Performance appraisal

A performance appraisal, employee appraisal, performance review, or (career) development discussion is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in terms of quality, quantity, cost, and time) typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor. A performance appraisal is a part of guiding and managing career development. It is the process of obtaining, analyzing, and recording information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization. Performance appraisal is an analysis of an employee's recent successes and failures, personal strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for promotion or further training. It is also the judgement of an employee's performance in a job based on considerations other than productivity alone.

The appraisal process comprises of 3 Stages:

1. Goal setting – set goals and objectives for the upcoming review period as benchmarks
2. Evaluation – assess the employee’s performance against the established benchmarks
3. Improve performance and skill development – based on the results of evaluation,one can go ahead with career planning, training, personal development, coaching, mentoring and more

Aims

Generally, the aims of a performance appraisal are to:

• Give employees feedback on performance
• Identify employee training needs
• Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards
• Form a basis for personnel decisions: salary increases, promotions, disciplinary actions, bonuses, etc.
• Provide the opportunity for organizational diagnosis and development
• Facilitate communication between employee and administration
• Validate selection techniques and human resource policies to meet federal Equal Employment Opportunity requirements.
• To improve performance through counselling, coaching and development.

Methods

A common approach to assessing performance is to use a numerical or scalar rating system whereby managers are asked to score an individual against a number of objectives/attributes. In some companies, employees receive assessments from their manager, peers, subordinates, and customers, while also performing a self assessment. This is known as a 360-degree appraisal and forms good communication patterns.

The most popular methods used in the performance appraisal process include the following:

• Management by objectives
• 360-degree appraisal
• Behavioral observation scale
• Behaviorally anchored rating scales

Trait-based systems, which rely on factors such as integrity and conscientiousness, are also commonly used by businesses. The scientific literature on the subject provides evidence that assessing employees on factors such as these should be avoided. The reasons for this are twofold:

1) Because trait-based systems are by definition based on personality traits, they make it difficult for a manager to provide feedback that can cause positive change in employee performance. This is caused by the fact that personality dimensions are for the most part static, and while an employee can change a specific behavior they cannot change their personality. For example, a person who lacks integrity may stop lying to a manager because they have been caught, but they still have low integrity and are likely to lie again when the threat of being caught is gone.

2) Trait-based systems, because they are vague, are more easily influenced by office politics, causing them to be less reliable as a source of information on an employee's true performance. The vagueness of these instruments allows managers to fill them out based on who they want to/feel should get a raise, rather than basing scores on specific behaviors employees should/should not be engaging in. These systems are also more likely to leave a company open to discrimination claims because a manager can make biased decisions without having to back them up with specific behavioral information.

Criticism

Performance appraisals are an instrument for social control. They are annual discussions, avoided more often than held, in which one adult identifies for another adult three improvement areas to work on over the next twelve months. You can soften them all you want, call them development discussions, have them on a regular basis, have the subordinate identify the improvement areas instead of the boss, and discuss values. None of this changes the basic transaction... If the intent of the appraisal is learning, it is not going to happen when the context of the dialogue is evaluation and judgment.

See also

• Employment integrity testing

Sources

• Thomas F. Patterson (1987). "Refining Performance Appraisal". Retrieved 2007-01-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Joyce Margulies (2004-03-24). "Performance Appraisals" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-01-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• 1998, Archer North & Associatiates, Introduction to Performance Appraisal, http://www.performance-appraisal.com/intro.htm
• U.S. Department of the Interior, Performance Appraisal Handbook

External links

• Negotiated Approach to Performance Appraisal, University of California