Performance appraisal Essay

IntroductionThe featby which a animal trainerorconsultant(1)examinesand evaluates anemployees cipher lookby comparing it with predetermined standards, (2)docuwork forcetsthe terminationsof the comparison, and (3)usesthe results toprovidefeedbackto the employee to show where mendments atomic outlet 18 demand and why. consummation appraisals argonemployedto unsex whoneedswhattraining, and who will be promoted, demoted, retained, or fired.PERFORMANCE judgment IS A FORMAL, STRUCTURED carcass OF MEASURING AND EVALUATING AN EMPLOYEES JOB, RELATED BEHAVIORS AND OUTCOMES TO DISCOVER HOW AND WHY THE EMPLOYEE IS PRESENTLY acting ON THE JOB AND HOW THE EMPLOYEE CAN PERFORM MORE EFFECTIVELY IN THE FUTURE SO THAT THE EMPLOYEE, ORGANIZATION, AND SOCIETY ALL BENEFIT. surgical process appraisal is a process of summarizing, assessing and developing the work surgery of an employee. In order to be strong and constructive, the performance manager should make all(prenominal) effort to obtain as much objective information some(a) the employees performance as possible.Performance assessment is a review and discussion of an employees performance of delegate duties and responsibilities ground on results obtained by the employee in their job, non on the employees psycheality characteristics. Personality should be considered only when it relates to performance of assigned duties and responsibilities.It is a merged formal interaction between a subsidiary and supervisor, that normally takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well(p) as opportunities for improvement and skills development.In mevery organizations but not all appraisal results atomic number 18 used, either in a flash or indirectly, to function particularise get step to the forecomes. That is, the appraisal results atomic number 18 used to ident ify the better do employees who should get the majority of available merit soften increases, bonuses, andpromotions.By the same token, appraisal results atomic number 18 used to identify poorer stoppageors, who may require some form of counseling, or in extreme roles, demotion, dismissal or decreases in succumb. HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISALThe history of performance appraisal is sort of brief.Its roots in the wee 20th century can be traced to Taylors pioneering Time and Motion studies. still this is not very helpful, for the same may be said approximately almost everything in the field of advanced(a) human resources management.As a distinct and formal management procedure used in the evaluation of work performance, appraisal really dates from the time of the imprimatur World War not much than 60 course of instructions ago.Yet in a broader sense, the practice of appraisal is a very ancient art. In the scale of things historical, it might well lay claim to being the worlds second oldest professionThere is, saysDulewicz (1989), a basic human aspiration to make stressments about those one is working with, as well as about oneself. judgement, it bring outms, is both inevitable and universal. In the absence of a awakely unified trunk of appraisal, people will tend to judge the work performance of others, including subordinates, naturally, informally and arbitrarily. The human inclination to judge can create serious motivational, good and legal problems in the workplace. Without a structured appraisal transcription, there is little chance of ensuring that the judgements made will be lawful, fair, defensible and correct.Performance appraisal forms began as simple mode actings of income justification. That is, appraisal was used to decide whether or not the salary or wage of an individual employee was justified. The process was firmly linked to material outcomes. If an employees performance was found to be less than ideal, a cut in expect would follow. On the other hand, if their performance was better than the supervisor expected, a pay rise was inorder.Little consideration, if any, was conk outn to the developmental possibilities of appraisal. If was felt that a cut in pay, or a rise, should provide the only required caprice for an employee to either improve or continue to perform well. whatevertimes this basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended but more often than not, it failed.For example, early motivational researchers were cognisant that polar people with roughly equal work abilities could be paid the same amount of money and yet have quite different levels of motivation and performance.These notifications were confirmed in empirical studies. Pay rates were important, yes but they were not the only element that had an impact on employee performance. It was found that other issues, such(prenominal) as morale and self-esteem, could a similar have a major influence.As a resul t, the handed-d receive emphasis on reward outcomes was progressively rejected. In the 1950s in the United States, the authorization usefulness of appraisal as in any casel for motivation and development was gradually accept. The general model of performance appraisal, as it is humpn today, began from that time.Modern AppraisalPerformance appraisal may be set apartd as a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development.In many organizations but not all appraisal results argon used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results argon used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions.By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify the poorerperformers who may require some form of counselling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay. (Organizations need to be aware of laws in their country that might restrict their capacity to dismiss employees or decrease pay.) Whether this is an appropriate use of performance appraisal the assignment and justification of rewards and penalties is a very uncertain and contentious matter.TRADITIONAL METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL1.Rating Scales MethodRating Scales Method is commonly used method for assessing the performance of the employees and well-known traditional method of performance appraisal of employees. Many corporations and companies example in the country India, Telecommunications Company like airteland US IT companies likeDellCorporationare exploitation this method for evaluating the employees and subsequently take decisions on concerned employee.Depending up on the job of employee under this method of appraisal traits like attitude, performance, regularity, accountability and sincerity and so forthare rated with scale from 1 to 10. 1 indicates negative feedback and 10 indicates positive feedback as shown below.Attitude of employee towards his superiors, colleagues and customers12345678910Extremely Excellent poorRegularity in the job12345678910Extremely outstanding poorUnder this method of performance appraisal, employee may be assessed by his superiors, colleagues, subordinates or sometimes by his customers which all depends on nature of the participation or job which is added where the employee. Appraiser is a person who appraises employee will give rating for every trait given by stigma or choosing number basing on his observation and satisfaction. ultimately all numbers chosen or marked will be added to determine highest score shit ed by employee.Employee who scored more points will be treated as top performer side by side(p) descending scored employees will be treated as low performer and the least scored employee will be treated as non-performers.2.ESSAY APPRAISAL METHODThis traditional form of appraisal, as well as known as Free contour method involves a description of the performance of an employee by his superior. The description is an evaluation of the performance of any individual found onthe facts and often includes examples and evidences to support the information. A major drawback of the method is the inseparability of the bias of the evaluator.Under this method, the rater is asked to express the strong as well as weak points of the employees behavior. This technique is normally used with a combination of the graphic rating scale because the rater can elaborately present the scale by substantiating an explanation for his rating. While preparing the essay on the employee, the rater considers the f ollowing factors Job knowledge and potential of the employeeEmployees reading of the companys programmes, policies, objectives, etc. The employees relations with co-workers and superiorsThe employees general planning, organizing and controlling ability The attitudes and perceptions of the employee, in general.Essay evaluation is a non-quantitative technique. This method is advantageous in at least one sense, i.e., the essay provides a good deal of information about the employee and also reveals more about the evaluator. The essay evaluation method however, condenses from the following limitations It is highly subjective the supervisor may write a biased essay. The employees who are sycophants will be evaluated more favorably then other employees. Some evaluators may be poor in writing essays on employee performance.Others may be superficial in explanation and use flowery language which may not reflect the unfeigned performance of the employee. It is very difficult to find effecti ve writers nowadays. The appraiser is required to find time to prepare the essay. A busy appraiser may write the essay hurriedly without decent assessing the actual performance of the worker. On the other hand, appraiser takes a long time, this becomes uneconomical from the view point of the firm, because the time of the evaluator (supervisor) is costly.3.RANKING METHODHow do we use the rank method?Under the ranking method, the manager com-pares an employee to other similar employees, rather than to a standard measurement. An offshoot of ranking is the forced distribution method, whichis similar to marker on a curve. Predetermined percentages of employees are placed in various performance categories, for example,excellent, above average, average, below average, and poor,.The employees ranked in the top group usually get the rewards (raise, bonus, promotion), those not at the top tend to have the reward withheld, and those at the bottom sometimes get punished. In Self-Assessment an d Skill Builder 8-1, you are asked to rank the performance of your peers.Why and when do we use the ranking method?Managers have to make evaluative decisions, such as who is the employee of the month, who gets a raise or promotion, and who gets laid off. So when we have to make evaluative decisions, we generally have to use ranking. as yet, our ranking can, and when possible should, be based on other methods and forms. be can also be used for developmental purposes by letting employees know where they stand in comparison to their peersthey can be motivated to improve performance. For example, when one of the authors passes back exams, he places the grade distribution on the board. It does not in any way affect the current gradesbut it lets students know where they stand, and he does it to motivate improvement.4.PAIRED COMPARISONA better technique of comparison than the straight ranking method, this method compares each employee with all others in the group, one at a time. subseque ntly all the comparisons on the basis of the overall comparisons, the employees are given the final rankings.5.CRITICAL INCIDENTS METHODSThis technique of performance appraisal was developed byFlanagan and Burns. The manager prepares runs of statements of very effective and ineffective behaviour of an employee. These critical incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behaviour of employees on the job.The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers behaviour. At theend of the rating period, these recordedcritical incidents are used in the evaluation of the workers performance. An example of a good critical incident of a gross revenue assistant is the followingJuly 20 The sales clerk patiently attended to the customers complaint. He is polite, prompt, and enthusiastic in solving the customers problem. On the other hand the bad critical incident may appear as under July 20 The sales assistant stayed 45 minu tes over on his break during the busiest part of the day. He failed to answer the store managers call thrice. He is lazy, negligent, cussed and uninterested in work.This method provides an objective basis for conducting a thorough discussion of an employees performance. This method avoids recency bias (most fresh incidents get too much emphasis). This method suffers however from the following limitations Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive incidents. The supervisors have a tendency to unload a series of complaints about incidents during an annual performance review session. It results in very close supervision which may not be liked by the employee. The preserve of incidents may be a chore for the manager concerned, who may be too busy or forget to do it.6. CONFIDENTIAL REPORT SYSTEMConfidential report system is well known method of performance appraisal system mostly being used by the Government organisations. In this method ofappraisingsystem, subordinate is observed by his superiors regarding his performance in the job and on his duties done. There afterwardsSuperiorwrites private report on his performance, in the first gear place on his behaviour in the organisation and conduct and remarks if any.Confidential reports will be kept confidential and will not be revealed to anyone and finally confidential reports will be forwarded to the top management officials for taking decision against person on whom confidential report has made. Confidential reports are the main criteria for promoting or transferringof any employee mainly in the government sector. All governmental organisations example judiciary, police Department and other governmentdepartments in the India are apply confidential reports method as a rotating shaft to know about the employee and to take any decision connecting to him.Procedure of confidential report systemThe superiors who appraise their subordinates performance, behaviour and other key issues will be kept in t he form of writing on paper, which is called as confidential report. Confidential report should not be sent openly on a paper, it must be kept in a sealed cover to send it to decision-making authorities. Only authorize persons are allowed to open the sealed covers which consists of confidential reports. Confidential reports shall not be handed over in loose sheets to the subordinates.Key factors assessed inConfidential floor writingCharacter and conduct of an employeeAbsenteeism of an employeeKnowledge of an employeeHis nature and quality of workPunctuality of employeeUnauthorised absenteeism or leave without permissionBehaviour of an employee with colleagues, superiors and with public might of supervision and controllingHis/her integrity and honestyIf any complaints against employee7.CHECKLIST METHODThe rater is given a checklist of the descriptions of the behaviour of the employees on job. The checklist contains a list of statements on the basis of which the rater describes the on the job performance of the employees. Another simple casing of individual evaluation method is the checklist. A checklist represents, in its simplest form, a set of objectives or descriptive statements about the employee and his behavior. If the rater believes powerfully that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he checks the item otherwise, he leaves the item blank.A more recent variation of the checklist method is the weighted list. Under this, the repute of each question may be weighted equally or certain questions may beweighted more heavily than others. The following are some of the sample questions in the checklist. Is the employee really interested in the parturiency assigned?Yes/No Is he respected by his colleagues (co-workers)Yes/No Does he give respect to his superiors?Yes/No Does he follow instructions properly?Yes/No Does he make mistakes frequently?Yes/No8. GRAPHIC RATING SCALE typeface of Graphic Rating Scales MethodPerformance TraitExcellentGoo dAverageFairPoorAttitude54321Knowledge of Work54321Managerial Skills54321team Work54321Honesty54321Regularity54321Accountability54321Inter in the flesh(predicate) relationships54321Creativity54321Discipline54321This is the very popular, traditional method of performance appraisal. Under this method, core traits of employee pertaining to his job are carefullydefinedlike Attitude, Knowledge of Work, Managerial Skills, Team Work, Honesty, Regularity, Accountability, Interpersonal relationships, Creativity and Discipline etc.These traits are allotted with numerical scale to tabulate the scores gained by appraisee (employee) inperformance assessmentrelating to his job by appraiser (employer) and sum-up to determine the surmount performer. Appraiser ticksrating of particular trait depending upon his endeavour in his job.Score vary form employee to employee depending up on his performance levels and endeavour in his job.This method is popular because it is simple and does not require any writing ability. The method is easy to understand and use. Comparison among pairs is possible. This is necessary for decision on salary increases, promotion, etc.Companies likeDELL,Maruti Suzuki India Ltdandairtelare using this graphic rating scale method to appraise performance of their employees in there jobs and to take decisions regarding the matters concerned to employees9.FORCED dispersalA rating system used by companies to evaluate their employees. The system requires the managers to evaluate each individual, and rank them typically into one of terce categories (excellent, good, poor). The system is mentation to be relatively widely-used, but remains somewhat controversial due to the competition it creates, and also the reality that not all employees will fit neatly into one of the categories and might end up in a category that doesnot reflect their true performance. One of the first companies to use this system was oecumenical Electric, in the 1980s. Businessdictionary.c omForced ranking is a method of performance appraisal to rank employee but in order of forced distribution.For example, the distribution requested with 10 or 20 percent in the top category, 70 or 80 percent in the middle, and 10 percent in the bottom.The top-ranked employees are considered high-power employees and are often targeted for a more rapid career and leadership development programs.In contrast, those ranked at the bottom are denied bonuses and pay increases. They may be given a probationary period to improve their performance.10.BEHAVIOURLY ANCHORED RATING SCALESStatements of effective and ineffective behaviors determine the points. They are said to be behaviorally anchored. The rater is supposed to say, which behavior describes the employee performance. Advantages helps overcome rating errors. Disadvantages Suffers from distortions inherent in most rating techniques.11.FIELD REVIEW METHODThis is an appraisal done by someone outside employees own department usually from corporate or HR department. Advantages Useful for managerial level promotions, when comparable information is needed, Disadvantages Outsider is generally not familiar with employees work environment, Observation of actual behaviors not possible.12.PERFORMANCE TESTS AND OBSERVATIONSThis is based on the test of knowledge or skills. The tests may be written or an actual display of skills. Tests must be reliable and validated to be useful. Advantage Tests may be apt to measure potential more than actual performance. Disadvantages Tests may suffer if costs of test development or administration are high.Future Oriented Methods1.Management By ObjectivesIt means management by objectives and the performance is rated against the exploit of objectives stated by the management. MBO process goes as under. clear goals and desired outcomes for each subordinateSetting performance standardsComparison of actual goals with goals attained by the employee Establish youthful goals and juvenile strategies for goals not achieved in previous year. Advantage It is more useful for managerial positions.Disadvantages Not applicable to all jobs, allocation of merit pay may result in setting short-term goals rather than important and long-term goals etc.2.Psychological AppraisalsThese appraisals are more directed to assess employees potential for early performance rather than the past one. It is done in the form of in-depth interviews, psychological tests, and discussion with supervisors and review of other evaluations. It is more focused on employees emotional, intellectual, and motivational and other personal characteristics affecting his performance. This approach is slow and costly and may be useful for bright young members who may have considerable potential. However quality of these appraisals braggyly depend upon the skills of psychologists who perform the evaluation.3.Assessment CentresThis technique was first developed in USA and UK in 1943. An assessment center of a ttention is a central location where managers may come together to have their participation in job related to exercises evaluated by trained observers. It is more focused on observation of behaviours across a series of select exercises or work samples. Assessees are requested to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, computer simulations, role playing and other similar activities which require same attributes for successful performance in actual job.The characteristics assessed in assessment centre can be assertiveness, persuasive ability, communication ability, planning and organizational ability, self confidence, resistance tostress, energy level, decision making, sensitivity to feelings, administrative ability, creativity and mental alertness etc. Disadvantages Costs of employees travelling and lodging, psychologists, ratings strongly influenced by assessees inter-personal skills. Solid performers may feel suffocated in simulated situations. Those who are not select ed for this also may get affected.Advantages well-conducted assessment centre can achieve better forecasts of future performance and progress than other methods of appraisals. Also reliability, content validity and predictive ability are said to be high in assessment centres. The tests also make sure that the wrong people are not hired or promoted. Finally it clearly defines the criteria for cream and promotion.4.360-Degree FeedbackIt is a technique which is systematic collection of performance info on an individual group, derived from a number of stakeholders like immediate supervisors, team members, customers, peers and self. In fact anyone who has useful information on how an employee does a job may be one of the appraisers.This technique is highly useful in terms of broader perspective, greater self-development and multi-source feedback is useful. 360-degree appraisals are useful to measure inter-personal skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills. However on the n egative side, receiving feedback from multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening etc. eight-fold raters may be less adept at providing balanced and objective feedback.PROCESS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISALESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE STANDARDSThe first step in theprocess of performance appraisalis the setting up of the standards which will be used to as the base to compare the actual performance of the employees. This step requires setting the criteria to judge the performance of the employees as successful or unsuccessful and the degrees of their contribution to the organizational goals and objectives. The standards set should be clear, easily understandable and in measurableterms.In case the performance of the employee cannot be measured, great care should be taken to describe the standards.COMMUNICATING THE STANDARDSOnce set, it is the responsibility of the management to communicate the standards to all the employees of the organization.The employees should be inform and the stand ards should be clearly explained to the. This will help them to understand their roles and to know what exactly is expected from them. The standards should also be communicated to the appraisers or the evaluators and if required, the standards can also be change at this stage itself according to the relevant feedback from the employees or the evaluators.MEASURING THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCEThe most difficult part of thePerformance appraisalprocess is cadence the actual performance of the employees that is the work done by the employees during the specified period of time. It is a continuous process which involves monitoring the performance throughout the year. This stage requires the careful selection of the appropriate techniques of measurement, taking care that personal bias does not affect the outcome of the process and providing assistance rather than interfering in an employees work. study THE ACTUAL WITH THE DESIRED PERFORMANCEThe actual performance is compared with the desired o r the standard performance. The comparison tells the aberrances in the performance of the employees from the standards set. The result can show the actual performance being more than the desired performance or, the actual performance being less than the desired performance depicting a negative deviation in the organizational performance. It includes recalling, evaluating and analysis of data related to the employees performance.DISCUSSING RESULTSTheresult of the appraisalis communicated and discussed with the employees on one-to-one basis. The focus of this discussion is on communication and listening. The results, the problems and the possible solutions are discussed with the aim of problem solving and reaching consensus. The feedback should be given with a positive attitude as this can have an effect on the employees future performance. The purpose of the meeting should be to solve the problems faced and motivate the employees to perform better.DECISION MAKINGThe last step of the process is to take decisions which can be taken either to improve the performance of the employees, take the required corrective actions, or the related HR decisions like rewards, promotions, demotions, transfers etc.THE 10 STEPS FOR CONDUCTING AN EMPLOYEE APPRAISAL EVALUATIONFor managers, theres no single(a) path to conducting highly successful employee-evaluation sessions. At the same time, when youre leading these appraisal discussions, 10 step will help make the meetings more interactive and productive 1. Let your employee talk.Giving your employees the chance to discuss their actions, achievements, and competencies is rewarding to them because it further emphasizes your respect and trust, while also reinforcing your partnership with them. 2. Give an overview of the session.After youve heard your employees thoughts regarding her performance, your next step is to give her a brief overview of overall topics that youll be covering in the session. 3. centralise on objectives.Thi s part of the discussion focuses on the agreed-upon objectives and theextent to which your employee met them. 4. Focus on performance results.The emphasis in this section is on the various additional performance-related outcomes that were the result of your employees actions and efforts, even if such outcomes were not directly attached to the overall objectives. 5. Focus on critical incidents.Your comments in this area are focused on the way in which your employee handled particularly noteworthy situations, whether positively or negatively. 6. Focus on competencies.This is where you discuss instances in which your employee applied his skills effectively to the job, shared his knowledge with others, or took specific steps to further build his competencies. 7. Focus on points of agreement.Whether based on your employees self-evaluations or on her first step comments regarding her performance, your focus at this point in the session is on the areas in which your employee agrees with y our ratings. 8. Focus on points of disagreement.This is the time to discuss the areas in which you rated your employee lower than he rated himself, whether based on his self-evaluation or his opening comments. Your objective is to learn more about your employees rationale for giving himself ratings that are higher than yours and for him to understand the rationale back the ratings that you gave.9. Focus on the overall rating.At this point in the process, you and your employee have discussed all the key performance-related issues and concerns, and its now time to discuss the overall rating. Your comments should focus on the steps you took to determine this rating. 10. Focus on raises.Theres a good deal of debate among managers and management theorists as to where to place raises in the performance appraisal session. Some managers dont even think that raises belong in the session at all. Here are your options*Bringing up raises in the beginninglet them know at the outset is supposed to put an end to their wondering and allow them to pay attention to the feedback youre providing. *Bringing up raises toward the endAfter giving glowing reviews, youre ideally able to provide a direct reward for the employees stellar behavior, demonstrating the clear link between better performance and better rewards. *Eliminating raises from the discussionThe idea behind this approach is that raises dont belong in the performance appraisal session at all. Instead, these sessions should focus simply and extensively on the employees past performance, while issues such as raises and objectives should be discussed in separate sessions.Objectives of Performance AppraisalPerformance Appraisal can be done with following objectives in mind 1. To maintain records in order to determine honorarium packages, wage structure, salaries raises, etc. 2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees to place right men on right job. 3. To maintain and assess the potential present in a perso n for further growth and development.4. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status. 5. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status. 6. It serves as a basis for influencing working habits of the employees. 7. To review and retain the promotional and other training programmes.Advantages of Performance AppraisalIt is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company which can be justified by following advantages 1. PromotionPerformance Appraisal helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programmes for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case.2. CompensationPerformance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which includes bonus, high salary rates, extrabenefits, allowances and pre-requi locates are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority.3. Employees DevelopmentThe systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing future development programmes. 4. Selection ValidationPerformance Appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard.5. CommunicationFor an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. by dint of performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following ways a. Through performance appraisal, the employers can understand a nd accept skills of subordinates. b. The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors. c. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship. d. It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees. e. All the above factors ensure effective communication.6. MotivationPerformance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of employees, a persons efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a person for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.LIMITATIONS OF PERFORMANCE APPAISAL1.LACK OF CLARITYThe objective of performance appraisal is to evaluate and develop employees. An organization should avoid using one appraisal system to achieve both objectives. The particular system of the appraisal system should clarify before it is designed and should be discussed with all managers andemployees to gain their commitment. Any performance appraisal system, however good the design, is unlikely to succeed if the managers and employees are suspicious of its objectives.It is extremely difficult if not impossible to device a system that will be able to satisfy both performance and reward. It happens because employees are likely to resist negative feedback and tend to be defensive when weakness in current performance is identified. It is because of this type of overlap in purposes that the appraisal loses its practically and increases the conflict between the manager and the employees.2. APPRAISAL ERRORS These are as followsHalo, Regency, Contrast effects the Halo effect occurs when a manager rates an employee high or low on all teams, because of one characteristic. For instance if an employee has a couple of(prenominal) absences, his manager might give him high rates in all other area of work. The recency effect happens when a rater gives greater weight to recent occurrence when appraising an employees perfor mance. This sort of effect is an understandable raters error. It may not be easy for the manager to remember all events that happened like for instance six months ago.Contrast error occurs when employees are rated relatively to other employees rather than to performance standards. For example if everyone else in a group is doing mediocre job, an employee performing somewhat better may be rated as excellent because of the contrast effect. Rater biases this occurs when manager values distort the rating. Reasons for bias differ, for instance, religion, age, sex, appearance or other dictatorial classifications. If a manager strongly dislikes a certain ethnic group, this will be negatively reflected in appraisal if the appraisal scheme is not properly designed.3. UNEQUAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDSPeople differ from each other in the way they perceive things. What is good for some may be bad for others. consequently managers have different judgments in appraising their employees. Managers at titudes to their employees differ, so different managers will appraise the same people quite differently which could make appraisal system subjective and manipulative.4.CULTURAL FACTORSCulture has profound impact on the appraisal system as it should be in consonance with the organizational culture. A system based on the employee participation and openness would be non-starter if the organizational culture is authoritarian and non-participative in its approach to other employee related policies. Readymade performance review system import from other organization rarely function satisfactorily. Their failure is partly due to culture differences. Thus culture is a vital factor to look after CASE STUDIESCASE STUDY 11) A sweet employee performance appraisal system for change integrity Belly Customer profileCandy making is a fun business, and so its no surprise that its fun to work at the jellify Belly Candy Company of Fairfield, calcium. But at this family-owned company, theres no fooli ng around when it comes to promoting employee performance and job satisfaction.So when Jelly Belly decided to overhaul and automate its primitive employee performance and natural endowments management process, it was looking for a serious solution to help give its employees across the United States fair, accurate performance appraisals. Herman Goelitz Candy was founded in 1869 by Albert and Gustav Goelitz, whose great-grandsons own and run Jelly Belly today.The Jelly Belly Candy Company makes Jelly Belly brand jelly beans in over 50 flavors, as well as candy corn and other treats. Introduced in 1976 and named by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan as his favorite candy, the companys jelly beans are exported worldwide. Like almost every smart company, Jelly Belly recognizes that employees are more likely to stay with their employer when they feel connected and recognized for their efforts. Programs for managing and evaluating employee performance are critical to aligning corporate and employee values and priorities. ChallengeJelly Bellys search for a new employee performance and talent management system began several years ago, when cardinal branches of the family business were reunited into a single company. One branch was using an outdatedperformance management computer software program. The other was doing its employee performance appraisals manually, using paper forms.Having a variety of jelly bean flavors is great a variety of employee appraisal processes in a single company is not. The task of updating and consolidating the performance management process fell to Margie Poulos, HR Manager of Jelly Bellys Midwest operations. She and a depleted team of Jelly Belly HR provide were charged with finding a single automated system that could be used for all of Jelly Bellys 600 employees in three locations.The driving factor behind Jelly Bellys performance management automation was the belief that thorough, accurate reviews help employees to better underst and whats expected of them,so that they can set clear, measurable objectives. That translates into higher employee satisfaction, said Jeff Brown, Jelly Bellys music director of Human Resources. When employees feel they have gotten a thorough and accurate review, it boosts their morale, Brown said. It also leads to improved talent management andmakes it easier to retain valuable employees, which management experts know is a key factor in corporate growth and market leadership. SolutionTo meet their strategic goals, Poulos and her team drew up a list of the criteria that a new system had to meet. Top on the list was ease of use. We didnt want to end up with a system that is so alter that the managers wouldnt use it, Poulos said. A new system also had to save time. Because employees were in multiple locations, it needed to be web-based for accessibility.And it had to be flexible, easily incorporating core competencies into different forms. Jelly Bellys selection committee looked at p roducts from different software vendors. We eliminated right away those that were geared to very large companies and those that were not web-based, Poulos said. We also eliminated those that offered too many options for customization. Its one thing to offer options, but another thing when the product requires so much customization that it becomes overwhelming. The committee selected Halogen eAppraisal, aweb-based application program for managing employee performancefrom Halogen Software.We liked the way it looked, and we really liked the user-friendliness of it. Its easy for the managers to use and its customizable without overwhelming them, Poulos said. After two days of training by Halogen staff, four members of Jelly Bellys HR team setout to train the companys supervisors on the new system. About 50 managers received a crash course in using Halogen eAppraisal, and then used it to complete annual employee evaluations in May.Jelly Bellys HR team is now customizing the software to include more relevant competencies and to respond to comments from managers and staff on the new system. The feedback has been really positive, from both managers and employees as well. Some staff said this was the best appraisal theyve had, Poulos said, They felt the evaluations were fair and realistic, and supervisors had the scope to provide more relevant and legitimate comments than they could before. Rather than just clicking on a pile of canned comments, they were accurately reviewing the employee. ResultsThe new automated employee performance appraisal system has completely formalized and organized Jelly Bellys employee evaluation process. It allows us to standardize competencies across job classifications, add signature and comment sections to make our process more interactive, and increase accessibility for remote managers, Brown said. Under Jelly Bellys old system, employees conducting reviews started from scratch once a year with newperformance journals.Halogen eAppraisa l will let them log notes throughout the year and on a regular basis update their on-line appraisals. Employees use one lucid employee evaluation form to add comments and to sign their appraisals.The web-based product helps remote and traveling managers maintain access to the forms and the data they need to evaluate their staff. In our old system, a few folks in Chicago would have access to the system. But we have managers in California with Chicago subordinates. Its important that they can share the same forms across the board. And we have folks who are on the road a lot or are working out of home offices, so having them be able to access this is a huge point for us, Brown explained.Organizing and automating the appraisal process results in performance appraisals that are more accurate and fair, Brown noted. This is important because, after all, an employee appraisal is a legal document, he said.The new system is also component Jelly Bellytrack training requirements and developme ntin its staff, Poulos added. Weve always had a separate training manual. Now we can go in to the evaluations and more easily monitor employees skills development, see what training is needed by individuals and check the due dates for training and renewal. That makes it much easier for us to keep track, Poulos noted.The new employee performance and talent management system has proven to be a big time-saver for Jelly Bellys HR team. Since this year was the first time using the new system, it took us a little longer than it will next year. But the process was a whole lot faster, Poulos said. It has already saved us a lot of time, and we got everybodys appraisals done in one shot. The new system is also helping Jelly Belly to better align employee goals with the companys business objectives. And for one of Americas best-known candy companies, it doesnt get any sweeter than that.CASE STUDY 22) Saving $20 cardinal with a new appraisal systemMost people enjoy having their performance app raised about as much as root canal treatment. Executives and HR professionals have a different view of these systems. Executives see Performance Management Systems (PMS) as a tool to help themachieve their companiesbusiness objectives, whereas HR professionals see them as an opportunity toassess and enhance performance of individuals.Let us examine the multi-million dollar opportunity that an HR professional found in his companys performance management system. yellowish Freight System, one of the largest transport companies in the US, found itself competing with smaller companies on the basis of price and losing money for the first time in many years. The financial shock caused soul searching and strategy reformulation at the highest levels of the company. The top management concluded that only very large companies with the best talent would survive the newly introduced deregulation policy. This resulted in a programme of route expansion, employee reorientation andreorganisation int o a hub-and-spoke transport system.Yellow Freightss board of directors decided to train the entire workforce to take advantage of the realities of the deregulated environment. The head of HR was told to recruit a manager for Human Resource Development (HRD) who could provide employees state-of-the-art knowledge and development, which would help differentiate Yellow Freight from its competitors.The HRD managers first step was to define thenew departments mission as helping management manage and improve employee performance.A needs analysis conducted suggested that branch managers, sales representatives and front-line supervisors needed to be trained.The HRD department conducted a performance auditto identify the group, which had thegreatest potential to improve performance. A sample of employees from each of the three groups was identified based on functional considerations. Individuals were drawn from each major geographic region, from different size terminals, from every job functi on, all levels of management, and with high, average and low levels of job performance. This type of sample allowed each group in the company to feel that they had been represented. It also allowed the HRD department to observe posery and poor performers, and provided excellent information on why some employees performed better than others.Performance measures and standards were identifiedfor each of the three groups. Actual performance data was collected, where available, and the value of the average performers results was compared to the value of the exemplars performance. A performance improvement potential was defined as the gap between the performance of the exemplar and the average performance of the group. The largest gaps coupled with the largest number of performers pointed to the areas with the greatest potential return on investment.The HRD department alsosearched for causesfor these performance gaps. Solutions thatseemed to close the gapswere suggested to the performers . The main finding of the study was that while job responsibilities were notconsistent from location to location for any given job title, the work that had to get done was.Yellow Freightsnew performance appraisal systemwas designed as a performance management system. This meant that it was designed first as a tool for supervisors to use when managing employee performance, and second as a tool for evaluation and compensation.The performance management aspect of the programme focused on how to write accomplishment-based performance standards, design feedback systems, and troubleshoot performance problems and reward employees. To make sure the new programme would succeed,Yellow Freightprovided additional training to improve interpersonal and communication skills.This case illustrates how a transport company responded to external deregulatory pressures and trained every manager and supervisor to manage more effectively and improve the performance of their employees.Results showed that a n overwhelming percentage of the trainees felt the programme was useful they met the learning objectives and were using the skills taught. Performance changes grossed over $20 million in one year forYellow FreightCASE STUDY 33) Case Study on the Performance Appraisal at turn backInthemid-1980s photocopyCorporationwasfacedwithaproblemitsperformanceappraisal system was not working. Rather than need the employees, its system was leaving them discouraged and disgruntled. Xerox recognized this problem and developed a new system to eliminate it.THE OLD SYSTEMThe original system used by Xerox encompassed sevenmain principles1. The appraisal occurredonce ayear.2. It required employees to document their accomplishments.3. Themanagerwouldassesstheseaccomplishmentsinwritingand determinenumerical ratings.4. The appraisal included a summary written appraisal and a rating from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (exceptional).5. The ratings were on a forced distribution, controlled at the 3 level or belo w.6. Merit increases were tied to the summary rating level.7. Merit increase information andperformance appraisals occurred in onesession. This system resulted in inequitable ratings and was cited by employees as a major source ofdissatisfaction.In fact, in 1983, the Reprographic Business Group (RBG), Xeroxs main copierdivision, inform that 95 percent of its employees received either a 3 or 4 on their appraisal. Merit raises for people in these two groups only change by 1 to 2 percent. Essentially, across-the-board raises were being given toall employees, regardless of performance.THE NEW SYSTEMRather than attempting to fix the old appraisal system, Xerox formed a task force to create a new system from scratch. The task force itself was made up of senior human resources executives however, members of the task force also consulted with councils of employees and a council ofmiddle managers. Together they created a new system, which differed from the old one in many key respects1. Th e absence of a numerical rating system2. The presence of a half-year feedback session.3. The provision for development planning.4. Prohibition in the appraisal guidelines of the useof subjective assessments ofperformance. The new system has three stages, as opposed to the one-step process of the old system. These stages are spread out over the course of the year. The first stage occurs at the beginning of the year when the manager meets with each employee. Together, they work out a written agreement on the employees goals, objectives, plans, and tasks for the year. Standards of satisfactoryperformance are explicitly spelled out in measurable, attainable, andspecific terms.The second stage is amid-year, mandatory feedback and discussion session between the managerand the employee. Progress toward objectives and performance strengths and weaknesses are discussed, as well as possible means for improving performance in the latter half of the year. Both themanagerand theemployeesign anob jectivessheetindicating that themeetingtookplace.The third stage in the appraisal process is the formal performance review, which takes place at years end. Both the manager and the employee prepare a written document, stating how well the employee met the preset performance targets. They then meet and discuss the performance of the employee,resolvinganydiscrepanciesbetweentheperceptionsofthemanagerandtheemployee. This meeting emphasizes feedback and improvement.Efforts are made to stress thepositive aspects of the employees performance as well as thenegative. This stage also includes a developmental planning session in which training, education, or development experiences that can help the employee are discussed. The merit increase discussion takes place in a separate meeting from the performance appraisal, usually a month or two later.The discussion usually centres on the specific reasons for the merit raise amount,such as performance, relationship withpeers, and position in salary range. This allows the employee to better see the reasons behind the salary increase amount, as opposed to thesummary rank, which tells the employeevery little.A follow-up survey was conducted the year after the implementation of the new appraisal system. Results were as follows 81 percent better soundless work group objectives84 percent considered the new appraisal fair 72 percent said they understood howtheir merit raise was determined 70 percent met their personal and work objectives77 percent considered the system a stepin the right elbow room In conclusion, it can be clearly seen that the new system is a vast improvement over the previous one. Despite the fact that some of the philosophies, such as the use of self-appraisals, run counterto conventional management practices, theresults speak for themselves.QUESTIONS1. What type of performance appraisal is central to new system at Xerox? Which, if any, ofthe criteria for a successful appraisal does this new system have? 2. Giv en the emphasis on employee development, what implications does this have forhiring and promotions? 3.Howdoyouthink,managementfeelsabout thenewperformanceappraisalsystem? Why? 4. Are there any potential negative aspects of the new performance appraisal systemCONCLUSIONOrganisations need some means of ensuring performance standards are being achieved and objectives are being met. They also need to plan for the future by setting organisational objectives. These should be achieved through personal objectives agreed at the appraisal. This is vital for all employees in order to maintain a competitive position, and it is important that the method for doing this is successful. All the material in the Skills of Appraisal and Performance Review resource is dedicated to that end. However, underlying the methods, practices and techniques there must be crucial managerial thoughts, attitudes and activities.BIBLIOGRAPHYBOOKSOrganizational Behavior by Steve RobbinsThe Art of HRD, retaliate Manage ment, Volume 9by Micheal Armstrongand Helen MurlisPerformance Management, Concepts, Practices and Strategies forOrganisation success by S. K. BhatiaHuman resource management by sunny fernandesWEBSITEShttps//www.google.co.in/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=performance+appraisal&oq=performance+appri&gs_l=hp.3.0.0i10j0j0i10l8.1230.3930.0.5456.17.17.0.0.0.0.258.2039.6j10j1.17.0.01c.1.28.hp..6.11.1167.T3ijeK0xX8shttps//www.google.co.in/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=performance+appraisal&oq=performance+appri&gs_l=hp.3.0.0i10j0j0i10l8.1230.3930.0.5456.17.17.0.0.0.0.258.2039.6j10j1.17.0.01c.1.28.hp..6.11.1167.T3ijeK0xX8shttps//www.google.co.in/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=performance+appraisal&oq=performance+appri&gs_l=hp.3.0.0i10j0j0i10l8.1230.3930.0.5456.17.17.0.0.0.0.258.2039.6j10j1.17.0.01c.1.28.hp..6.11.1167.T3ijeK0xX8s