Employee Performance Review Process

There are very few things, besides maybe Congress, that have a lower popularity than the annual Performance Evaluation. A poll in the United States found that “98 percent of staff find annual performance reviews unnecessary”. (Quast, 2013) Imagine the number of managers who dislike writing them. Many corporations require a documented performance review of every employee at least once a year. Manager’s claim that these reviews are too time consuming and often do not put much effort into the reviews. However, a good performance review process is a key component to the success of a workplace. If performed properly, a performance review can actually improve employee and management relationships. Understanding why employees and managers …show more content…
It would be nice to be able to narrow it down to one thing, however there are multiple reasons. On the employee side, some reasons are, rating bias, hypocrisy, poor communication, and rater inflation. All have a negative effect on the employees, however, inflation of ratings may be the most damaging when monetary awards or promotions are contingent on them. Rating two employees equally when one out performs the other may make the manager feel better and eliminate conflict for him/her, however it will increase conflict amongst the other employees. Poor communication comes in a close second to inflation. If a manager does not communicate the standards employees will be rated against, how can they be expected to meet or exceed them? For managers, the main complaint seems to be the time needed to complete assessments, backing of upper management for ratings, lack of training, and wanting to avoid conflicts with employees feeling that their ratings are lower than they should be. Many of these reasons are caused by management themselves. If properly executed throughout the year, when appraisal time comes around, 90 percent of the work should already be …show more content…
These are wise words for a manager responsible for issuing appraisals of his/her subordinates. The planning starts well in advance of the notice that appraisals are due also. It should start the first day for a new employee. The new employee should be provided with the mission, vision, and goals of the organization and how their new job fits into those. Included with this, the manager should clearly explain what is expected from the employee to garner the highest marks on an appraisal and provide them an appraisal form to review. They should also ask leading questions to ensure the employee understands these standards. This also should not be the only time a good manager sits down with an employee. Feedback, either positive or negative, documented or not, should be an ongoing process. It should also be specific to established goals. (Performance Management, n.d.) If an employee has lowered required man hours to perform maintenance on a part by 10 hours, then tell them that. It will be more meaningful than an at-a-boy in passing. There should be at least one documented formal, one on one feedback session. Letting an employee know how they are performing now and what they need to improve on will eliminate a surprise on the annual appraisal. Formal quarterly feedback would even lessen the shock and give the employee a chance to reform their behavior. This will also