Performance Appraisal

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.

The processes demonstrates a commitment to people within the business by showing them that they are valued members of the company and their success is important to the entire organization.

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 measurement of employee’s performance is only internal. A good performance appraisal should have multiple raters, both internal and external.

In a conclusion, strengths of the negotiated performance appraisal are its ability to promote candid two-way communication between the supervisor and the person being appraised and to help the latter take more responsibility for improving performance. In contrast, in this case, the supervisor acts more as a judge of employee performance than as a coach. By so doing, unfortunately, the focus is on blame rather than on helping the employee assume responsibility for improvement.

Cook, S., & Macaulay, S. (2007). How an integrated approach to performance appraisal and the

Although Performance Management evolved from performance appraisals few decades ago, most literature still intensely focuses on performance appraisals when addressing performance management.

Performance Management Within the Workplace The basis of the mainstream of performance appraisals within the modern workplace is one person (a manager or executive) rating one more, an intrinsically individual process. There are distinction such as 360 degree appraisals that include the judgment of others such as clientele and peers/colleagues in the process but it is the action of one person transitory judgment upon another that is subjective in nature and the root cause of many of the problems encountered in the research associated with performance appraisals. Performance appraisals are of importance to the organisation, as they often provide the only measure of an individual's contribution and

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 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

In a typical and effective process of performance management, as demonstrated in Figure 2.1, performance appraisal is not the only but a vital element because it is the activity which evaluate the outcome of the work, recognize the achievement and weaknesses and give employees and managers a straightforward result on these(Armstrong, 2009, Hutchinson, 2013). From a modern perspective, performance appraisal covers more areas not only on what have been achieved but also on the attitude and contribution of the operator (Hutchinson, 2013), which enhance the functions of identifying training needs.

There are many different systems used for PA purposes, which can be categorised as either comparative or absolute. With most systems requiring the supervisor to rate the employee via methods such as ranking, forced distribution, or behaviour checklists, in addition to alternative methods, such as 360-degree appraisal and management by objectives (Yee & Chen, 2009;Aguinis, Performance Management, 2014). A relatively formal occasion, PA are typically conducted biannually or annually (DeNisi & Pritchard, 2006; O 'Boyle, 2013), and generally include a formal meeting between a manager and their direct reports (Zheng, Zhang, & Li, 2012). It is during these periodic meetings that the focus falls on identifying the strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures, demonstrated by the employee throughout the review period, as well as any relevant opportunities, or threats present (DeNisi & Pritchard, 2006; Payne, Horner, Boswell, Schroeder, & Stine‐Cheyne, 2009; Zheng, Zhang, & Li, 2012). The PA meeting will include discussion of future employee goals and objectives, as well as the need for further training and development. Finally, the outcome of an employee’s PA allows for other administrative decisions to be made. For example, some organisations use PA as a basis of measurement to determine bonus payments, pay rises, promotions, and termination of employment (Davis, 2011;

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.

The whole essence of the management activities of an organization culminates in the system of performance appraisal adopted in that organization. This, in turn, reflects the extent of the individual contributions and commitment of the employees in different hierarchical levels toward the achievement of organizational