Introduction
Performance appraisal is the process of getting relevant information about an employee’s relative worth, analyzing the given information and then recording it. The main aim of performance appraisal is to measure and enhance the performance of a worker and the future ability of the employee (Smither, 2009, p. 4-8).
Its main objective is to take note of what the employee undertakes. Performance appraisal can also be described as an impartial, periodic and systematic rating of a worker’s excellence in issues relating to his current job and his ability for a greater task. This entails a systematic manner of assessing and reviewing of a worker’s real performance over a certain time period and planning for his or her future performance (Bacal, 1999, p. 3)
Performance appraisal is a very powerful tool that helps in evaluating the actual performance of a given worker and determining his or her individual contribution to the performance of the entire organization. In real sense, it calibrates rewards and then pays back the real performance of any given worker within an organization (Cokins, 2009, p. 39-52).
The present paper provides a thorough analysis of the performance appraisal suggested by Employee Performance Solutions. It is important to point out that the performance appraisal under consideration contains the major parameters which can help HR specialist to assess employee’s performance.
However, there are certain parameters missing. The present paper reveals the missing points and includes an improved variant of the performance appraisal. Particular recommendations on how to improve the given performance appraisal are also provided in the paper. Therefore, the major goal of the present paper is to evaluate the given form and provide the most comprehensive performance appraisal form.
Evaluation of the performance appraisal in question
Review of an employee’s general performance over a certain time period
One of the most important goals of performance appraisals is to review the actual performance of an employee over a given time period. There should be a well developed score card that has specific parameters for given positions in an organization.
The appraisal period should be clearly stated in the appraisal form so as to know which period the appraisal is being done for (Nkomo, Fottler and McAfee, 2008, p. 183-185). The appraisal period can be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly depending on the organization and the nature of work.
Looking at the appraisal form in question, one of the weaknesses of the form is that it doesn’t have a place for the appraisal period. In case of any future record demand, it may be very hard to track the record of the employee due to lack the time factor on the appraisal form.
The time element on an appraisal form is very important, because it clearly shows the progress of a given employee over a certain period of time. Analyzing several appraisal forms helps the management of an organization in making important decisions such as termination of contracts, salary increments, and promotions among others (Rao, 2004, p. 4-14)
The appraisal form shows the date of appraisal but it doesn’t show the period for which the appraisal is being done. This means one cannot tell exactly whether the appraisal is for one week, one month, and one year and so on. Adding the appraisal period on the appraisal form is hence an important factor.
Specific Measurable parameters
The other element of reviewing the general performance of an employee is that it has to have specific measurable parameters. These can be both quantitative and qualitative. Parameters of different employees may vary from one to another depending on their job description.
The most important element of the performance parameter is that it should be measurable and that it should be relevant to the given position. Relevance here means that the parameter should contribute to the attainment of the overall goals and objectives of the organization.
Looking at the appraisal form provided, there is no exact place where the performance parameters are included. Before doing any other evaluation, the actual performance has to be measured using the given parameters. This is why the parameters have to be added on the new improved performance appraisal form.
Determining the difference between the actual performance and the target
Another important objective of the performance appraisal exercise is to determine the gap between the actual performance and the expected performance. Performance appraisal is useless unless it is aimed at determining the extent to which the employees meet their expected output. The individual outputs are also put together in order to determine whether the organization itself meets its targets or not.
This is a very important function of performance appraisal because it clearly shows the profitability of an organization. Knowing and understanding the gap is a key policy making instrument for any given organization. This is because once the gap is known; various strategies can be put in place to deal with the gap. The planning process entirely depends on the gap (Armstrong, 2000, p. 52-61).
If the gap is in form of a deficit, the organization may need to terminate some employees train and develop others or even revise the targets downwards if they are too high. On the other hand, if the gap is a surplus, the organization may promote some employees, give others salary increments or even revise the targets upwards if they are too low.
From the above discussion, it comes out quite clearly that the omission of the gap between the actual and targeted performances on the provided performance appraisal form has to be handled. Once this gap has been identified, it helps in determining the percentage score on each parameter. The average of the percentage scores from all parameters is the overall score of the given employee or the organization at large. After the gap for each parameter is determined, there has to be a place where the given employee has to comment on each performance. This helps the management to come up with policy interventions to further improve on the performances. Such comments also help the supervisor while making final comments on the performances of his or her subordinates.
Organizational control purposes by the organization
The controlling function of the organization entails confirming if all activities carried out in an organization confirm to the organizational plan, established principles and the instructions that are given out. This simply means confirming finding out whether policy is followed while carrying out day to day duties by all employees in an organization (Rolstadas, 1995, p. 67)
Performance may be a good measure of conformity to policy. A variation in performances of different employees working in the same organization is a good measure of the degree of conformity to policy. Performance appraisal is a good indicator of this.
The supervisor should always go through the appraisal form step by step by each subordinate. At every level, the employee should be allowed to give details of how he or she achieved the given result. The manager should then be able to draw from the discussion on whether the activities done are in line with the set organizational set standards. The manager can then give direction on each parameter as he or she compares it with the performance (MilkOvich & Wigdor, 1991, p. 45-76)
The provided performance appraisal form did not capture this idea very well. This is because it lacked the place of capturing the performance quantitatively. Determining the performances and giving comments on each is a good way of practicing the control function in the performance appraisal process.
Communication and relationships between subordinates and their supervisors
One of the most important ways where a manager has a one on one discussion with his or her employees is during the performance appraisal process. In these interactions, both the parties are expected to be free of any form of tension so that they can express themselves freely (Grote, 1996, p. 147-170). The employee can begin by filling in the details before he/she can join the supervisor for a one on one discussion.
The manager compares what has been given by the employee with what he has before both the parties can come to a consensus on each parameter. The employee is free to ask any question or even raise any issue relating to his or her work. Such issues may comprise career growth expectations, challenges on the work, and support needed among others (Powers and Roth well, 2007, p. 198-201)
Some managers prefer carrying out this assignment outside the office so as to avoid any work related stresses spilling over to the performance appraisal process. This helps the employees be relaxed and open minded as they share with their seniors (Luecke and Hall, 2006, p. 67-74). Such a process is meant to enhance the communication process and relationships between the employee and the supervisor.
Some supervisors end up misusing the performance appraisal process by punishing those staffs that don’t adhere to their individual demands. Such an approach beats the whole logic of improving communication and relationships between the manager and his juniors. To curb this happening, there should be a provision to ask the employees if they agree with the appraisal or not (Dozier and Grunig, 1995, p. 125-130)
This provision of the degree to which the employee accepts the appraisal results is missing on the appraisal form provided in this assignment.
This is a critical addition that has to be included in the appraisal form. In case an employee does not agree with the results in any manner, he or she has to be given a hearing by the human resource department in order to find out the reasons as to why the employee doesn’t agree with the results. If the reasons given are sensible, the human resource policy has to provide for a repetition of the whole process by a neutral person.
This provision has helped in improving the communication process between the employee and their seniors by avoiding the supervisors becoming too personal with their subordinates. This promotes professionalism on work and avoids any form of intimidation especially from top downwards. The appraisal process is an interactive exercise that improves relationships between the managers and their subordinates only if used properly.
Identification of future development and training needs of employees by diagnosing their individual weaknesses and strengths
The appraisal form has to have a section in which the employee has to evaluate his/her own strength and weaknesses. From these two elements, the organization can be able to notice the required training and development needs for their employees. This is very important because it helps in enhancing the realization of the organizations objectives.
One element that was not catered for in the appraisal form that was given is the parameter of weaknesses. There is no way an organization can fully come to terms with the required training needs unless the weaknesses of the employees are fully understood. Strengths are points that employees are good at and hence they may not need any training about the same. However, such strength can be used in developing employees to becoming leaders and giving them additional responsibilities.
Understanding weaknesses of employees is very important because it helps the organization to develop specific training needs that suit the requirements of the organization. An employee can better understand his or her strength or weaknesses by getting opinions from his colleagues. This is the main reason as to why the improved performance appraisal form has to have both strength and weaknesses that have to be used in putting in place specific structures for training and development.
Once these training and development needs have been determined, the information is now used for coming up with goals that fully address the needs. The goals have to be very specific and a clear road map has to be drawn on the ways in which the goals have to be met. A special consideration has to be put in place to determine whether an on the job or off the job would be the best to meet with the training needs (Murphy and Cleveland, 1995, p. 380-406)
Giving feedback information to the workers at individual level concerning their performance in the past
Performance appraisal is being used by several organizations to help the employees determine their achievement. This is very important because it helps the employees to determine whether they contribute towards the attainment of the organization’s goals positively or negatively.
Feedback information is very important because employees are reminded of where they are and where the need to be. The human resource department can decide to do write ups to all employees in form of feedback information. These write up can be commendation letters for the well performing employees and warning letters for the non performers. The letters should clearly contain areas that need to be checked or improved on for the next appraisal period.
Feedback is very important because it addresses real performance issues. It is useless for an organization to appraise the performance of its staffs and end up not giving them the required feedback information. Feedback is very critical in helping employees to check on wanting areas. Commending the good performance of the employees also boosts the morale of the workers (Leonard and Cardy, 2011, p. 140-168).
Relevant information that can be helpful in making personal decisions within the organization
Information from performance appraisal forms is very important in the process of decision making. The first important aspect in decision making is the gap between actual and real performance. The organization can set limits within which it can reward performance. Best performers can be rewarded in form of bonuses at the end of the year and promotions for the good work done (Armstrong and Baron, 2005, p. 103-114)
The employees who have poor performance can he rewarded in form of termination of their contracts, extension of probation period or being put under the performance improvement program. This is one element that is lacking in the appraisal form provided. This means that the form cannot help gauge the performance of the employee and hence such decisions cannot be made objectively by the organization.
Strength and weaknesses of employees helps in making decision that are related to training and development needs. This information is available on the appraisal form given only that the parameter of weakness is not covered in the in the appraisal form. Other decisions that can be made from performance appraisal include the transfer decisions. Measuring an employees performance coupled up with his or her strength and weaknesses helps in determining the best place a given employee can work in for the sake of maximizing his or her potential.
Performance appraisals can also help the organizations in the process of setting goals and targets for the next appraisal period. Once the ability of the worker is known and the seasonal trends are clearly identified, the organization can decide to revise the goals depending on the past performance. Setting organizational targets without past experience can lead to over ambitious expectations that may be misleading because they can’t be achieved.
The performance appraisal form provided can help in making some decisions but because of some information that it lacks, it can not satisfactorily help in the process of making most performance related decisions. For example, when all employees completely disagree with the appraisal done by a given supervisor, then certain managerial changes have to be made for the sake of the organization. This is the reason as to why most of this useful information has been included in the new improved appraisal form.
Responsibilities and expectations of the job description to be carried out by all the employees
The human resource department of any organization is very important because it directly deals with the employment issues of the organization. It is the human resource that is concerned with putting down of the job description and specialization of any given position. In order to refine these two issues, performance appraisal is very important.
The exact professional requirements and expectations of a given position can best be determined once an appraisal process has been done. Good or poor performance calls for an addition or subtraction of some duties and responsibilities. There is no permanent expectation of a given position and performance appraisal gives some good feedback that helps the leadership team. The management can decide on increasing or decreasing the academic qualification of a given position depending on the performance appraisal needs
The performance appraisal form given may be useful in defining the expectations and limitations but the problem with it is that it is very shallow. The improved appraisal form gives an in-depth analysis of the performance parameters that can be clearly critically observed to give clear job specifications and job descriptions for all the positions. For one to be able to link the performance with the required competencies, it needs one to have a good understanding of the given position.
Evaluation of how effective certain functions in the human resource department of an organization are such as selection, recruitment, training and development
The human resource department is responsible for hiring, developing and training employees. The effectiveness of this function solely depends on the performance of the employees. Workers who are selected properly, given the right training and well developed in their positions will definitely give out good results. As workers continue being developed, they are expected to continue improving in performance (Lussier, 2008, p. 249)
In case this scenario does not happen properly and the performance of many employees is seen as poor or declining over time, then the main problem could be the human resource department. In such a case, the organization may be forced to review their employment policy in order to make sure that they are hiring the right people for given positions.
Reduction of employees’ complains
One of the most important ways of handling employee complains is by giving them an opportunity to express their grievances. This is why this improved appraisal form has a place at the bottom where the employee is expected to give any additional information that he or she has for the organization’s consumption (Warner, 2002, p. 54-66)
Such information may include grievances that the employee has. Instead of murmuring and wasting the organization’s time that cannot be recovered, the employees are given a chance to express themselves and the organization management has the responsibility of handling the grievances so that they are not mere statements. If this is not done, then the employees may end up seeing no need of giving out their grievances. Therefore, to improve the given performance appraisal form, certain amendments should be made.
Recommendations
To include appraisal period
As has been mentioned above it is very important to understand which period the appraisal is being completed for. Thus, HR specialist is able to evaluate each employee’s progress during a definite period of time. Therefore, it is essential to include appraisal period in the performance appraisal form.
To include parameters
It is also important to explicitly outline parameters that can help to evaluate attainment of the majors and objectives of the organization. These parameters should be measurable. It goes without saying that the parameters should be relevant to each position. Thus, HR specialist will be able to be objective and concise.
To determine employees’ weaknesses
It goes without saying that it is important to acknowledge employee’s strengths. However, it can be more crucial to understand employee’s weaknesses properly. The performance appraisal form should reveal employee’s assessment of his or her weaknesses. In this case, the organization will be able to come up with effective training programs.
To determine the gap between the expected performance and actual performance
Admittedly, it can be essential to note the gap between the actual performance of an employee and expected performance. This will help organization to assess performance of each employee as well as evaluate targets provided. Thus, the organization can lower down some targets which are apparently too high, or, vice versa, introduce some higher organizational standards.
To include employee’s evaluation of the appraisal process
It is quite important to understand the degree to which an employee agrees or disagrees with the appraisal process. This can help an organization to have more comprehensive evaluation. This can help avoid any biased assessment of employees’ performance as if an employee disagrees with some points he or she is welcome to explain his or her standpoint.
The recommendations from this section are very important especially for the human resource department in planning for the staff training and development programs. The specific goals determined have to contribute to the overall goals of the organization. While coming up with the goals, the specific steps that have to be taken in order to meet the goals have also to be recognized.
To include feedback
Finally, it can be beneficial to include feedback into the performance appraisal form. Thus, employees will see that their performance is properly evaluated. Commending successful performance will boost employees’ morale.
Conclusion
After critically analyzing the performance appraisal form given and developing an improved one, it comes out clearly that the appraisal process is very important to any organization whether big or small. It helps in determining the contribution of each employee to the overall goal of the organization, and aims at looking for means and ways of improving the same (Messner, 2007, p. 258-276)
With this in mind, it is quite obvious that any organization whether big or small has to have a performance appraisal system that ensures that the organization is on track with its expectations (Delpo, 2007, p. 11-22)
It is important to note that the given performance appraisal form addresses many important points which can help the organization to determine contribution of each employee in particular. However, the provided appraisal form may not be as comprehensive as expected as it does not cover some essential parameters which can be helpful for the assessment of each employee’s performance.
The present paper contains certain recommendations which can improve the given performance appraisal form. For example, it can be helpful to highlight appraisal period, measurable parameters of assessment, employee’s weaknesses, the gap between the actual performance and expected performance, feedback and employee’s assessment of the appraisal process. All this information will help an organization to evaluate an employee’s performance more effectively.
The present paper also contains an example of the improved performance appraisal form. The improved form is more comprehensive and hence it gives a clearer picture of the contribution of the human resource department in the achievement of the organization’s goals and objectives.
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