1 Purpose of Interpersonal Skills In Effective Performance Appraisal

1.0

INTRODUCTION

When asked what is Interpersonal skills, the answers quite straight forward, people interacting with other people, that's what interpersonal skill means. We all start doing it from the moment we're born. And if all goes well as we grow up, we get more skilled at communicating our wants and needs, our feelings and thoughts. We also learn to interpret other peoples feelings in turn, so that in adulthood we are aware of how our behavior impacts on others. People with good interpersonal skills are easy to be around. They tend to connect with other people effortlessly, they seem to know the right things to say and they make communication in general an easy process. Interpersonal skills are one of those things that we really notice when someone lacks it. When we're in new or awkward situations or when we imagine that there are rules of behavior that everyone else seems to know but us. Mastering interpersonal skills is very essential in todays globalized business world. As communication is the corners stones of modern business, how are we supposed to survive and thrive when we cant communicate with our peers? Interpersonal skills are not only required for running a business but also one of the key components of performance appraisal. If any of the two parties in performance appraisal namely, appraiser or appraisee lack interpersonal skills the appraisal will not be effective. If the appraiser lack interpersonal skills he/she will not be able to convey his/her messages to the appraisee regarding what he/she expects of the appraise and thinks of his/her performance. On the other hand, if appraisee lacks interpersonal skills he/she will not be able to convey his/her end of the discussion thus jeopardizing his/her career progress.

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It is quite possible to develop effective interpersonal skills, with a little effort. One can learn how to deal with the feelings that arise in difficult situations instead of being overwhelmed by them. This paper aims to help readers indentify why interpersonal skills are essential for performance appraisal and how they can be incorporated in a Performance Appraisal.

1.1 Origin of the study This paper is a requirement of Performance Appraisal and Compensation Systems (HRM 604) offered in School of Business in North South University. The purpose of the term paper is to give students more in-depth understanding of the concept of Performance Appraisals and its components through reviewing existing data. I.2 Implication of this study This paper will help us draw a relation of dependency with performance appraisal and interpersonal skills. It also provides pointers to readers on how to incorporate interpersonal skills in Performance Appraisal. 1.3 Objective of the study The objective of the study is to implicate the need of interpersonal skills in effective performance appraisal and point out means to include interpersonal skills in a Performance Appraisal Interview. 1.4 Methodology: The methodology of the study is as follows: 1.4.1 Data Source

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Secondary information has been collected via the course text book, published Journals and the internet. 1.4.2 Research Design This is basically a secondary research. analyzing data of qualitative type. 1.4.3 Limitations Researchers lack of experience. Not being able to collect a larger amount of data The study was developed by

2.0 GENERAL BACKGROUNDS Interpersonal skills are the skills that an individual uses to interact with other individuals. They can also be referred as people skills or communication skills. In the world of business the term "interpersonal skills" is used as the measure of an individuals ability to work utilize social communication and interactions within business organizations. We understand that communicating respect for other people or professionals within will enable one to reduce conflict and increase participation or assistance in obtaining information or completing tasks. For instance, if you intend to get some information from your colleague we can say Excuse me I need this years financial statement urgently This statement will allow the professional to make their own judgment regarding the importance of their current task versus entering into a discussion with their colleague. While it is generally understood that interrupting someone with an "urgent" request will often take priority. Following these kinds of heuristics to achieve

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better professional results generally results in a professional being ranked as one with 'good interpersonal skills.' 2.1 WHY WE NEED OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS Managers generally spend more time communicating than in any other activity. And the specific need for effective face-to- face communication is nowhere more critical than in the performance appraisal interview. Hence, one of the most valuable skills that a manager can possess is the ability to effectively communicate with others. In a classic study, Henry Mintzberg concluded that private sector managers typically spend approximately 80 percent of their time communicating with others. Yet another classic study indicates that in no more than half the instances studied did a subordinate receive the message sent by the superior. One conclusion to be drawn is that interpersonal communication is among the most central, yet least utilized, activities of organizational life. Organizations echo too frequently the refrain: "But I thought I told you to..." followed by "But I thought you said that ..." Success may be elusive until the importance of face-to-face communication is recognized. Gary E. Roberts' research at the municipal level of USA government led him to conclude that the second most important factor leading to employee acceptance of performance appraisal is the face-to-face communication. Employee participation in the appraisal interview and goal setting grants the appraisee an opportunity to disprove inaccurate performance appraisal information, to provide new information, to present alternative explanations, to increase similarity of performance appraisal information interpretations of both the appraiser and appraisee, to develop more valid measures of performance and, to set achievable objectives . Employee participation is critical in gaining the initial acceptance and understanding that is essential

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for effective implementation. This can only be achieved when both parties, especially the manager possesses good interpersonal skills. An essential element for a successful performance appraisal interview has been found to be the concept of participation by the subordinate whereby they feel encouraged to speak and offer their views. Employees are more satisfied with their appraisal interviews and with their managers who conduct them when they feel they have participated more in the appraisal process, particularly in the appraisal interview. Hence, effective interpersonal skills are very essential for a performance appraisal process.

3.0 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Appraisal is assessment in a structured way. Performance appraisals are regular assessment of employees performance, contribution and professional needs. This is better achieved when both appraiser and appraisee are equipped with adequate interpersonal skills. The main aims of appraisals include discovering further personal and professional development requirements, recognizing the strength and weaknesses of performances and also to plan for the future activities based on business objectives. Another critical part of appraisal focuses on individual abilities, their success and setbacks in the previous projects, their level of knowledge and skills and their aspirations as a professional individual. These critical elements cannot be investigated and pointed out unless both the appraiser and the appraisee do not communicate it. If the appraiser and appraisee lack the skills to communicate what they want from each other, the entire process will be nothing but a waste of time and company funds.

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Most appraisals are carried out once or twice a year or in some cases after every project. The appraiser is usually a project manager, team leader or a supervisor who is very familiar with employees job description and responsibilities and their current projects. A structured appraisal system benefits both employer and employees in the business. Since, the process has to be mutually beneficial both need to convey their requirements. An appraiser is not God who will know everything that will benefit his/her employees career. So, to convey what both parties require from each other both must possess good interpersonal skills An appraisal will be successful when it sets clear goals and SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based). SMART objectives help the employee to have a better understanding of what is expected of them and therefore provide them with a better framework to perform. Clear objectives help employers to assess how each employees input is towards the main goals of the business and if not how they can be guided towards the aims by developing further skills and gaining relative knowledge and experience. By setting unambiguous and detailed objectives, employers are stating what they want from an employer, when and at what level of completion. These objectives need to be set by discussing it with the appraisee. Here interpersonal skill helps appraiser to obtain insights into the views and attitudes of the appraisee and objectives that can be practically achieved based on the appraisees competence can be sorted out. Conducting appraisal in a form of discussion helps identifying needs to come up with resources, tools and necessary trainings which would help employees in developing the skills and experience needed in achieving the business objectives they are responsible for. This aspect of appraisal also facilitate possible changes needed in the structure of the teams responsible for different projects, the way smaller components of the organization work

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and can illuminates methods to improve their performances. We can see that utilizing interpersonal skills an appraiser can learn what they need to do to help appraisees improve their performance and learn about their effectiveness as a leader. The success of an appraisal session depends on how much it motivates and encourages employees to perform to the best of their abilities and improve in the areas where it needs more development. Here we can see the appraiser has to play the role of motivator. If the appraiser lack interpersonal skills he wont be much of a motivator. The session should also recognize and acknowledge individuals contribution, efficiency and hard work in the way of praise and financial incentives such as bonuses, pay rise, shares in the company or promotion. A professionally satisfied employee works more efficiently and diligently and benefits the business or organization immensely. It implicates that after the end of the appraisal discussion the appraisee should feel valued and learn how to make better use of their strengths and what is required to overcome shortcomings. If the appraiser lacks communication skills he wont e able generate the above mentioned understandings in the appraisees psyche. 3.1 WAYS TO INCORPORATE INTERPERSONAL SKILLS IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL By now we have come to realize how crucial interpersonal skills are for running a business, especially for boosting employee motivation (interpersonal skills in performance appraisal). We will now further discuss how interpersonal skills can be incorporated in a performance appraisal interview. Interpersonal communication theorist Alan Ivey has provided various useful means to incorporate interpersonal skills in an performance appraisal interview.

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For more than two decades, Alan Ivey, interpersonal communication theorist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has sought to identify and convey the elements of interpersonal skills that can be incorporated in a Performance Appraisal. Ivey identified and assembled these elements into a set of communication skill units that he terms the "micro skills." These elements have been tested in hundreds of data-based field studies, and have been adopted by organizations ranging from Fortune 500 corporations such as Digital, Prime Computer (USA), Ericsson (Sweden), and Siemens (Germany), to the U.S. State Department and Central Intelligence Agency, The micro skills are well suited to the needs of managers in the public sector - especially in the often stressful situation of the performance appraisal interview. Six micro skills will be introduced here. These are 1) Nonverbal Body Language, 2) Open ended Questions, 3) Closed Ended Questions, 4) Paraphrasing, 5 )Reflection of Feelings and Feedbacks The effective use of the micro skills specifically encourages the participation and upward flow of communication from appraisee to appraiser. The micro skills are as follows: -

3.1.1 The Basic Nonverbal Body Language Micro skills Effective face-to-face communication has to begin by nonverbally attending to another individual. In the performance appraisal interview this means that the superior sits with a slight, but comfortable forward lean of his/her upper body, maintains eye contact, and speaks in a very comforting voice. This approach may seem unnecessary, and even peculiar, but Ray Birdwhistell,

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a pioneering scholar in the field of performance appraisal, estimated in his research that 65-70% of all face-to- face communication is nonverbal. To further justify the use of such body language, we can imagine how we would feel if our performance was being appraised by an individual who leaned backward (not forward) in his/her chair, avoided eye contact, and spoke to us in a harsh, grating voice. The effective use of the non-verbal attending skills subtly but powerfully encourages other individuals to communicate with us. 3.1.2 Open Ended and Close Ended Questions The Performance Appraisal Interview can bring resourceful insights if Open ended and close ended questions are utilized. Open and closed questions help the appraiser to keep the discussion centered to the topic, and verbally follow the subordinate. One ended questions helps to ensure, the most general and, Close ended questions, help the most specific flow of communication. Each type of question has its own benefit. Open questions encourage the subordinate to provide more general information; closed questions encourage more specific responses. In open questions one can ask by beginning with the words "Could," "Would," "How," "What," or "Why". Combining these words with a nonjudgmental approach, an appraiser will encourage lengthy, general responses. Open questions are particularly suitable at the beginning of the appraisal interview. But can be utilized where the Appraiser seeks to explore or understand a particularly complex or ambiguous area. On the other hand Close ended questions are useful in clarifying, or pointing out specific pieces of information. These help steer the conversation to narrower areas, or upon the retrieval of specific facts.

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A Closed question usually begins with "Did," "Is," or "Are." Basically Closed questions result to a response of "Yes" or "No", or just a few words. The power of open and closed questions to evoke different responses is demonstrated by imagining the spontaneous response to the same query asked first as an "open," and then as a "closed" question: Open question: "How is your progress on Annual Report coming along?" Closed question: "Is that Annual Report Done?" 3.1.3 Paraphrasing Paraphrasing means a concise restatement in our own words of what another individual just has said. Paraphrasing is handy tool to conduct a Performance Appraisal Interview. Effective paraphrasing clarifies for the Appraiser, and permits the in-depth exploration of issues that the appraisee may present. It also indicates to others that the speaker is on the same wave length, thereby encouraging them to communicate further and share information. But one must remember that the paraphrase should be non-judgmental, literal, matter-of-fact, and factual. The effective paraphrase has a sequential structure. First, there is the introductory stem: "If I heard you correctly ...," "You're saying that ...," or "It seems that what you're telling me is ..." Then there follows the paraphrase-the concise restatement in our own words of what the appraisee has just said. The structure of a paraphrase ends with closing stems such as "Is that all?" or "Is that what you're telling me?" Such concluding stems allow you to check the accuracy of your paraphrase, while encouraging a response. 3.1.4 Reflection of Feeling

11 Purpose of Interpersonal Skills In Effective Performance Appraisal

Our

Emotions

play

central

and

sensitive,

role

in

interpersonal

communication. Bottling up emotions may be to hinder communication. While it often may be considered difficult or inappropriate to express or deal with emotions in the workplace, we tend to feel better when we do-and behave more positively toward an individual who seems to understand how we feel. Norman Sigband, an early scholar of managerial communication, defined interpersonal communication as "the transmission and reception of ideas, feelings and attitudes-verbally and non- verbally-which produce a response." Very simply, to effectively communicate is to take the human factor into account. Similar to the paraphrase, the reflection of feeling is a literal, matter-of-fact, and timely restatement in our own words of the emotions we sense the other person is feeling. By doing so, we subtly encourage others to express the emotions they feel. At appropriate times, it may be helpful to encourage others to express their feelings before going on to more task-related activities. The structure of the reflection of feeling is similar to that of the paraphrase. First, one uses the Appraisee's first name, or the pronoun "you." Next follows the initial stem, such as: "It sounds like you feel ..." or "I hear you expressing some ..." Third, one labels the emotion. Then one mentions the context in which the expression of emotion occurred. One concludes with a final checking stem such as: "Am I right?" or "Is that about right?" - "Rajiv, I sense that you're really anxious about this meeting. Am I about right?" Before using reflection of feelings we must remember. Appraisers are not psychologists; individuals with serious problems should be referred to the proper professional for help. In addition, the knowledge and practice of these

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skills can be put to ethical or unethical uses. The reflection of feeling is among the most powerful as well as dangerous of micro skills. The insincere use of this skill can severely damage a trusting relationship with an individual. Yet, there are moments when knowing how to exhibit a chord of genuine human concern, when giving other people a chance to express how they feel, can help them deal more effectively with their problems on and off the job. One of the special strengths of the micro skills is that each one can be practiced on a self-paced, one-at-a-time basis until it becomes a natural part of one's range of face-to-face communication skills. The micro skills can help a Appraiser communicate more effectively with individuals in any organizational situation - particularly the neglected, but crucial part of the performance appraisal process, the face-to-face interview in which the appraisal itself is delivered and discussed.

3.1.5 Feedback Another useful micro skill for appraisers is feedback. The manager's conscious use of feedback provides a set of verbal channels to more effectively communicate with appraisee. The effective use of the feedback skill involves: (1) clear and concrete data; (2) conveyed (as much as possible) via timely, present-tense statements; while (3) employing non-judgmental, control. The effective use of feedback first involves clear and concrete data: literal, matter-of-fact attitudes and behaviors about (4) correctable items over which the subordinate has some

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Vague: "Your work with clients has been very good this year." Concrete: "This year you've increased placements by 20% while cutting complaints in half." The second characteristic of the feedback skill involves employing nonjudgmental statements. Judgmental statements evoke emotions, particularly if judgments are negative. The negatively judgmental statement uttered by a appraiser may be perceived by a appraisee as an "offensive attack," to which his or her most natural response may be to "defensively" respond. Thus, a cycle may be established which hardly encourages the open communication that is prerequisite to positive behavioral change - one of the goals of the performance appraisal process. The next characteristic of feedback urges the use of non-judgmental statements that are literal, matter-of-fact, and factual. Judgmental: "You're terrible in meetings with other people. Every time I take you, you foul things up." Non-judgmental: "You seem to be too eager in meetings. Your behavior could be interpreted as too pushy, and turn people off." A fourth characteristic of the feedback skill is the timely present- tense statement. While performance appraisal by its nature deals with previous behaviors, consciously choosing to deal with more recent incidences can be a powerful agent for more positive change. Distant Past Feedback: "Habib, you've messed up your budget for the past three years, and this time I've had enough of it." Timely/Present-Tense Feedback:

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"Habib, I've just made some specific suggestions to you on how you can improve this year's budget preparation. But you don't sound too enthusiastic about them. How can I help you become more effective in your budget preparation?" Finally, feedback deals with correctable items over which the subordinate has some control. 4.0 CONCLUSION It is important to educate appraisers on the importance of involving the appraisee in the appraisal process through a genuine invitation to participate. Raters should be made aware that they do not possess all relevant performance information and that the employee is an extremely important source. Greater employee participation and goal setting can refocus the process from an adversarial to a cooperative and coaching atmosphere, thereby reducing tension, defensive behavior, and rater- ratee conflict. Another factor that is important is the cultivation of regular, ongoing informal feedback. Regular informal feedback increases communication and understanding of job requirements, employee attitudes and feelings, and progress. Specific, behavioral, and timely feedback is critical for performance improvement and it is unlikely that once a year performance appraisal can meet employee feedback requirements. 5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY Mintzberg, Henry (1973). The Nature of Managerial Work, New York: Harper & Row. Roberts, Gary E. (1994). "Maximizing Performance Appraisal System Acceptance: Perspectives from Winter 1994, 525-548. Municipal Government Personnel Administrators," Public Personnel Management, volume 23 no. 4,

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Ivey, Allen E., Mary Bradford Ivey and Lynn Simek-Downing (1987). Counseling and Psychotherapy: Integrating Skills, Theory, and Practice, 2nd Ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Drucker, Peter (1974). Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. New York: Harper & Row, pp. 490-92. Peter G. Davis Ph.D (2005) ,Performance Appraisal for Coaches , ICCE Coaching Conference ,Hong Kong February 2005 Dale
David

J. B.

Dwyer,

Ph.D

(2008), & Jacob

Job S.

Analysis-based Caldwell (2009)

Performance Developing

Appraisal, Society For Human resource Management Carmichael Interpersonal Skills For Business Success, Oklahoma City University