Performance Appraisal Essay

In this phase the raters are educated on the reasons a performance management system is being put in place and provided information on the appraisal form and the actual performance management system. They are also trained on how to identify and rank job activities, how to observe, document, and measure performance, conduct a performance review, and most importantly minimize rater errors. The focus on rater error training is essential as it points out and identifies biases and lack of knowledge or program understands that leads to rating employees incorrectly. There are several types of errors that can occur and in the preparation phase employees are educated on how to prevent making these errors. The final step that occurs prior to implementing the performance management system is pilot test; this is imperative to do in order to identify errors, issues, and any improvements that needs to be made before implementing the system to the entire organization which can save the company money in finding issues

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.

An effective performance appraisal system supports our desire to create a productive, motivated, accountable, reliable, creative, dedicated, and happy workforce.

What are performance appraisals? Simply put, they are the evaluation of goals that are pre-determined and set by both the employee and organization (Harvard Business Press, 2009). They are used to measure an employee’s performance and team performance.

A performance appraisal is one of the most important factors in any organization and can be one of the greatest tools used to record employee production. Every organization has to have goals and objectives established and the employee has to be involved in this process. By conducting performance appraisal will improve productivity and also the morale of the employees.

One stage in the management of performance system is when managers evaluate employees’ performances and provide them with feedbacks. One of the purposes of this stage is to identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses. As a result, managers should be able to identify performance and training gaps.

Though there are only 2 performance reviews a year performance should be managed on a day to day basis so that the employee has a chance to improve their performance before the next review. This also informs the employee if they are meeting/exceeding the expected levels of performance.

The improved performance review process will also address the survey comments relating to the feeling there was little relationship between their performance and their pay. There will be a direct correlation between performance and pay. Based on the outcome of the annual reviews, employees will receive pay increases. At the annual merit raise time, performance factor, Utiliscan financial condition and the external market condition will be considered to determine the amount of the raise for each employee.

Employees’s accomplishments were reviewed by the manager and assigned a rating from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (superior)

“Performance appraisal can be viewed as the process of assessing and recording staff performance for the purpose of making judgments about staff that lead to decisions. Performance appraisal should also be viewed as a system of highly interactive processes which involve personnel at all levels in differing degrees in determining job expectations, writing job descriptions, selecting relevant appraisal criteria, developing assessment tools and procedures, and collecting interpreting, and reporting results.”( The University of Georgia, & VirginiaTech, 2008)

A central reason for the utilization of performance appraisal Pas is performance improvement (initially at the level of an individual employee, and ultimately at the level of an organization. Other fundamental reasons include as a basis for employment decisions eg promotion, terminations, transfers, as certain criteria is reached to aid expectations and to establish personal objectives for training programs, transmission of objectives feedback for personal development. As a mean of documentation to aid in keeping track of decisions and legal requirements named in wage and other fringe benefits administration. And is used for formulation of job criteria and selection of individual who is best in performing organization tasks.

Performance Appraisals - Having the employee set objectives and participate in the process of evaluating how well they were

The execution performance management requires the participation of numerous players (Managers, supervisors, and subordinates). For the system to succeed and accepted, clear understanding about the system is needed for effective implementation. Supervision and explanation of performance appraisal system is very crucial element for performance. ‘‘Merely developing a model of the strategy does not ensure the strategy will be successful.’’ Othman (2008, p. 261). Clarifying goals and supervising regularly help to develop people, improve performance, and satisfaction. Therefore, Supervision and explanation is appropriate for all employees regardless of how well or poorly they perform.

Performance appraisal process if made clear and transparent can help a lot to avert low morale in employees. Fair, trustworthy, and transparent processes for performances management and resource allocation help to meet people’s drive to defend.

     This report focuses on the Performance Appraisal     of Agilent Technologies. Performance appraisal is one of the factors related to an organization’s