Techniques Of Performance Appraisal

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PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:
Performance appraisal is the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. The focus of the performance appraisal is measuring and improving the actual performance of the employee and also the future potential of the employee. Its aim is to measure what an employee does. According to Flippo, a prominent personality in the field of Human resources, performance appraisal is the systematic, periodic and an impartial rating of an employees excellence in the matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job." Performance appraisal is a systematic way of reviewing and assessing the performance of an employee during a given period of time and planning for his future. It is a powerful tool to calibrate, refine and reward the performance of the employee. It helps to analyze his achievements and evaluate his contribution towards the achievements of the overall organizational goals.

By focusing the attention on performance, performance appraisal goes to the heart of personnel management and reflects the managements interest in the progress of the employees.

OBJECTIVES OF Performance appraisal:

To review the performance of the employees over a given period of time. To judge the gap between the actual and the desired performance. To help the management in exercising organizational control. Helps to strengthen the relationship and communication between superior subordinates and management employees.

To diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals so as to identify the training and development needs of the future.

To provide feedback to the employees regarding their past performance. Provide information to assist in the other personal decisions in the organization.

Provide clarity of the expectations and responsibilities of the functions to be performed by the employees.

To judge the effectiveness of the other human resource functions of the organization such as recruitment, selection, training and development.

To reduce the grievances of the employees.

Approaches to Performance Development

Performance appraisal Traditional approach Traditionally, performance appraisal has been used as just a method for determining and justifying the salaries of the employees. Than it began to be used a tool for determining rewards (a rise in the pay) and punishments (a cut in the pay) for the past performance of the employees.

This approach was a past oriented approach which focused only on the past performance of the employees i.e. during a past specified period of time. This approach did not consider the developmental aspects of the employee performance i.e. his training and development needs or career developmental possibilities. The primary concern of the traditional approach is to judge the performance of the organization as a whole by the past performances of its employees

Therefore, this approach is also called as the overall approach. In 1950s the performance appraisal was recognized as a complete system in itself and the Modern Approach to performance appraisal Modern was developed. approach

Performance

appraisal

The modern approach to performance development has made the performance appraisal process more formal and structured. Now, the performance appraisal is taken as a tool to identify better performing employees from others, employees training needs, career development paths, rewards and bonuses and their promotions to the next levels.

Appraisals have become a continuous and periodic activity in the organizations. The results of performance appraisals are used to take various other HR decisions like promotions, demotions, transfers, training and development, reward outcomes. The modern approach to performance appraisals includes a feedback process that helps to strengthen the relationships between superiors and subordinates and improve communication throughout the organization.

The modern approach to Performance appraisal is a future oriented approach and is developmental in nature. This recognizes employees as individuals and focuses on their development.

Self appraisal

is an important part of the Performance appraisal process where

the employee himself gives the feedback or his views and points regarding his performance. Usually this is done with the help of a self appraisal form where the employee rates himself on various parameters, tells about his training needs, if any, talks about his accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, problems faced etc.

TIPS FOR SELF APPRAISAL Be honest Always be truthful and honest while telling your accomplishments or failures. Dont exaggerate your strengths and dont hide your weaknesses. Dont make personal judgments for anybody. Do the preparation Its always better to prepare yourself before the Meeting. Get all the lists in place; prepare all the evidences and references.

Be-objective Objectivity is important in self appraisal. Dont exaggerate or downplay your achievements or failures. Be specific and concise in your statements and if possible support them with examples or references or evidences with dates. For example: "I responded to all queries within 48 hours" is better than just saying "My customer service was good."

Positive-attitude Have a positive attitude towards the whole appraisal process. Be cooperative. Dont hesitate from taking the responsibility of your failures as well as the achievements. Demonstrate enthusiasm to improve in future and take all his suggestions calmly. Dont complain or demonstrate a negative attitude.

Cover

all

the

aspects

Apart from your strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments and failures, express the opportunities you would like have for your development and improvement. Suggest ways to overcome the problems faced. Assess your capabilities, behaviours and skills and competence.

Seek

future

responsibilities

According to the assessment of the KSAs according to your job description, plan the short term and long term for the next year. Try to look for tasks beyond your current job responsibilities. This will help in personal development as well as contributing to the organizational productivity. Self appraisal should ideally include the accomplishments, the goals achieved, the failures, and the personal growth (i.e. new skills acquired, preparation for the future etc.), the obstacles faced during the period, the efforts for removing them, the suggestions, and the areas of training and development felt by the employee.

Preparation for Performance Review

The performance review meeting should not be strictly formal nor should it be completely informal in nature. Ideally, the review meeting should be structured, semi formal meeting which needs prior preparation by the appraiser as well as the employee for it to be effective.

Following are some points that need to be prepared before the review meeting of Performance appraisal: Inform the concerned employees the date, time and place for the review meeting well in advance.

Review and be prepared with each and every employees

o o

Job description Performance standards

o o o o

Planned performance goals Performance measures collected throughout the time period The critical incidents details Past appraisals of the employees.

Be ready with all the important dates Give the employee a copy of the appraisal form The appraiser needs to completely understand the standards for the employees at same level to maintain the consistency in the process.

Prepare what to say and how to say it calmly. The feedback should be prepared in quantifiable measures where ever possible.

The appraiser should be familiar with the performance review form and the details

The employee and the appraiser both should be prepared to discuss and figure out the future goals and training needs

They should be mentally prepared for constructive feedback Collect as many evidences to support your point as possible like the monthly, quarterly progress reports.

How To Complete Performance Appraisal Form

Performance appraisal form provides the basis for the performance review, providing the feedback to the employees and the final rating of the employee. It also facilitates various other HR decisions and career development objectivity. The Performance appraisal form should be filled by the immediate supervisor or manager of the employee in order to ensure that the appraiser if fully acquainted with the performance, responsibilities, targets and standards of the employee. All the instructions and guidelines on the appraisal form should be read and followed carefully.

plans

and

decisions

of

the

employees.

Therefore,

performance appraisal from should be filled with utmost care and

Be prepared with all the details of the performance, the standards, job description and the past appraisals of the employee.

Clear and unambiguous description of the employee performance should be given in terms of average, above average, good and excellent performance.

The focus should be on the employees behaviour throughout the year and not just his recent performance.

Quantify the ratings, wherever possible, to ensure easy comparability. Substantiate and support your rating, and attach all the necessary documents (if required).

Apart from the defined performance objectives and results, discuss the related issues as well covering all the aspects of the performance.

When filling the appraisal form, be honest and objective.

Writing Performance Appraisals

Writing performance appraisal involves creating a document which has the summary of the every employees performance over a period of time and a snapshot of their observed strengths and weaknesses, and the raters feedback that can be used for other purposes.

Writing Performance appraisal depend significantly on the writers various abilities and a combination of other factors. A rater or a manager needs : An objective rating method to assess an employees performance, behavior, and skills and knowledge. All the relevant data related to the employees performance, the standards, his job description. To observe and accurately recall the employees behavior throughout the time period of the appraisal. Using meaningful, unambiguous and clear language for the description in the document. The written performance appraisal document should ideally contain 3 basic sections: Performance elements

A performance element is a general description of an employees overall responsibility in a particular area of work. Performance elements are basically the job description of the employee expected clearly describing from the roles and him. standards by the employee. responsibilities Performance accomplished

Performance standards are the expected or the desired level of the tasks to be

Actual

performance

This section records the data of the actual performance of the employee, his accomplishments, successes and failures, his on-the-job performance, his strengths Plans appraiser An performance, unsatisfactory for for overall performance, requires improvement and employee the weaknesses. development employee. rating etc.

The developmental requirements (the training needs) felt or found by the

An overall rating for the employees overall performance like satisfactory

The common errors that creep in the writing the appraisals and should be avoided Halo to influence his overall rating of the are: effect: employee. tendency without actually appraising (the or condemning them. effect)

Halo effect is the tendency of the rater to allow one aspect of a mans character

Central employee Recent

Central tendency is the tendency of the rater to give average ratings to the

behaviour

pitchfork

As per the human nature, it is a common tendency to rate the people on the basis of their moat recent behaviour and forgetting the events and their performance in the starting of the period.

Stereotyping an employee on the basis of the performance of his/her team is another common error.

Therefore, with proper preparation, training and effort, writing appraisals can be

converted from a time consuming activity into a meaningful activity for the employee and the organization.

HOW

TO

MEASURE

EMPLOYEE

PERFORMANCE
The most difficult part of the performance appraisal process is to accurately and objectively measure the employee performance. Measuring the performance covers the evaluation of the main tasks completed and the accomplishments of the employee in a given time period in comparison with the goals set at the beginning of the period. Measuring also encompasses the quality of the accomplishments, the compliance with the desired standards, the costs involved and the time taken in achieving the results.

Measuring employee performance is the basis of the Performance appraisal processes and performance management. Accurate and efficient performance measurement not only forms the basis of an accurate performance review but also gives way to judging and measuring employee potential. For the purpose of measuring employee performance, different input forms can be used for taking the feedback from the various sources like the superior, peers, customers, vendors and the employee himself. All the perspectives thus received should be combined in the appropriate manner and to get an overall, complete view of the employees performance. Observation can also be exercised by the superior to obtain information. Some suggestions and tips for measuring employee performance are:

Clearly define and develop the employee plans of action (performance) with their role, duties and responsibilities.

Organizational outcomes or the achievement of organizational goals should also be kept in mind.

Focus on accomplishments and results rather than on activities. Also take note of the skills, knowledge and competencies and behaviors of the employees that help the organisation to achieve its goals.

If possible, collect the feedback about the performance of the employees through multi-point feedback and self-assessments.

Financial measures like the return on investment, the market share, the profit generated by the performance of the team should also be considered.

For an organisation to be an effective organisation and to achieve its goals, it is very important to monitor or measure its and its employee performance on a regular basis. Effective monitoring and measuring also includes providing timely feedback and reviews to employees for their work and performance according to the pre-determined goals and standards and solving the problems faced. Timely recognition of the accomplishments also motivates the employees and help to improve the performance.

Measuring the performance of the employees based only on one or some factors can provide with inaccurate results and leave a bad impression on the employees as well as the organisation. For example: By measuring only the activities in employees performance, an organization might rate most of its employees as outstanding, even when the organisation as a whole might have failed to meet its goals and objectives. Therefore, a balanced set of measures (commonly known as balanced scorecard) should be used for measuring the

Performance of the employee.

FAQs

About

Performance

Appraisal

Program
Q. What is the purpose of performance appraisals?

A. Performance appraisals help to strategically review the performance of the employees, their strengths, weaknesses and accomplishments during the year. Performance appraisal allows deciding the goals, objectives and the desired performance standards for the employee for the Q. How should upcoming the self appraisal be year. used?

A. Self appraisal or self evaluation is the review of the performance by the employee himself. The self evaluation should be discussed with the employee and if appropriate, should be incorporated in the final rating. Q. Is there any comprehensive formula to calculate the overall rating? A. No, there is no comprehensive formula for doing so. The overall rating should be based on a number of factors like the extent of goals achieved, the overall performance of the employee, his competencies etc.

Q. How should the ratings be given if there has been a change of supervisor or manager during the period of the appraisal?

A. To complete the Performance appraisal subjectively and fairly, it is advised to consult the previous supervisor or manager. If this is not possible, consult the

supervisors

superior

to

get

his

views

and

inputs.

Q. How can input/feedback be collected for the appraisal process? A. different input forms can be used for taking the feedback from the various sources like the superior, peers, customers, vendors and the employee himself. All the perspectives thus received should be combined in the appropriate manner and to get an overall, complete view of the employees performance. Observation can also be exercised by the superior to obtain information. Q. What if the employee refuses to agree or/and accept the review? A. First of all, ensure that the employee has got a chance to review his completed appraisal form. If the employee refuses to accept his appraisal, try to sort out the problem by discussing his reasons of dissatisfaction with him calmly. If the employee refuses to co-operate, then pass the documents to the HR department with a note on it that the employee has refused to accept and let them take the necessary action.

Q. How do you deal with an average or a non-performer?

Provide constructive feedback and try to motivate the employee. Keep the focus on the performance, not the personality of the employee. Provide training and development opportunities to the employee Discuss and take the employees inputs on how to solve the problem. Plan the course of action and standards in agreement with the employee. If no improvement takes place, inform the human resources or your superior about the problem.

Q.

Should

the

review

be

confidential?

A. The Individual performance reviews should be kept confidential and should not be accessible to other employees. They should also be stored at a safe place with limited access. Outdated reviews should be destroyed. The appraisal can also be kept as a part of the HR records of the employee.

Modern-Method
ASSESSMENTCENTRES An assessment centre typically involves the use of methods like social/informal events, tests and exercises, assignments being given to a group of employees to assess their competencies to take higher responsibilities in the future. Generally, employees are given an assignment similar to the job they would be expected to perform if promoted. The trained evaluators observe and evaluate employees as they perform the assigned jobs and are evaluated on job related characteristics. The major competencies that are judged in assessment centres are interpersonal skills, intellectual capability, planning and organizing capabilities, motivation, career orientation etc. assessment centres are also an effective way to determine the training and development needs of the targeted employees BEHAVIORALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) is a relatively new technique which combines the graphic rating scale and critical incidents method. It consists of predetermined critical areas of job performance or sets of behavioral statements describing important job performance qualities as good or bad (for eg. the qualities like inter-personal relationships, adaptability and reliability, job knowledge etc).

These

statements

are

developed

from

critical

incidents.

In this method, an employees actual job behaviour is judged against the desired behaviour by recording and comparing the behaviour with BARS. Developing and practicing HUMAN BARS RESOURCE requires expert ACCOUNTING knowledge. METHOD

Human resources are valuable assets for every organization. Human resource accounting method tries to find the relative worth of these assets in the terms of money. In this method the Performance appraisal of the employees is judged in terms of cost and contribution of the employees. The cost of employees include all the expenses incurred on them like their compensation, recruitment and selection costs, induction and training costs etc whereas their contribution includes the total value added (in monetary terms). The difference between the cost and the contribution will be the performance of the employees. Ideally, the contribution of the employees should be greater than the cost incurred on them.

360

DEGREE

PERFORMANCE

APPRAISALS
360 degree feedback, also known as 'multi-rater feedback', is the most comprehensive appraisal where the feedback about the employees performance comes from all the sources that come in contact with the employee on his job. 360 degree respondents for an employee can be his/her peers, managers (i.e. superior), subordinates, team members, customers, suppliers/ vendors - anyone who comes into contact with the employee and can provide valuable insights and information or feedback regarding the on-the-job performance of the employee

360 1. 2. 3. 4.

degree

appraisal

has Self Superiors

four

integral

components: appraisal appraisal appraisal appraisal.

Subordinates Peer

Self appraisal gives a chance to the employee to look at his/her strengths and weaknesses, his achievements, and judge his own performance. Superiors appraisal forms the traditional part of the 360 degree appraisal where the employees responsibilities and actual performance is rated by the superior. Subordinates appraisal gives a chance to judge the employee on the parameters like communication and motivating abilities, superiors ability to delegate the work, leadership qualities etc. Also known as internal customers, the correct feedback given by peers can help to find employees abilities to work in a team, co-operation and sensitivity towards others.

Self assessment is an indispensable part of 360 degree appraisals and therefore 360 degree Performance have the appraisal have high employee and involvement and also strongest impact on behavior

performance. It provides a "360-degree review" of the employees performance and is considered to be one of the most credible performance appraisal methods.

360 degree appraisal is also a powerful developmental tool because when conducted at regular intervals (say yearly) it helps to keep a track of the changes others perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc.

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES
The concept of Management by Objectives (MBO) was first given by Peter Drucker in 1954. It can be defined as a process whereby the employees and the superiors come together to identify common goals, the employees set their goals to be achieved, the standards to be taken as the criteria for measurement of their performance and contribution and deciding the course of action to be followed. The essence of MBO is participative goal setting, choosing course of actions and decision making. An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the employees actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees themselves have been involved with the goal setting and the choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities.

UNIQUE

FEATURES

AND

ADVANTAGES

OF

MBO

The principle behind Management by Objectives (MBO) is to create empowered employees who have clarity of the roles and responsibilities expected from them, understand their objectives to be achieved and thus help in the achievement of organizational as well as personal goals.

Some of the important features and advantages of MBO are:

Clarity of goals With MBO, came the concept of SMART goals i.e. goals that are: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic, Time and bound.

The goals thus set are clear, motivating and there is a linkage between organizational goals and performance targets of the employees.

The focus is on future rather than on past. Goals and standards are set for the performance for the future with periodic reviews and feedback.

Motivation Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing employee empowerment increases employee job satisfaction and commitment.

Better communication and Coordination Frequent reviews and interactions between superiors and subordinates helps to maintain harmonious relationships within the enterprise and also solve many problems faced during the period.

LINKING

COMPENSATION

TO

PERFORMANCE
One of the latest strategies being followed in all sectors through out the world for retention and talent management is linking compensation to performance. Commonly known as Performance pay or Performance based pay, it links the compensation of the employees to their performance and their contribution to the organizational goals. Therefore, periodic performance reviews play a vital role and provide the basis of performance related pay.

Commissions, incentives and bonuses, piece rate pay help the employer to pay the employee according to their productivity and hard work. The process of performance based pay involves:

Deciding and clearly defining the performance goals and the performance measures Setting the target bonus for different levels of performances Measuring the performance of the employee Giving rewards and bonus according to performance

Organizations are also designing variable compensation plans for various roles and positions Types of Performance Pay

in

the

organization.

Merit pay The first step to performance pay, merit pay means setting some basic salary according to the position and the rank of the employee and the variable part of the salary is based on the periodic performance reviews.

Profit Sharing Sharing the profits of the enterprise with the employees as bonus.

Incentives and Performance Bonus Rewards for special accomplishments or fulfillment of the targets set such as sales commission.

Gain sharing - Sharing of gains as a result of the increased performance of the employees with them.

Although performance related pay has always been a topic of discussions and controversies with many arguments against it, but it has also been proved that performance based pay motivates employees to perform better and earn, and encourages learning, innovation, creativity, problem solving and empowerment which can be facilitated through proper performance measurement and reviews.

The Balanced Scorecard

To evaluate the organisational and employee performance in Performance appraisal management processes, the conventional approach measures the performance only on a few parameters like the action processes, results achieved or the financial measures etc. The Balanced scorecard an approach given by Kaplan and Nortonprovides a framework of various measures to ensure the complete and balanced view of the performance of the employees. Balanced scorecard focuses on the measures that drive performance.

The balanced scorecard provides a list of measures that balance the organizations internal and process measures with results, achievements and financial measures. The two basic features of the balanced scorecard are:

A balanced set of measures based on. the four perspectives of balanced scorecard

Linking the measures to Employee Performance

The four Perspectives recommended by Kaplan and Norton for the managers to collect information are:

The financial measures The financial measures include the results like profits, increase in the market share, return on investments and other economic measures as a result of the actions taken.

The customers measures - These measures help to get on customer satisfaction, the customers perspective about the organisation, customer loyalty, acquiring new customers. The data can be collected from the frequency and number of customer complaints, the time taken to deliver the products and services, improvement in quality etc.

The internal business measures These are the measures related to the organizations internal processes which help to achieve the customer satisfaction. It includes the infrastructure, the long term and short term goals and objectives, organizational processes and procedures, systems and the human resources.

The innovation and learning perspective. The innovation and learning measures cover the organizations ability to learn, innovate and improve. They can be judged by employee skills matrix, key competencies, value added and the revenue per employee.

Balanced Scorecard Approach to Measure Performance

The balanced scorecard focuses on the measures that drive the employee performance. The balanced scorecard provides a list of measures that balance the organizations internal and process measures with results, achievements and financial measures. The two basic features of the balanced scorecard are:

A balanced set of measures based on. the four perspectives of balanced

scorecard, and A Linking the measures set to Employee of Performance measures

balanced

Instead of relying on just one instrument or measure, using a balanced set of measures ensures that all the aspects of the employees performance are covered and provide relevant support for the decisions taken. Therefore, it is necessary that the manager should be capable of observe and note the several instruments and measures simultaneously. The four perspectives given by Kaplan and Norton are the financial measures, the customers perspective, the internal business perspectives and the innovation and learning perspectives. For each perspective of the following things are measured:

Objectives: the goals and the targets to be achieved Measures: the standards which will be used to measure the actual performance and the progress.

Action plans: the initiatives taken and the course of action to be followed to achieve the objectives

Tie-In

to

Employee

Performance

The balanced scorecard approach can be used and applied at both the individual and the organisational level. It provides a balanced approach to evaluate the employees performance (for the purpose of Performance appraisal) in a comprehensive manner rather than a partial view. In most of the organisations, the common practice of measuring the employee performance refers to only the comparison of their action plans and behaviours with the standards set i.e. without actually measuring the results of their actions like profits and increase in market share. This conventional practice can lead to the appraisal of most of the employees

without any or little progress towards achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation. Thus, the balanced scorecard gives the complete view of the employees and the organisational performance and helps to align the employee performance/action BENEFITS plans OF with the BALANCED organisational goals.

SCORECARD

The benefits of the balanced scorecard approach in measuring performance are:

Gives the complete picture of the employee as well as the organisational performance.

It guides users in determining the critical success factors and performance indicators.

Strategic

review

or

analysis

of

the

organisational

capabilities

and

performance.

Focusing the whole organisation on the few key things needed to create breakthrough performance.

Integrating and directing the performance and efforts from the lowest levels in the organisation to achieve excellent overall performance.