Why appraise performance

1-used for pay, promotion and retention decisions

Make your people feel valued

To be fully satisfied and competent employees need to feel that they’re valued and
are producing good work. The formal appraisal is a great opportunity to give your
employees sincere feedback, spurring them on to work smarter and better.

Employees really value frequent praise and recognition, so letting them know you
are aware of the good work that they’re doing will help you to retain hard-working
staff. Your team will also value your expert advice on their personal brand, and what
key areas they should be focusing on strengthening.

2-links performance management to company goals

Productive employees are goal driven. They relentlessly pursue their goals to
achieve excellence and rewards. Setting goals can be the high point of an
appraisal when an employee feels charged to perform and achieve the desired
goals. Meeting targets will make the employee feel confident. The appraisal is
also an opportunity for managers to realign business objectives if market
situations are changing and set goals realistically. Formal evaluations are also a
good time to step away from the hustle and bustle of everyday work and reflect
upon the overarching direction your team is heading towards.

3-the manager can correct deficiencies and reinforce strengths

When you are handing out new assignments, you need to be on top of things like
who’s best fitted for the job or who would mess it up completely? Having a formal
personal appraisal system which regularly tracks an individual’s strengths and
weakness will be crucial in setting up strong teams with members formally
assessed for their contributing and noncontributing areas.

4-With appraisals employee’s can review career plans

A human resource program is a valuable way to gain the necessary skills and
knowledge for managing “human capital” which is the key competitive advantage
for organizations and companies.
An employee evaluation is an instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of a human
resource program

5-Training needs are identified

Different people within your team will have different strengths. Use the appraisal to
assess your employees’ weaknesses, identifying areas which may require additional
training and support.

Letting your team know that you’re thinking about their development will help instil in
them an ethos of ambition, in turn driving the business on to be more productive and
aspirational.
Outstanding. The person is so successful at this job criterion that special note
should be made. Compared with the usual standards and the rest of the department,
this performance ranks in the top 10%.
Very Good. Performance at this level is one of better-than-average performances
in the unit, given the common standards and unit results.
Satisfactory. Performance is at or above the minimum standards. This level of performance
is what one would expect from most experienced, competent employees.
Marginal. Performance is somewhat below the minimum-level standard on this
job dimension. However, there appears to be potential to improve the rating
within a reasonable time frame.
Unsatisfactory. Performance on this item in the job is well below standard, and
there is serious question as to whether the person can improve to meet minimum
standards.

job dimensions

The general scope of a particular job in terms of the tasks or duties that are typically
required, e.g. secretarial duties or responsibility for financial decisions. Most job
descriptions now cite the key dimensions of a job rather than attempting a
comprehensive list of all the tasks that may be involved. The notion of job
dimensions is sometimes extended to include the key competencies, including
personality traits, that are held to be essential to performance of a job.

Job traits are the characteristics that mark a position. The traits involve the myriad
qualifications, tasks, responsibilities and other features that define each job.
Accurately characterizing job traits enables employers to find the best workers for
their positions, and it allows potential employees to pursue jobs that make the best
sense for them. Ultimately, a job's traits should match the skills and background of
the worker that fills the job.

Dependability/reliability

Nearly every HR professional that participated in the SHRM survey (97%) said that
dependability and reliability are very or extremely important qualities for applicants
being considered for entry-level positions. At a minimum, this requires you to
demonstrate a track record of regular and punctual attendance.

“When employers say they want someone they can rely on, they’re looking for
commitment,” says Robinson. Citing a real-life example is more compelling than
simply saying that you’re always on time.

If you don’t have a ton of work experience to lean on, Robinson recommends talking
about an activity in college where people relied on you (e.g. being on the crew team
required you to wake up at 6 a.m. every day for practice).

Integrity

Eighty-seven percent of employers in the SHMR survey ranked integrity as one of

the most important qualities when vetting entry-level job candidates. The study
defined integrity as treating others with honesty, fairness and respect, as well as
demonstrating respect for a company’s time and property.
In addition to being polite, courteous and respectful during the interview process, you
could also demonstrate integrity by talking about a time when you had to make a
tough ethical decision, advises Robin Ryan, author of 60 Seconds and You're Hired! “If
you worked part-time at a restaurant and saw an employee stealing from the cash
register and reported it to your manager, that shows integrity,” says Ryan.

Respect

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. A whopping 84% of HR professionals surveyed by SHRM, said it’s

an extremely important quality for entry-level job seekers to have. According to the
study, respect entails being able to work effectively with colleagues who have
diverse backgrounds or opinions.

“Employers want to create a collaborative environment,” Ryan says. Because this

includes different generations working well together, express during the job
interview that you look forward to learning from more experienced workers in the
field. One way to do this is to ask whether the company has a mentorship program;
simply expressing interest can show that you would treat older co-workers with
respect.

Teamwork

Speaking of collaborative workplaces, 83% of the employers surveyed by SHRM

said that teamwork is a top priority when assessing entry-level job seekers. The
study defined teamwork as “the ability to work effectively with others.”

To convey that you’re a team player, “don’t use ‘I’ language when talking about team
experiences,” says millennial career coach Rachel Ritlop. “Rather than saying, ‘I did
this,’ and, ‘I did that,’ when describing a group project, focus on the results,” she
says.

For instance, when describing how you helped run a philanthropy event, you could
say, “Being able to help organize the event and raise over $5,000 in donations as a
team was a really rewarding experience for me.”

Another way to show you’re a good collaborator? “Talk about an internship

experience where you worked with your peers to successfully complete a project,”
suggests Ritlop.

Customer focus

Seventy-eight percent of the HR professionals surveyed by SHRM reported that

customer focus is crucial for entry-level job candidates. This involves understanding
and anticipating a customer or client’s needs.

To show during a job interview that you value serving others, talk about how
customer satisfaction is important to you. For example: “When I worked part-time at
a deli during college, I always greeted customers by name and made sure they were
happy with their food.”
Behaviour and competencies

BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES

Behavioral competencies encompass knowledge, skills, attitudes and actions that

distinguish excellent performers. In order to achieve consistency of understanding
across the University and to enhance discussions about work behaviors, the
following definitions are provided. Select the statements that best fit the work being
reviewed and discuss them with the employee when giving feedback and setting
expectations.

Job Effectiveness

Achieves Results

Communicates Effectively

Dependability/Attendance

Job/Organizational Knowledge

Makes Effective Decisions

Planning/Organization

Problem Solving/Judgment

Productivity

Takes Responsibility

Making People Matter

Builds Trust

Honesty / Fairness

Interpersonal Skills

Positive Attitude

Recognizes Others' Achievements/Contributions

Resolves Conflicts Constructively

Respect for Others

Supports Diversity and Understands Related Issues

Understands Others' Perspectives

Organizational Success

Commitment to Continuous Quality/Process Improvement

Continuous Learning/Development

Creativity/Innovation

Customer Orientation

Displays Vision

Flexibility/Adaptability to Change

Leadership/Initiative

Teamwork/Cooperation (within and across units)

Additional Factors for Supervisors

Coaches/Counsels/Evaluates Staff

Enables and Empowers Staff

Encourages Teamwork and Group Achievement

Identifies Areas for and Supports Employee Development Opportunities

Leads Change/Achieves Support of Objectives

Strives to Achieve Diverse Staff at all Levels

Understands Diversity Issues and Creates Supportive Environment for Diverse

Employees

l Supervisors who rate their employees

l Employees who rate their superiors

l Team members who rate each other

l Outside sources

l Employee self-appraisal

l Multisource (360°) appraisal

Potential rating Errors

1) Focusing on one or two critical incidents: Basing assessments on one or

two big incidents and disregarding the person’s total performance.
2) Lower rating for less challenge: rating some employee lower than others
because they are in jobs that you believe are less challenging.
3) Nobody can be that good: strictness error, in other words, being overly
stringent believing that one can be that effective.
4) Similarly: Giving high ratings to employees who strike you as very similar to
you in background work habits or experience.
5) Being influenced by prior performance: believing based on the person’s
prior performance ratings, that you must be wrong about how you appraise
his or her current performance and that you must have overlooked
something.
6) Rating for retention: Giving your employees higher ratings because you’re
afraid you’ll lose them.
7) Style differences: Lowering an employee’s rating because he or she
approaches the task differently than you might.
8) Emotional rating: Allowing strong feelings about individuals to influence the
rating (positively or negatively)
9) Recent performance only: Also called the ‘recency effect’, letting what the
employee has done recently to blind you to what his or her performance has
been over the year.
10) Friendships; letting personal relationships outside the office influence
employee’s rating.