Challenges in Performance Appraisal - Assignment Example

? Performance Appraisal Company’s needs to evaluate their performance to determine whether they are in the right track of realizing the organizational objective. Performance appraisal can be defined as the formal evaluation of employees’ performance by the immediate supervisor through constant interaction (Murphy & Cleveland 1995). The term is also referred to as performance evaluation, employee appraisal. For effective feedback and for positive improvements to be realized, those to be evaluated must be informed what will be evaluation and the parameters that the process would be based on should be disclosed for the employees (Schneier & Shaw 1995). Biasness must also be avoided and the necessary actions from the appraisal should be communicated effectively and efficiently to the concerned parties. Companies that have done appraisal well have always been associated with better performance and high employee motivation (Schuler 2006). To achieve the process, employees must be handled as rational people and should not be intimidated. Reasons for appraisal There are various reasons why organizations engage in employee performance. First, it is through evaluation that the organization and employees get to know of the feedback of their performance (Schermerhorn 1993). Research has shown that if employees obtain feedback on their performance, they get to feel appreciated and are therefore ready to continue with their positive performance or improve their efficiency through taking corrective actions. Appraisal also makes employees get motivated. Motivation is the urge of doing or not doing something. If appreciated through giving feedback and when employees are challenged of the gap that can be filled to increase efficiency, they get motivated and their commitment to the organization increases (Grote 1996). As a result, the employees’ turnover will reduce and organizational continuity will be enhanced. Another reason for appraisal s to help peg employee rewards. Organizations’ that undertake appraisal get to determine the rewards and bonus on performance. Promotions and retentions will always be based on the appraisal results (Smith & Hornsby 1966). Moreover, appraisals are aimed at identifying the employees training needs and the employees that need to be taken for further training. The employers will therefore be geared at matching the skills required in performance and those in possession by the employees. This will prevent organizations losses and breakages and increase output. In addition, employees’ appraisal is aimed at improving the interaction between the employee and the supervisor hence creating team building (Lingham 2007). The employees interaction will be enhanced and strong relationship will be created between the employees and supervisors. Appraisal also helps in the revision of employee policies (Smith & Hornsby 1966). Companies like PepsiCo and diamond international that have employed performance appraisal have realized improvements in their performance and high employee morale. In PepsiCo for instance, employees who have achieved exceptional performance are rewarded with bonus and their promotion guaranteed (Armstrong & Appelbaum 2003). These employees are always retained and preferred in cases where the company needs to improve their production of their staff. The same applies in Diamond international where employees, efforts are recognized and rewarded (Schermerhorn 1993). In these companies, there has been increaseproduction and low employee turnover. Through performance appraisal, corrective actions are made and company’s’ products improved (Alvi 2011). Performance appraisal is therefore value additive when properly done and implemented. Trends in Performance Appraisal Currently, the appraisal methods have tremendously changed to conform to the new organizational structures and objectives (Bhatia 1981). The first trend in employee evaluation is the linking of employees’ performance to the general organizational objectives (Lingham 2007). In this case, the organizations’ attempt is to review their employee appraisal ways to assist in the achievement of the general organizational goals (Schuler 2006). Performance measurements have also been largely affected by the changes in the use of technology in the executing of the organizational objectives. Smith & Hornsby (1966) asserts that with the use of computers and online performance, the appraisal is done throughout the year and at relatively lower costs. Appraisal method has also been made in almost all the employees function without having to increase the duration for performance evaluation. The integration of the technology in work has also led to the increased interaction between the supervisors and the employees. Interaction does not have to involve the movement from workstation to another as employs can be monitored online. HR functions have been automated including application of jobs, filing of returns and the employees self-service (Bhatia 1981). There is also increased integration of HR functions. For example, many organizations have pegged their rewards on performance as a means of recognizing employees’ performance. The employee retentions and promotions has also been based on the skills and competencies. At the same time the performance gap has been made the tenet of determining the training requirements and need (Schuler 2006). The integration of these HR functions has therefore increased the need of appraisal and made appraisal worth. Team performance appraisal has also been adopted by many organizations that applies the use of teams in the achievement of the organizational objectives Challenges in Performance Appraisal Organizations face several challenges in the adoption and application of performance appraisal. Most of these challenges are the same for all companies. The first challenge that is faced in performance appraisal is the measuring of the results. There is always a tendency of supervisor to deflect from the work measurement and concentrates on the personality thus impairing the process (Armstrong & Appelbaum 2003). The process may also experience resistance from the employees making it difficult to achieve the objectives. Moreover, the discrimination in evaluation i.e. the top managers are not normally supervised or corrected hence biasness in the process. Other challenges include the inexperience of the appraiser, lack of rewarding good performance based on the evaluation outcome and the failure to communicate feedback to the employees (Murphy & Cleveland 1995). Where employees are not aware of the evaluation basis, there is likely to be a problem with the evaluation making it ineffective. Sui National Gas Pipeline Ltd which appraised their employees was also not left behind in experiencing the challenges. Some of the difficulties faced by the company the identification of the objectives of the appraisal process, determination of the changes to be incorporated in the current appraisal method, the problem of shifting to the grading system rather than the absolute appraisal and the problem of avoiding bias by becoming lenient or strict to other workers (Alvi 2011). In conclusion, performance appraisal must be undertaken with a lot of consideration on the need to make thee employees motivated and to improve the productivity of the company. Failure of companies to conduct this process appropriately will lead to the rebellion of workers and non-improvement of the results. Integration of stakeholders concerned is also paramount to the achievement of organizational objective. Reference List Alvi, S 2011, Performance Appraisal Challenges at Sui National Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL), Asian Journal of Management Cases , 8 (1), 61-87. Armstrong, S & Appelbaum, M 2003, Stress-free performance appraisals: turn your most painful management duty into a powerful motivational tool, Career Press. Bhatia, S K 1981, Trends in Perfomance Appraisal, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations , 17, 11-120. Grote, R C 1996, The Complete Guide to Performance Appraisal, New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Lingham, L 2007, Human Resources/Performance appraisal, Retrieved November 17, 2011, from http://en.allexperts.com/q/Human-Resources-2866/Performance-appraisal.htm Murphy, K R & Cleveland, J 1995, Understanding performance appraisal: social, organizational, and goal-based perspectives, Carlifonia: SAGE. Schermerhorn, J R 1993, Management for productivity, Wiley. Schneier, C E & Shaw, D G 1995, Performance measurement, management, and appraisal sourcebook. Human Resource Development. Schuler, R S 2006, Strategic performance measurement and management in multinational corporations, Human Resource Management , 365-392. Smith, B N & Hornsby, J S 1966, Current Trends in Performance Appraisal: An Examination of Managerial Practice, SAM Advanced Management Journal , 61. Read More