APPRAISAL

1
APPRAISAL

• An evaluation into the progress and work of an
  employee over a period of time.
• Appraisal is part of the job for any person who
  is responsible for the work of other people
• In theory it takes place each time a manager
  checks the work of an employee
• Carried out by your line manager
• Some businesses now have more formal systems,
  involving an appraisal form and interview
• There are also SELF-APPRAISALS and PEER
  APPRASIALS
• Appraisals are used to
• To improve personal job performance
• Reward and identify good work and progress
• To identify training / development needs
• Provide employees with feedback about their
  efforts and work
• Increase motivation (looking where employees can
  develop)
• Provide evidence for Performance Related Pay
• Identify potential for promotion
• Evaluate the efficiency of recruitment and
  selection techniques

2
APPRAISAL METHODS

• Ranking
• Simple and crude method. Rank employees in order
  of best and worst. Advantages are that it is
  easy to do and reasonably accurate. But it
  doesnt provide much information. What is the
  difference between the best and the worst? What
  training is required? How much should they be
  paid etc. None of these are answered.
• 2) Grading
• Several key job criteria are chosen for a
  particular group of staff, e.g. planning,
  relationships, attendances etc. Then each worker
  is graded along a 4 or 5 point dimension. This
  can however be very subjective.
• Grading may indicate some training needs and some
  of the staff who deserve higher wages BUT there
  are still problems quantifying how much the best
  is better than the worst.
• 3) Rating
• Most common. Appraiser chooses 1 of 5 statements
  relating to job criteria. Allows appraiser to be
  more definite in the assessment of each
  criterion. This method should provide more
  information to answer the 3 questions relating to
  performance, pay and prospects.

3
CRITICISMS OF APPRAISAL

• The problem with all these aims is that they can
  be CONFLICTING
• If it is used to improve performance and to award
  extra pay- workers will not discuss problems as
  this may effect pay, and the appraiser finds it
  difficult to be impartial on both areas.
• So you must be clear about what is the purpose of
  the Appraisal and make sure that it doesnt have
  any hidden agendas.
• Other problems
• Workers can become resentful if their work is
  criticised- leading to de-motivation and
  productivity problems.
• People dont know how to appraise properly and
  the form is badly designed.
• Person appraising doesnt fully understand the
  job of the worker.
• The worker must feel that they are having an
  input into their appraisal.
• Some jobs are difficult to appraise especially if
  discussing performance.
• The appraisal is not followed up with any action.