Depending on your organization, annual, bi-annual, or quarterly employee appraisals are done to provide feedback on employee job performance. While the initial purpose of appraisals, dating back to 1842, was to help people perform to the best of their abilities, it seems to have taken on a negative connotation presently. Many organizations will only hold performance appraisals when management is building a case to terminate someone. Given this, it is no wonder that performance appraisal sessions have an air of mutual dread around them. What many organizations fail to convey is that, “Performance appraisal is supposed to be a developmental experience for the employee and a ‘teaching moment’ for the manager” (Haden, 2014). But perhaps that feeling
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With this being said, I am only going to touch on four of the most used methods. There is a traditional appraisal, or Manager/Supervisor Appraisal, whereby the manager sits down with the employee and discusses their performance over the past year. Typically, this approach uses a merit-rating system and is tied to a salary percentage increase. One flaw with this system is that it grants even the poorest performers an automatic cost of living increase. This, in essence, can create the feeling of ‘why do I need to work harder than my coworker when we are both going to get the same increase regardless’.
A ‘self-appraisal’ review is useful for prompting employees to increase their involvement in the appraisal process. It has been shown to offer an introspective point of view, encourage personal growth, and facilitate employee development. There are cons as well though. It is important for managers to remember that employees will often times have a perception of a stronger performance than was actually carried out. If the manager is not prepared to offer clear reasoning for the differences in ratings this could lead to workplace conflict and …show more content…
Every year, both managers and employees alike, voice their mutual dread regarding the upcoming ‘yearly evals’. I have found that these are not always accurate in reflecting the employee’s level of performance. I have seen a wide gap in performance scores on the same person from year to year based solely on the different managers conducting the evaluation. I had one coworker who was extremely upset that the new manager, whom she did not get along with that well, gave her a yearly evaluation that was 10 points less than her usual score she had received for the last 8 years in a row. I personally do not feel that only using the traditional appraisal is sufficient or even fair based on the personal feelings that people let get involved. My personal attitude is that this can be a valuable approach, but should be used in conjunction with another type of appraisal as well to get a more accurate picture of
With this being said, I am only going to touch on four of the most used methods. There is a traditional appraisal, or Manager/Supervisor Appraisal, whereby the manager sits down with the employee and discusses their performance over the past year. Typically, this approach uses a merit-rating system and is tied to a salary percentage increase. One flaw with this system is that it grants even the poorest performers an automatic cost of living increase. This, in essence, can create the feeling of ‘why do I need to work harder than my coworker when we are both going to get the same increase regardless’.
A ‘self-appraisal’ review is useful for prompting employees to increase their involvement in the appraisal process. It has been shown to offer an introspective point of view, encourage personal growth, and facilitate employee development. There are cons as well though. It is important for managers to remember that employees will often times have a perception of a stronger performance than was actually carried out. If the manager is not prepared to offer clear reasoning for the differences in ratings this could lead to workplace conflict and …show more content…
Every year, both managers and employees alike, voice their mutual dread regarding the upcoming ‘yearly evals’. I have found that these are not always accurate in reflecting the employee’s level of performance. I have seen a wide gap in performance scores on the same person from year to year based solely on the different managers conducting the evaluation. I had one coworker who was extremely upset that the new manager, whom she did not get along with that well, gave her a yearly evaluation that was 10 points less than her usual score she had received for the last 8 years in a row. I personally do not feel that only using the traditional appraisal is sufficient or even fair based on the personal feelings that people let get involved. My personal attitude is that this can be a valuable approach, but should be used in conjunction with another type of appraisal as well to get a more accurate picture of