A performance appraisal and analysis of it’s set up

Introduction

Performance appraisal, is a method by which the job performance of an employee is

evaluated in terms of quality, quantity, cost and time. Performance appraisal is a part of
career development. Performance appraisals are regular reviews of employee
performance within organizations.

The aims of a performance appraisal are to:

• Give feedback on performance to employees.

• Identify employee training needs.

• Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards.

• Form a basis for personnel decisions

• Provide the opportunity for organizational diagnosis and development.

• Facilitate communication between employee and administrator

• Validate selection techniques and human resource policies to meet federal Equal
Employment Opportunity requirements.

Research has reported that appraises seem to have greater acceptance of the appraisal
process, and feel more satisfied with it, when the process is directly linked to rewards.
Such findings are a serious challenge to those who feel that appraisal results and reward
outcomes must be strictly isolated from each other.

There is also a group who argues that the evaluation of employees for reward purposes,
and frank communication with them about their performance, are part of the basic
responsibilities of management. The practice of not discussing reward issues while
appraising performance is, say critics, based on inconsistent and muddled ideas of
motivation. In many organizations, this inconsistency is aggravated by the practice of
having separate wage and salary reviews, in which merit rises and bonuses are decided
arbitrarily, and often secretly, by supervisors and managers.

Types of Appraisals

• Numeric rating - rates 1 to 10

• Free written report - appraiser writes an account of an employee‘s performance in

essay style.
 • Controlled written report - same as above but with a document completed.

• Personality trait report - rating initiative, reliability, and judgment

• Forced choice rating - an extension of numerical approach indicating high and

low performance.

• Forced distribution - a number of categories (average, below average, above

average, etc) assessed for each quality.

• Self rating - employee comments on his/her own performance and to put forward
suggestions relating to modification of job description, further training and
development needed.

Benefits of Appraisal

Perhaps the most significant benefit of appraisal is that, in the rush and bustle of daily
working life, it offers a rare chance for a supervisor and subordinate to have "time out"
for a one-on-one discussion of important work issues that might not otherwise be
addressed. Almost universally, where performance appraisal is conducted properly, both
supervisors and subordinates have reported the experience as beneficial and positive.

• Motivation and Satisfaction

Performance appraisal can have a profound effect on levels of employee motivation and
satisfaction - for better as well as for worse.
Performance appraisal provides employees with recognition for their work efforts. The
power of social recognition as an incentive has been long noted. In fact, there is evidence
that human beings will even prefer negative recognition in preference to no recognition at
all

• Training and Development

Performance appraisal offers an excellent opportunity for a supervisor and subordinate to

recognize and agree upon individual training and development needs. Performance
appraisal can make the need for training more pressing and relevant by linking it clearly
to performance outcomes and future career aspirations.

• Recruitment and Induction

Appraisal data can be used to monitor the success of the organization's recruitment and
induction practices. Appraisal data can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of
changes in recruitment strategies. By following the yearly data related to new hires (and
given sufficient numbers on which to base the analysis) it is possible to assess whether
the general quality of the workforce is improving, staying steady, or declining.

• Employee Evaluation

Though often understated or even denied, evaluation is a legitimate and major objective
of performance appraisal. But the need to evaluate is also an ongoing source of tension,
since evaluative and developmental priorities appear to frequently clash. Yet at its most
basic level, performance appraisal is the process of examining and evaluating the
performance of an individual.

.It is been said by some that appraisal cannot serve the needs of evaluation and
development at the same time; it must be one or the other. But there may be an acceptable
middle ground, where the need to evaluate employees objectively, and the need to
encourage and develop them, can be balanced.

Conflict and Confrontation

Invariably the needs arises in performance appraisal to provide an employee with less
than flattering feedback.

The skill and sensitivity used to handle these often difficult sessions is critical. If the
appraise accepts the negative feedback and resolves to improve, all is well. But if the
result is an angry or hurt employee, then the process of correction has failed. The
performance of an employee in such cases is unlikely to improve and may deteriorate
even further.

• Fear of Failure

There is a stubborn suspicion among many appraisers that a poor appraisal result tends to
reflect badly upon them also, since they are usually the employee's supervisor. Many
appraisers have a vested interest in making their subordinates look good on paper.

When this problem exists and it can be found in many organizations, it may point to a
problem in the organization culture. The cause may be a culture that is intolerant of
failure. In other words, appraisers may fear the possibility of repercussions - both for
themselves and the appraisee.

• Feedback-Seeking
Many supervisors will recognize the game at once and may have been its victims. The
game is called feedback-seeking. It occurs where a poor performing employee regularly
seeks informal praise from his or her supervisor at inappropriate moments.

Often the feedback-seeker will get the praise they want, since they choose the time and
place to ask for it. In effect, they "ambush" the supervisor by seeking feedback at
moments when the supervisor is unable or unprepared to give them a full and proper
answer, or in settings that are inappropriate for a frank assessment.

The supervisor may feel "put on the spot", but will often provide a few encouraging
words of support. The game seems innocent enough until appraisal time comes around.
Then the supervisor will find that the employee recalls, with perfect clarity, every casual
word of praise ever spoken.
A performance appraisal