What is the process for performance appraisal?

What is the process for performance appraisal?

Performance appraisal is the process of evaluating and documenting an employee’s performance with a perspective to enhance work quality, output, and efficiency.

Performance appraisals perform three important functions within companies.

They provide feedback to an employee on their overall contribution for a period.
They find the development needs and opportunities for improvement.
They help inform salary and bonus reviews.

Objectives of Performance Appraisal

§ To promote the employees, based on performance and competence.

§ To recognize the requirement for training and development of employees.

§ To confirm the employees who have been hired on probation.

§ To decide on the hike in employees' pay, incentives etc.

§ To facilitate communication between superior and subordinate.

§ To facilitate employees in providing them with feedback as to how they are performing.

Data obtained from the appraisal of performance, are documented and used for various organizational purposes.

It is important for any manager to conduct a performance appraisal to establish the productivity of their employees. It is also an important activity because it helps one in determining the challenges and weak points of such workers so that one can find better ways of fixing them to enhance and yield desirable results ultimately. There are traditional and modern methods of performance appraisal that can be used.Most managers carry out the Process of Performance Appraisal but not necessarily in the appropriate approach that it should be done. Hence, we are listing out the necessary steps in the process of performance appraisal.

Necessary Steps in Process of Performance Appraisal

Step 1: Establish performance expectations and standards:

Appraisal processes start with establishing standards and expectations. The idea of this is to make it easy for one to identify particular output, skills, and accomplishments that will be assessed.

The first step in the process of performance appraisal is the setting up of the standards which will be used to as the base to compare the actual performance to the standard performance of the employees. This requires setting the criteria to decide the performance of the employees as successful or unsuccessful and the amount of their contribution to the organizational goals and objectives.

For one to achieve better results, it is ideal to ensure that the expectations and standards that one set are clear, concise, comprehensible, realistic, and in measurable terms. It is also advisable to make the formulation of these standards an all-inclusive affair by involving the employee too as a way of preventing vagueness and also enhancing unity in the job environment. In case the performance of the employee cannot be measured, great care should be taken to describe the standards clearly.

Step 2: Communicating the standards:

Once the goals are set, it becomes the responsibility of the management to communicate the standards to all the employees of the organization. The employees should be appraised, and the standards should be clearly explained to the employees. This will help them to understand their roles clearly and to know what exactly is expected from them. The standards should also be clearly stated to the appraisers or the evaluators and if required, the standards can also be modified at this stage itself according to the relevant feedback from the employees or the evaluators.

Feedback should also be consistently given to help employees in keeping checks on particular activities that they are doing as well as performing them in the right manner. Employees need to get feedback regarding standards expected of them, and if possible, the standards can be revised to reflect the feedback acquired from the employees. We can say that quarterly feedback can be given to avoid any kind of ambiguity.

Step 3: Measure actual performance:

This stage incorporates measuring of employees’ actual performance based on data obtained from various sources such as written, oral, and statistical as well as through personal observation. This is the stage that calls for a careful choice of the ideal methods that are utilised in measuring performance.

It is of utmost significance to ensure that one does not make appraisal judgment based on what one feels towards the employee. It is pertinent to make a sound measurement of findings, facts, and objectivity. The essence of this is that what is measured supersedes how it is measured hence the need for ensuring that objectivity is adhered to.

One must have in mind that measuring of employees’ actual performance needs to be a continuous activity that should be carried out throughout the year hence to identify all the parameters effectively.

Step 4: Compare actual performance with standards:

The next thing to do is comparing the actual performance with the anticipated or standard performance. This comparison is essential because it makes it possible for the manager or evaluator to identify the deviations of the employees from the established standards.

The results of the comparison may be depicted as positive or negative results that would call for appropriate action depending on how the results are deemed to be. Some of such actions include recalling, assessing, and scrutinizing data concerned with the performance of the employee.

Comparing actual performance with desired standards also enables the manager to institute appropriate measures that might help in enhancing performance that must be met and at the same time working on areas that should be improved to attain organizational objectives and goals ultimately.

Step 5: Discuss the results of the appraisal:

Process of Performance Appraisal definitely is a continuous process that takes time. As a manager, the next thing one needs to do is to ensure that the feedback is communicated to the employees on a one-on-one basis.

It is always taxing for managers to present truthful appraisal to the employees and enable them to constructively accept the results, especially if it is more negatives than positives. But what one needs to know is that discussing feedback together is a better approach of allowing them to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This ultimately has an impact on how they will perform in the future depending on how it is communicated the feedback whether positive or negative.

The idea of this discussion is on communication and listening. The results, the issues, and therefore the possible solutions are discussed with the aim of problem-solving and reaching consensus. The feedback should be provided with a positive attitude as this can affect the employees’ future performance. Performance appraisal feedback by managersshould be in a helpful way to correct the shortcomings of the employees and help them to motivate for better performance but not to demotivate. Performance feedback task should be handled very carefully because it can lead to emotional outburst if it is not handled properly. Sometimes employees should be prepared before giving them feedback as it could be received positively or negatively depending upon the character and attitude of employees.

Research conducted by T Jinsite underlined that in an efficient organization, assignments and projects are monitored continually. According to 46% of surveyed organizations, ongoing monitoring - periodic reviews and managerial feedback - provides the chance to see how well employees are meeting predetermined standards and to make changes in unrealistic or problematic standards.

5 ways to give negative feedback to employees

Feedback at work is important for an employee’s development. However, some people are over-sensitive to negative feedback, which makes it crucial for managers and leaders to know the way to convey it.

a) Combine negative & positive:

The best way of giving feedback to someone who's extremely emotional is to go for the sandwich method. Present the negative feedback between two layers of positive feedback. This helps in reducing the impact of negative feedback. By starting and ending in positive notes, one ensures that the negative feedback has the right impact.

b) Be objective

One must ensure that the person receiving the feedback knows that the feedback is not a personal vendetta. Such kind of fundamental attribution error the employee may have, linking the negative feedback with the person giving it.

c) Don't use harsh words

Rather than outrightly conveying that that they are bad at something, it is better to present it less severely, and also provide suggestions and solutions to help them get better at what they are currently lacking at.

d) Importance of feedback

The importance of feedback should be highlighted— both positive as well as negative — in a professional's life. The manager can give an example of how constructive feedback has helped some other employee or some other employee whom this employee knows, positively, and made that person a better professional. While doing this, one should always make sure that the tone is calm and soft and like that of a mentor, rather than a rude, or angry one.

e) Give feedback in private.

It is also important that feedback is given in private. Emotions are a result of an individual’s sensitivity, and negative or constructive feedback is usually a very sensitive topic. Giving feedback in front of other employees can have an adverse impact.

Step 6: Come up with corrective measures

This is the final stage in appraisal processes. Laying the groundwork for some effective corrective measures should be executed according to the results of the appraisal. The results should carefully be examined, and areas should be identified that require improvement and then come up with corrective action that will make it possible for employees to improve performance.

Using Psychometric Assessment

Psychometric tests can help to determine how best to improve current skills and performance. For example, if the department in which an employee is working, is going to introduce a new type of technology, it might be helpful to assess people on their interests and motivations related to new technology.One could use aptitude and skills tests to determine a person's ability to perform certain tasks.

Personality assessments are also very helpful for team building and strengthening. The better people understand themselves and others, the better they can build and maintain positive workplace relationships.

Psychometric tests can help to make personnel assessments more objective. These tests also save a great deal of time. They are typically very easy to administer as the results come in very short time.

Conclusion

Performance evaluation is an important component of any ideal organization. It helps in identifying, fixing, and improving different areas that eventually enable organizations to achieve goals and objectives from a human resource perspective. It is also significant for the manager to ensure that they find out opportunities that would help in enhancing the personal growth and development of employees with the career.

Process of Performance Appraisal should not be used as an approach of victimizing weak employees but should instead be used in ensuring that their weaknesses are transformed to become their strengths. It provides an organization with improved bottom lines along with it raises the employee’s morale and profile.

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