Human Resource Management Essay

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.

The purpose of a performance appraisal is to be used to improve employee performance. It should be used as a guide for recognizing outstanding behavior that is in line with departmental policies and work objectives, but should also be used as a tool for feedback to improve observed employee deficiencies. Performance appraisals should never be a surprise when it is presented to the employee. It is important for subordinates to understand what they are being evaluated on and what it takes to be successful.

Their bosses thought that by giving them a bonus or pay increase would suffice, and they would continue doing a good job. “Sometimes this basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended; but more often than not, it failed” (Archer North). As researchers dug more into the details, they found that employers really needed to look more into what motivates employees and not to assume that money is the only motivator. From their studies, they were able to see that companies should look more at the morale and self-esteem of their workforce. Once this information was revealed, the use of rewards as the main motivator was pushed to the side. “The general model of performance appraisal, as it is known today, began from that time” (Archer North).

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 appraisals, performance reviews and/or appraisal forms are a part of the performance management process. In general, performance appraisals are not favored. People in organizations would prefer not to be advised they did not do tell this year compared to the previous years. Managers would prefer not to put themselves in a scenario that could possibly turn into an argument from an employee about a performance appraisal that was not that great. If the ultimate goal of a performance appraisal is employee development and organizational improvement, we have to consider moving to effective performance management system to avoid any conflicts. The successes of performance management strategies sound favorable to many, however, there are managers and supervisors that make decisions that affect the moral and performance of the employees. Moral can become the heart of an employee’s motivation to succeed and be happy at work.

At too many organizations, the performance appraisal has degenerated into a mere formality. Employers and employees are jointly complicit, dutifully sitting across from one another but simply going through the motions, ticking off goals and targets achieved over the past 12 months, those that weren’t, and a new set of goals and targets for the next 12 months. As performance management tools, these by-the-numbers appraisals don’t hold much value for most companies, and they do little to raise employee engagement, commitment or satisfaction levels. However, rather than simply abandoning performance appraisals altogether, as some have implied, a growing number of employers are turning around this state of affairs. They’re reinventing performance reviews and reaping substantial rewards.

“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

1. Ch 1, page 60-61, question 4: What is “evidence based HR”? Why might an HR department resist becoming evidenced based?

2. Give some examples of ethical issues that you have experienced in jobs, and explain how HR did or did not help resolve them.

Whenever organizations are faced with evaluating an employee’s job performance they sometimes fail to provide objective feedback that improves their performance. Appraisals are often linked to reward such as promotions and pay raises, so when the system does fail, employees lose trust in the organizations decision making process, and this can lead to employee backlash. We also need to look at rater bias and poor implemetation as reasons for failure as well. Rater biases involves harshness, and tendencies that may be too lenient. Errors like this are caused by appraisers who rank all employees either too high or too low, or rank all employee in the middle of the scale so employees won’t be upset.

According to Zweig (1991), performance appraisal instruments are tools that are used to measure the performance of employees in the workplace. They are used to put employees up against one another or a predetermined standard, and the appraiser is required to give an evaluation. Practical and effective performance appraisal instruments are drafted when the company has already clarified its philosophy and performance management system. It is also imperative that the performance appraisal instruments are calculated accurately, and that the supervisors are empowered to produce

I asked all 60 people on whom I did my survey that did they complete any Human resource management course. On those 41% people said they already did 1 course. 24.6% BBA students said that they did two courses. 11.5% people on them said that, they had completed more than 2 courses that mean they are doing major on HRM. Rest 23% people are saying that they did not do any HR course yet.

Performance appraisals are an important tool for both employee and employers and if there is not a high level of equity involved in the appraisals, they can also be meaningless and ineffective to the employer and the employee. It is very important that employees feel they are receiving a reasonable and fair outcome according

Beautyism in the workplace is discrimination in one of its most disguised forms. Employers get away with this form of discrimination everyday. Because someone is categorized as beautiful it doesn’t mean that they have all the knowledge they need to succeed on a job or neither does it validate that they are a better selection than the next person. An idea can be developed or an assumption made from the treatment that is given to the person who was hired because of beautyism. What will be noticed in most cases it the special treatment that is given that is

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.