Introduction
Performance appraisal is the process of evaluating an employee’s performance of an employee in the dispensation of his/her duties. A performance appraisal is a strategic method of integrating human resource functions with the policies of the institution. This essay seeks to recommend a performance appraisal system that a person serving as a retail-store manager can effectively use.
Among the responsibilities that a person in this capacity is expected to fulfill include the scheduling and assigning of duties to junior workers as well as the identification and implementation of customer needs. A retail store manager is also tasked with the responsibility of hiring employees and ensuring that the individuals who are taken on board are committed to the attainment of the company’s strategic goals.
Theoretical Framework
Wayne Cascio (2013) describes performance appraisal as “the systematic description of an employee’s job relevant strengths and weaknesses” (p.331). Among the elements that are evaluated at when conducting a performance appraisal are the employee’s initiative, loyalty and regularity in comparison with their counterparts in the same position and in consideration of the company’s laid-down objectives.
When conducting a performance appraisal, there are three key terms of relevance. These are rater, ratee and rating. The rater (sometimes called the appraiser) is the person who is conducting the assessment of the employees’ performance (Peretz and Fried, 2008).
The ratee is the person whose performance is being evaluated, while rating is the process of a performance appraisal (Katleen, Ashford and Buyens, 2001). The techniques for conducting performance appraisals are divided into two main categories; old and modern methods of appraisal.
Among the old methods of appraisal are ranking, which can be done by simple ranking, alternation ranking and paired comparison, depending on the requirements of the task. Graphic rating scales were also used in the traditional appraisal systems and these worked by rating the employees on elements such as the quality of work done and their reliability.
Confidential reports, prepared by the immediate supervisor of the ratee were also used in the past to conduct performance appraisals. In presenting the confidentiality reports, the supervisors used a number of methods including checklists, critical incidents and narrative essays, all of which focus on evaluating the strength of the ratee.
The modern methods of performance appraisal are more elaborate that the old methods. One of the popular modern methods of appraisal is referred to as Management by Objectives (MBO). This method is used to gauge the effectiveness of managers in the dispensation of their duties.
The MBO process starts with the senior and junior managers setting common objectives and then making plans for the attainment of these objectives (Kondrasuk, 2012). The subordinate managers then put the plan into action before their performance is evaluated in comparison with the objectives. Any areas of weakness are corrected on time in order to allow the plan attain maximum effectiveness.
The second method of modern performance appraisal is the usage of assessment centers. In this method, the ratees are given several psychological and management exercises, which are evaluated to help identify which individuals are ready for promotion.
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) are also among the modern methods of employee appraisal. The BARS method works by assessing the ratee’s attitude towards his/her job (Scott and Einstein, 2001). Individuals with a positive attitude towards their job tend to be interested in gaining more skills to enable them serve well in the position.
They will, therefore, be ranked much-higher than individuals who have a negative attitude and are not making any effort to upgrade their skills. The other technique that is popularly used to conduct performance appraisals is Human Resource Accounting (HRA).
In this method, the raters evaluate the contribution of the ratees to the overall success of the company (Scott and Einstein, 2001). If the contribution of an individual is found to be more than the cost, then the performance of the ratee is defined as positive, and vice versa.
One of the primary functions of performance appraisal is the improvement of the employees work performance (Cascio, 2013). When workers know that their work will be assessed periodically, they tend to put in more effort than if they are not worried of an evaluation exercise. Performance appraisals also furnish managers and their juniors with information that can be used to make relevant business decisions (Cascio, 2013).
By pointing out the areas that need to be worked on, senior-level managers and their subordinates can easily identify the workers that are not contributing well to the growth of the company.
Performance appraisals also help to identify the developmental needs of employee in a bid to establish the objectives for training (Cascio, 2013). It is only after a performance appraisal that managers can point out the areas in which the employees need more training on.
Performance appraisal for a retail store manager
A retail store manager is personally held accountable for the conduct of other workers in the store. He/She is also directly responsible for handling customer complaints and demands in ways that leaves the clients satisfied and encouraged to continue shopping in the same store.
With this knowledge in mind, the performance appraisal system for use by a person in this capacity needs to be handled from various dimensions. A combination of the MBO and HRA will give the rater more insight regarding the output of the manager. The primary objective for a retail store owner is to make as much profit as possibly, while incurring the least-possible expenses.
In setting up an MBO for the store, retail store manager and other members of senior-level management need to hold a meeting with the junior managers, in which the objectives of the enterprise will be presented. The junior managers have to confirm that the set targets are realistic and achievable.
At their stations, the junior managers are expected to implement strategies that will see them meet all the targets that were set in the meeting with store manager. This is because the store manager is expected to visit their quarters randomly to check on the gains made.
The rationale for using an MBO is that because the junior managers pre-set their targets, they are driven to achieve them in order to avoid the embarrassment of being branded failures. The other gain made by using the Management by Objectives strategy is that the regular assessment exercises can easily confirm whether or not as strategy is working well, with the possibility of scrapping it for a better approach.
The HRA comes in handy to ensure that the store meets its primary target of making profits. The products in the store cannot sell themselves and that is why there are people working there. However, having the wrong person working for a retail store can lead to a loss in clients.
It is of paramount importance that the manager of a retail store understands that each and every member of his workforce ultimately contributes to the profitability of the company.
If the costs associated with keeping the junior managers and their workers in the company are much lesser than the financial gains by their presence, then they will be given a positive review. On the other hand, if retaining the workers in the company costs more than what the company gains, then they will be given a negative review and possibly recommended for release.
Conclusion
The discussion above has recommended the implementation of a combined MBO and HRA as the most-ideal appraisal technique for use by a retail store manager. The MBO has been selected because it has been seen as a technique that gets individuals to commit to particular strategy and are, therefore, be drawn to its implementation.
The technique has also been selected because it allows for change to be implemented in a timely fashion, when a strategy does not appear to be working well. The HRA has also been selected to work with the MBO because it fits well in the nature of the business under assessment.
By implementing the HRA, the retail-store manager is in a position to identify the individuals that are bringing gains to the establishment and setting them apart from those that are being burdensome. The major limitation of this combined strategy is that the two components both need a lot of time to implement and evaluate, time that may not be available when the institution is not doing well financially.
Reference List
Cascio, W. (2013). Managing Human Resources. New York: Mc-Graw Hill eduction.
Katleen E.S., Ashford, S. & Buyens, D. (2001). Self-Regulation of Creativity at Work: The Role of Feedback-Seeking Behavior in Creative Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 84(4), 811-831.
Kondrasuk, J. N. (2012). The ideal performance appraisal is a format, not a form. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 11(1), 115-130.
Peretz, H., & Fried, Y. (2008). National values, performance appraisal practices, and organizational performance: A study across 21 countries. Academy of Management Proceedings. 1(3), 1-6.
Scott, G., Einstein, O. (2001). Strategic performance appraisal in team-based organizations: One size does not fit all. Academy of Management Executive, 15(2), 107-116.