Performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of individual with respect to
his/her performance on the job and his/her potential for development.
Meaning & Definition Common Appraisal Errors What is the purpose of performance appraisal?
Performance appraisal serves different organizational purposes:
Providing feedback to employees about their performance Determining who gets promoted Encouraging performance improvement Motivating superior performance Setting and measuring goals Counseling poor performers Determining compensation changes Encouraging coaching and mentoring Supporting manpower planning or succession planning Determining individual training and development needs Determining organizational training and development needs Confirming that good hiring decisions are being made Improving overall organizational performance Keep good records-Both praise and criticism are most meaningful when supported by factual examples.
Review previous goals-Use previous goals to evaluate progress.
Get input from others-Seek feedback from others who work with the appraisee in areas they will have objective knowledge of and get examples where available.
Prepare carefully - Prepare in advance so that you can deliver the message that you intend to.
Refer Checklist
Appraisers Home-Work Explain the meeting agenda - Outline what is about to happen for the session. Encourage communication listen encourage two-way communication ask for ideas on how they can improve their performance ask for how they feel you can help the mask for feedback on the appraisal section Stay focused -Keep the session focused on past and future performance, summaries discussion issues often to ensure agreement. Communicating shortcomings The employee expects and should know what he/she needs to improve. Be open Be versatile and open-minded if you hear things that cause you to change your opinion. During the Appraisal Evaluation process- 1.Begin with the positive things that were well done. 2.Follow this with areas that need improvement and a plan on how to address them. 3.Conclude with a reinforcement of your desire to help the person grow and improve.
Making promises-Dont make promises you do not have control over (e.g. salary increments, promotions, transfers etc)
Review goals - Concentrate on a few areas- things that make a difference. Try to encourage continuation and growth in the areas of strength. During the Appraisal Contd 7 Avoid using subjective, vague or overly broad descriptions such as poor attitude or no initiative. Give specific, objective comments or examples.
Examples of Subjective Comments Example of Objective Comments 1. Lacks proactiveness Never asks for domain knowledge 2.. Chronically absent Absent six days in last month 3. Does not care about quality Has an error rate of 10% 4. Lacks interest in the work Missed the due date for assignment
Be consistent. If an issue (weakness of performance) was mentioned on the previous performance appraisal, it should be mentioned again if it is still an issue. An omission may assume the problem has been resolved. Conversely, if there has been improvement since the last appraisal, acknowledge it. During the Appraisal Contd 8 Becoming silent. An employee who is feeling hostility or resentment towards you may react by silence. Talk to the employee about whatever you need to, but do not push the issue by attempting to make small talk. Ask open-ended questions such as What would your approach to the problem be? Why do you think you were successful in completing that project? If the employee continues to refuse to talk, you may have to address the employee directly and request that he/she talk to you so that you can put the problem behind you.
Quick to Agree. The employee may want to get out of the appraisal meeting as soon as possible. If this situation occurs, ask the employee to summarize major points. Use questions such as, What is your understanding of the problem? Make sure there is a mutual understanding of overall performance, goals and objectives before the meeting ends. Addressing some situations . 9 1. Be honest and frank regarding performance deficiencies. Address areas that the employee has control over and can change.
2. Use tact and sensitivity without getting personal when discussing the employees work performance.
3. Have documentation available. Mark entries in your employee notes or journal with paperclips so that you can quickly show examples of problems the employee has had with performance and/or behavior during the past year.
4. Make sure you have also documented the times you have spoken to the employee about his or her performance. This chronological history will assist you when you discuss specific dates of performance deficiencies.
5.Show the employee examples of how his/her work does not meet performance objectives. Tie individual tasks, goals, and directions to group and organizational goals.
Dealing with the Low Performers 10 6. Set improvement goals. Set short-term goals that are specific and achievable for the employee. Explicitly state the level of performance you expect for the persons work to be considered acceptable. Make a contract with the employee to improve performance within a certain amount of time. Set measurable standards for improvement and work together to determine how the performance objectives can be accomplished. Be positive about the employees ability to improve.
7. Establish an action plan. If appropriate, arrange for extra training by yourself or a senior co-worker, or closer supervision by yourself.
8. Schedule a follow-up on progress meeting in one or two months to assess the progress that has been made, or establish another way to monitor the workers progress towards achieving the established goals.
Dealing with the Low Performers Contd.. 11 Appraisal Errors 12 Halo/horns effect Xs outstanding writing ability caused his supervisor to rate him highly in unrelated areas where his performance was actually mediocre. Inappropriate generalizations from one aspect of an individuals performance to all areas of that persons performance 13 First impression Error
Tendency of a rater to make an initial positive or negative judgment of an employee and allow that first impression to colour or distort later information
If a TL noticed an employee who was going through a severe family problem performing poorly. Within a month the employees performance returned to its previous high level, but The supervisors opinion of the individuals performance was affected by the initial negative impression. 14 Similar-to-me effect
The tendency of individuals to rate people who resemble themselves more highly than they rate others X was from a small village.
Unknowingly she rated several other women who were from small villages 15 Contrast Effect Tendency of a rater to evaluate people in comparison with other individuals rather than against the standards for the job. Think of the most attractive person you know and rate this person on a scale of 1 to 10. Now think of your favorite glamorous movie star. Re- rate your acquaintance. If you rated your friend lower the second time, contrast effect is at work. 16 Stereotyping The tendency to generalize across groups and ignore individual differences Sanjay was quiet and reserved, however, he is well liked and respected by both internal and external customers. His boss rated him lower than the other customer service personnel since he didnt fit the mold. 17 Negative and Positive skew
The opposite of central tendency: the rating of all individuals as higher or lower than their performance warrants X rates all of his employees higher than she feels they actually deserve , in the hope that this will cause them to live up to the high rating. While y sets impossibly high standards and is proud of never having met an employee who deserved a superior rating. 18 Attribution bias The tendency to attribute performance failings to factors under the control of the individual and performance successes to external causes. xs, attributes the successes of her work group to the quality of her leadership and the failings to their bad attitudes and inherent laziness. 19 Central tendency The inclination to rate people in the middle scale even when their performance clearly warrants a substantially higher or lower rating. Because Y had a concern that he would not be able to deal with confrontation during an appraisal session, he rated all of his employees as Meets Expectations. 20 Recency effect The tendency of minor events that have happened recently to have more influence on the rating than major events of many months ago. X kept no records of critical incidents. When she began writing the appraisals for her employees she discovered that she could only recall examples of either positive or negative performance for the last two months. 21 A structured feedback process the ABCDE model The ABCDE model provides a structured process a manager can use to give feedback to their staff. It not only provides a sequential order to follow, but also encourages good practice in delivering the feedback by incorporating all these principles. The five stages of the model are: 22 ASK Firstly, the manager should ask themselves a series of questions, before engaging the staff member at all: Is my aim genuinely to encourage effective behaviour? Is it worth giving feedback about this particular behaviour? Is there something Im doing which is causing poor performance? 23 BEHAVIOR The manager should tell the staff member which particular behaviours they have observed that they wish to talk about. Feedback should always start with what is observable, not conclusions about observations. This means the manager focusing on what they have seen, what they have heard, or what they have read. We cannot observe abstract concepts like teamwork, attitude, laziness, enthusiasm or commitment; these are conclusions we draw from observing behaviours. In giving feedback, we should avoid starting with such interpretations because: We can easily misinterpret what we observe, which may damage the trust the staff member has in us. The staff member is asked to interpret what you mean, and they may get that wrong! Be as specific as possible, give examples, and stick to behaviours. 24 Consequences Having stated the behaviours, the manager should go on to state the impact that those behaviours have, whether positive (in the case of affirming feedback) or negative (in the case of adjusting feedback). As far as possible, these consequences should be framed in terms that affect the individual concerned; the impact should have consequences for them. For example: Chandra, when you decide to stay late and make sure everythings ready for tomorrows shift, it really helps things run smoothly and I know the other staff really appreciate it Or: Martin, when you dont return my emails, even when I have asked you specifically to reply, what happens is that I start to doubt whether youre on top of things or whether youre prioritising your work properly 25 DO Having stated what has been observed and how those behaviours impact on performance, the manager then makes the ask: Please keep it up (affirming) or What can you do differently? (adjusting). The onus is on the member of staff to take responsibility and suggest how they can change (or to accept the praise!). It may occasionally be appropriate to ask What do we need to do differently?, recognising a joint responsibility for a situation. But the staff member should retain responsibility for their behaviour in any case. 26 Evaluate Most instances of feedback will not require any kind of follow up or evaluation, including almost all cases of affirming feedback. Feedback at its best is regular and low-key, and will rarely turn into anything formal. In these cases, it will be appropriate for the manager to ask the staff member about a timescale for change, and how they can assess whether progress has been made or not. 27
Too often, we wade through the performance appraisal process believing our end result is simply the completion of a cycle. Change your perspective.
Appraisals are more than assessments of the past yearThey are starting points for the next year. As such, be sure
You devote equal time to creating tasks and high-level goals for the next year. These objectives serve as guideposts for employees, and they provide the benchmark against which future performance will be measured.
Look to the future
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Remember that your greatest assets are your employees. I will be assisting managers with identifying individual employee gaps and developing employees one by one.
Incorporate these gaps into performance appraisal reports, and use the data to generate each employees personal development plan. After all, a performance appraisal is simply a measurement of what has already happened; development plans and follow-up action are the catalysts that actually improve individuals performance, which should in turn positively influence the organizations overall performance.
Dont just assess competencies, develop employees
29 Get Evidences
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