Employee Performance Appraisals

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 appraisal is a method which is increasingly used to evaluate employees to determine the degree to which they are performing effectively and encourage them to direct their energies towards organizational performance. Although the appraisal is being practiced, there are criticisms made against the system which generally arise from within the Orthodox and radical management frame work.

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.

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 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

Performance appraisals are a hot subject in management and organizations these days. Organizations rely on employees to complete business tasks in a timely and competent manner because their reputation may depend on the performance of its employees. It’s essential that organizations develop a performance management system to assist in evaluating their employees. The performance management system is usually used for annual employee evaluations. The performance management system can be performed in various formats such as rating employees on a scale of 1 to 10 or giving a rating of excellent, good, average, or poor. Now, that I have discussed what performance management system is, it’s time that I elaborate on an example of this system.

Performance appraisals are needed in the healthcare facility to ensure that the staff members can perform according to the organization’s standards. Performance appraisals help managers prepare their staff to walk in excellence. The performance appraisal process is one that few look forward to. However, understanding the process can help managers and employees conduct a more fruitful appraisal. At the University of Texas at Dallas, managers are taught that "A chief purpose of any performance appraisal program is employee development. This goal is accomplished by helping the employee to do a better job and by developing in the employee the knowledge and skill to meet the future needs of the work unit and the institution." (Mayhew, 2014)

In order to develop and meet the major requirements of an organisation, managers should design an assessment form designed to evaluate employee’s performance regarding their level of understanding and the quality of their work. According to Bradford and Burke (2005) an annual performance appraisal is a management system that enables managers to set management objectives, processes and practices that ensure effective management, motivation and development of every member of the team. Performance appraisals build effective habits among members such as employees are able to clearly understand the organisational goals and identifying the best way forward to meeting these goals. Managers ensure that they evaluate the best process that will be

In order for the design and administration of a performance appraisal system; to be effective; managers and employees must communicate on a regular basis. Allan and Rosenberg (1981) stated, “Performance appraisal system plays a number of roles in an organization that’s geared towards achieving the company’s goals and mission. Beginning at the corporate level, values, behaviors, and goals should be identified; these must support the company’s strategic mission and promote the success of the business. The basic purpose of performance appraisal system involves two parts, (1) an evaluation system, the evaluation

Performance appraisal is a process where employee’s performances can be assessed. This is where the employee will be under review so that they make better judgments with the evaluation of the employee. “The performance appraisal system has to be based on clearly specified and measurable standards and indicators.” (www.fao.org)

Performance appraisals act as proof for pay increases or aids in making decisions for terminations. Well-designed performance appraisals can start dialogue between supervisors, direct reports, and coworkers that may result in positive outcomes for the individuals and the business. Businesses can choose from several types of performance appraisals. Most companies use the traditional methods of evaluating employees which takes place one-on-one between supervisors and subordinates. Another commonly used type of appraisal involves management by objectives (MBO), where employees and managers set objectives at the beginning of the evaluation period and assess how well the employees meet those objectives at the end of the period. Others include 360 degree feedback appraisals, performance ranking, behavioral observation scales, graphic rating scales and several other ranking methods that can be used.

However, the feedback of performance appraisal can also be a drawback, as it is not a common thing that such a system have promised so much and delivered so little (Grint, 1993). By looking at the contradiction of it, it could be seen that the highlight of this system is the way of delivering of the appraisal result to employees.

Performance appraisal is defined as a systematic and structured system for measuring and evaluating job related behaviours to discover reasons for performance and identify potential for the improvement of an individual, and eventually the performance of the organisation. (Singh, 2015) In this day and age of globalisation, managers tend to extensively use performance appraisals, as a measure of the productivity and effectiveness of the employees. In the case of a positive performance, the manager rewards the employee and on the contrary, the managers can seek to correct the lack of performance. Such exercises, allows the organisation to form a perception about the measures that need to be taken to bolster productivity in the future. Performance appraisals act as a control process for the managers, through which they can monitor the activities of the employees, to ensure they are accomplishing goals, and to correct any significant deviations (Hunsaker and Alessandra, 2008).

According to Nigro, Nigro and Kellough, (2014), performance appraisal refers to the systematic performance appraisal of employees in order to measure their skills and talent for the purpose of further personnel growth and development. Performance appraisal is mostly carried out in the private sector where the performance of employees is crucial as the organizations are focused on profits. However, the difference between the aims of private organizations and the public organizations introduces a problem when it comes to measuring the performance of civil servants. Thus most civil servants may not be overly enthusiastic about implementation of performance appraisal in their organization because of some inherent flaws of most of the techniques used, for example, ranking is prone to biasness of the appraiser which may in turn affect the morale or even employment status of a civil servant. This paper will thus seek to address the issues that affect implementation of performance appraisal systems in public organizations as well as providing possible solutions that can be implemented in the public organizations.

Employee performance and levels of productivity determines profits of any firm. According to Heathfield (2008), organizations are aiming at seeking advantages, and for this reason she says, evaluation of workers performance is becoming the immediate area of target. She says that the management of employee performance is of advantage for both the employee and the employer. She further states that, however the approach to the concept of performance appraisal may differ from one organization to another, the concept and its meaning still focuses on human capital as the most important asset in the organization.