Appraising Employee Performance

1
Appraising Employee Performance

• Performance Appraisals
• (Both an evaluation and a development tool)
• A review of past performance that emphasis
  positive accomplishments as well as deficiencies,
  and a means for helping employees improve future
  performance.

2
Performance Appraisals

• Traditionally used as a key determinate in pay
  and promotion decisions.
• And viewed frequently from the Employee
  perspective with fear and loathing.

3
Performance Appraisals

• Appraisals should occur on a Formal basis at
  least once a year with semi-annual reviews
  recommended as a better practice.
• Informally, performance reviews should be
  conducted on a day-to-day basis with ongoing
  feedback from the supervisor.

4
Who Evaluates

• Most employees performance appraisals are
  conducted by supervisors. But usually not alone.
• Additional input is often obtained from Peers,
  Customers, Subordinates, and it is not uncommon
  to solicit a self-evaluation from the incumbent.

5
What Processes are Used

• Most companies tend to standardize some some
  appraisal procedures in order to ensure that EEO
  requirements are met.
• The consequence is that supervisors have limited
  discretion in evaluating employees. The process
  in place will in large part dictate what and how
  the performance appraisal data is reported and
  managed.

6
Who Sets Expectations

• Supervisors
• Incumbents
• Job Descriptions
• Organizational Goals and
• Objectives

7
Performance Feedback

• Generally feedback comes in two forms
• Intrinsic Self-generated.
• Extrinsic Provided by an outside
• source.

8
Legal Issues

• Performance appraisal policies and procedures, as
  set forth in employee handbooks, are being
  increasingly construed by the courts as binding
  unilateral contracts.

9
Legal Issues

• Supervisors must do everything possible to avoid
  the appearance of prejudice and discrimination.
• The appraisal criteria, methods, and
  documentation must be designed to ensure that
  they are job related.

10
Appraising Appropriate Criteria

• Individual Task Outcomes
• At the end of the day what have you
  accomplished.
• Behaviors
• How does one go about doing their tasks.
• Traits
• How does one appear to be.

11
Performance Appraisal Methods

• Absolute Standard Methods
• Written Essay
• Critical Incident
• Checklists
• Graphic Rating Scales
• Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scale

12
Performance Appraisal Methods

• Relative Standard Methods
• Group Order Ranking
• Individual Ranking
• Objectives Method
• MBO

13
Performance Appraisal Problems

• Leniency Error positive or negative leniency
  that over or understates performance, giving an
  individual a higher or lower appraisal than
  deserved.
• Halo Error a tendency to rate an individual
  high or low on all factors due to the impression
  of a high or low rating on some specific factor.

14
Performance Appraisal Problems

• Similarity Error rating others in a way that
  gives special consideration to qualities that
  appraisers perceive in themselves.
• Recency Error rating others in a way that
  appraisers recall and give greater importance to
  employee job behaviors that have occurred near
  the end of the performance measuring period.

15
Performance Appraisal Problems

• Central Tendency Error appraisers tendency to
  avoid the excellent category as well as the
  unacceptable category and assign all ratings
  around the average or midpoint range.
• Inflationary Pressure a tendency for evaluators
  to be less rigorous and to reduce the negative
  repercussions from the appraisal process by
  generally inflation or upgrading evaluations.

16
Overcoming the Hurdles

• Continually document performance
• Use behaviorally based measures
• Combine absolute and relative
• standards
• Use multiple raters
• Rate selectively
• Participate in appraisal training

17
Team Appraisals

• Peer evaluations by team members is a helpful
  adjunct to the supervisors rating.
• And
• Supervisors should consider the benefit of
  downplaying individual contributions by
  substituting Group performance measures.

18
Performance Counseling

• 360 degree feedback
• Discuss performance strengths and
• weaknesses
• Identify development needs
• Redefine goals and objectives
• Establish an action plan
• Act ethically