Merck & Co. Performance Appraisal System

Performance appraisal is an important issue in human resource management and has a significant effect in the performance of an organisation. It is the system of evaluating the performance of employees regarding the accomplishment of their responsibilities and determining their potential to grow and develop. Bias in the evaluation process can affect the accuracy and appropriateness of the performance appraisal. Bias is a serious issue because it affects the ability to make appropriate decisions about the promotion of employees. A performance appraisal system that works to the disadvantage of members of a group can also pose legal issues.

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.

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.

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

From the above study, an overview of performance appraisal in relation to management and its importance to the field of Human Resource Department was provided. One problem introduced, is the growing unwillingness on the part of organizations to experiment with performance appraisal approaches. Unfortunately, much of this experimentation does not make its way into the supporting body of knowledge. The other problem concerns performance appraisal research from the employee perspective. Although the reactions of employees to performance are of growing research interest, study lags far behind work done from the managerial or organizational perspectives. These two problems, alone, suggest many avenues of research and any number

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.

An effective performance appraisal system strives for as much precision in defining and measuring performance dimensions as is feasible. Some of the major problems with the Darby appraisal system are:

The performance appraisals process is flawed in many ways. Lack of preparation, time, training, and professionalism are a few examples of how the system is flawed. The individual completing the application often has many tasks that supersedes taking the appropriate time necessary to accurately keep notations of an employee's performance throughout the year. The lack of time leads to an employee receiving a performance review on the most recent accounts of his or her job performance instead of his or her performance throughout the entire year. Lack of professionalism can also hurt the appraisal process. An employee should be rated by his or her job duties instead of the personal opinion or feelings the manager or supervisor completing the form. All

The performance appraisal system can sometimes connect to biases or prejudices that increase discontent, lack of motivation, resistance especially on the part of

Performance appraisal is a method of evaluating the behaviour of employees in the work spot, normally both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of job performance. Performance here refers to the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an individual’s job. It indicates how well an individual is fulfilling the job demands. The purpose of performance appraisal is to update the worker on his progress, gauge his behavior and performance, praise good work, and note opportunities for improvement. A poorly conducted appraisal could cause the worker to lose morale, but a constructive performance appraisal can encourage him to go above and beyond the call of duty. People differ in

La Vita Compounding Pharmacy’s appraisals were simple to understand. Managers and supervisors would rate the employee on every key component, such as communication skills, on a one to five scales. When employees were given their rating, the managers would then proceed to write down additional comments on what they think they excel at and what areas need to be improved. As of right now, La Vita Compounding Pharmacy is going through the process of removing the rating systems, and just simply talking to their employee more than once or twice a year. By removing the rating system, La Vita is hoping to develop people faster. It’s clear that without performance appraisals employees will never know where they need improvement, and without them, they

shown marked improvement or progress. Lack of personal performance growth would result in consequences for the employee including a probationary period or dismissal. Personal conflicts between manager and employee should not be reflected in the appraisal process. Manager accountability would be reflected by the performance of the employee; hence, an ineffective manager could as easily be discovered through the process as an ineffective employee could be. The process would actually be a system of checks and balances. Ideally, this would promote team players and identify any weak links. The goal of performance appraisals is utilizing the employee’s performance and their behavior or attitude. With correct implementation, the attitude and behavior will not be the issue or focus of the manager. “For any performance improvement to take place, both parties must agree that improvement is necessary, that a plan for improving performance has been jointly formulated, and that periodic progress improvement sessions will take place, as needed. Thus, improvements in employee performance and attitudes can truly be enhanced.” (Peggy Anderson, 1998)

Performance appraisals are used to facilitate improvement in employee performance, provide formal official feedback to employees concerning performance, provide information for decisions concerning compensation and other personnel transactions. One of the challenges that Systems Made Simple faces is with Performance Appraisals and how they are perceived by the employee and manager. Some managers and employees do not take the process seriously and we need to find a resolution so that the performance appraisal process is important to all involved. There are a few reasons why this is so challenging for us; first of all some managers have so many employees that that they need to conduct appraisals on that they feel overwhelmed and do not give the employee’s evaluation the time it deserves. We often see that the manager will copy and paste comments from employee to employee. This is not fair, each employee is different from one another and the comments should reflect that individual’s performance over the course of the year. The managers feel disconnected from the procedure, they

In today’s business world, performance appraisals are still widely used, yet at the same time very criticized. One of the reasons appraisals are criticized is some feel that they are a waste of time and are not value added. Samuel Culbert, author of the book,“Get Rid of Performance Reviews” states, “This corporate sham is one of the most insidious, most damaging, and yet most ubiquitous of corporate activities” (Culbert). He goes on to say that, “Everybody does it, and almost everyone who’s evaluated hates it” (Culbert). He feels that appraisals are worthless and should never be a method used for giving employees feedback. After doing more

“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