employee, and corrective action plans are designed.” (Youssef, 2012). Performance appraisals can be very effective, by doing them carefully it will improve employee performance. Consistency with the evaluations is an important part of the process. During the evaluation express positive and negative accomplishments from the employee by using examples. Use goals, job related data that support ratings and focus on outcomes the employee can control and work towards. List specific areas the employee can improve on. Also it is important to compliment and show your appreciation to the employee.

Although performance cannot be judge alone with 360-degree assessment, it provides a commentary aspect that will assist an organization in Leadership Development and Succession Planning. Including the 360-degree appraisal in the performance management process will provide a broader perspective about an employee’s performance and detail to annual appraisal. In addition, the technique facilitates greater self-development for an employee. Moreover, it enables an employee to compare his or her self- evaluation about performance with the perceptions of others.

In a typical and effective process of performance management, as demonstrated in Figure 2.1, performance appraisal is not the only but a vital element because it is the activity which evaluate the outcome of the work, recognize the achievement and weaknesses and give employees and managers a straightforward result on these(Armstrong, 2009, Hutchinson, 2013). From a modern perspective, performance appraisal covers more areas not only on what have been achieved but also on the attitude and contribution of the operator (Hutchinson, 2013), which enhance the functions of identifying training needs.

The three most important elements of the appraisal instrument include performance descriptors, numerical ratings, and the results section. The descriptors are vital because they are used by the evaluators to indicate the performance of the employee. The numerical ratings are used to subjectively rate performance in a way that can help in their computation and final ranking. The results section in the appraisal instrument contains the evaluator’s opinion, based on the calculation of the numerical ratings, regarding the employee’s overall performance.

For the performance standards to be both impartial and beneficial, the performance standards must be objective, realistic, measurable, and clearly stated on the performance expectations. The performance standards must also be discussed with the employee before the appraisal time period and also during the final appraisal at the end of the performance evaluation period. For the performance standards to be useful, the general measures must be determined to evaluate the employee’s performance. The general measures to be used are: quality, quantity, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness. The quality of the work is based on how accurate and effective the desired work was performed. The quantity of the work