When Performance Appraisal Is Conducted - Report Example

Defining job Introduction Working is an inseparable part of successful living in the society. Indeed, it does not only provide people with a secure source of income, but also contributes to their further socialization and enhances the social network of the people. Nevertheless, it must be noted that in order to achieve the best results the performance of people has to be evaluated from time to time. One would make no mistake suggesting that this is a rather difficult task since many important aspects are involved in it. That is why companies all over the world are interested in various researches that are conducted concerning it. This paper will analyze major elements of performance appraisal such as the time when it is conducted, the purpose of it, potential advantages and disadvantages, different methods as well as common errors in it. When performance appraisal is conducted It is quite understandable that the work of an employee should be evaluated periodically; however, the length of the period depends on various circumstances, for example the nature of work. So, companies often conduct performance appraisal once a year. Nevertheless, it is often thought that more frequent evaluation may be even more effective. That is why there are variations when it is performed twice or even four times a year. Of course, the performance might be evaluated every other day; however, an employee should have a certain room for improvement. Purposes of performance appraisal There are many reasons why work of the employees should be examined and evaluated. First of all, it may be used to boost the performance of the company in general. Indeed, while company is nothing but an abstract idea, it is people in it who are working. That is why by improving their performance it is possible to improve the general performance of a company. Another type of situation when performance appraisal is necessary is when an employment decision should be made. For example, a person needs to be hired, terminated or promoted. In addition to that performance appraisal was found to facilitate interaction between employees and managers. Potential advantages of performance appraisal As it has already been stated, the practice in question is likely to be perceived as a positive one. Indeed, the impact that it has on an organization is quite beneficial. To begin with, it is designed to focus employees on the discovery of their inner strengths and application of them in order to achieved the objective of the organization. Secondly, it enhances the trust between an employee and a manager. Thus, the former sees that the company is interested in developing his or her skills and this contributes to loyalty. Thirdly, it helps to set specific goals that will be achieved by a concrete individual that are aligned with the organizational goals. Finally, it is positive since it reveals the short comings of one’s nature and provides them an opportunity for enhancement. Potential disadvantages of performance appraisal However, it is rather understandable that there is another side to the process in question. Thus, many employees think that performance appraisal relies heavily on subjective evaluations. That is why it is crucial to develop a good rapport with a rater since otherwise, the results will not be good. In addition to that, many employees express negative perceptions of the idea of performance appraisal: they want to avoid it as much as possible. Finally, certain legal issues might arise from improper conduction of appraisal. In this case a company will experience negative consequences that it would have avoided if it had not carried out performance appraisal. Methods of performance appraisal Objective production There are several methods of evaluation of work of an employee. The first one is called objective production and refers to a situation when a rater takes into account objective criteria of one’s work, for example the number of items that were produced by a particular person (Muchinsky, 2006). This approach is though to provide a rate with numerical evidence of performance that later will be interpreter. However, this method is subject to various errors which casts a shadow on the validity of the results and makes this method rather unpopular. Personnel The next method of performance appraisal also takes into consideration objective aspects, but they are more closely connected to a particular person. For example, it puts a specific emphasis on absenteeism, suggesting that it may be considered to be an objective measurement of effort that one puts into work (Phadtare, 2011). In addition to that, this method takes into account the number of accidents that happened in a given period of time. Nevertheless, this method also features a considerable number of mistakes which make the findings of it unreliable. For example, there is hardly any strong correlation between absenteeism and performance; in addition to that accidents often happen because of circumstances that are beyond control of a person. Judgment evaluation This particular method is considered to be the most popular as, on the one hand, it provides a sufficient amount of numerical data, but, on the other hand, it is free from putting emphasis on irrelevant elements (Burton, 1995). There are several techniques that are used within this framework. For example, one might utilize Graphic Rating Scale. As one can easily see from the name it provides a chart which depicts strength of a particular person according to certain measurements. In addition to that, there is also employee-comparison approach. There are may be several variants of it. For example, one might compare two employees or a group may be evaluated and the “best” and the “work” will be identified. Peer and self assessment Finally, there is another method of performance appraisal. It focuses on assessment of peers as well as self assessment. Speaking of the former, there are several approaches that might be utilized. For example, an employee may be nominated to be the best in a particular field. Secondly, it is possible to create a ranking of the employees so that every one would be able to know one’s position. Finally, the conventional rating is also applied in this case. In addition to that, there is a peculiar kind of assessment that is called 360 degree assessment as it involved appraisal from all the parties that are involved in performance: a particular employee, one’s peers as well as one’s supervisor. Errors in performance appraisal There are may be different errors that are made during the practice in question. Thus, the rater might make an obvious scoring error while evaluating an employee. This is particularly true when the majority of the score are quite high. In addition to that, a person might be focused on recent events and not take into consideration the entire performance of a person. Further more, there are so called Halo or Horns effects which happen when a person is judged positively or negatively because one shows great performance or poor performance in a particular area. Finally, the practice may also be affected by generalizations that are whether to positive of two negative. Conclusion As one can easily see from the analysis, performance appraisal is an important tool in the workplace since it enables employees to develop and the managers to measure their development. It is particularly important to find a perfect balance between too frequent and too rare appraisals. While there are several methods, judgment evaluation is the one that is used more often because the findings of it are valid and provides the raters with a rather objective evaluation of an employee. References Burton, G. (1995). Management today: Principles and practice. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Pub. Muchinsky, P. (2006). Psychology applied to work: An introduction to industrial and organizational psychology. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press. Phadtare, M. (2011). Strategic management: Concepts and cases. New Delhi: PHI Learning. Read More