Performance Appraisal

Performance
Appraisal
A method by which the
job performance of an
employee is evaluated
in terms of quality,
quantity,
time,
cost,
typically
by
the
corresponding manager

Purpose
Provides feedback to
employees

Employee development

Provides basis for management

decisions

Documentation

Rewards

Appraisal Process
Establish Performance Standards with Employees
Communicate Expectations

Measure Actual Performance

Compare Actual Performance with Standards
Discuss the Appraisal with the Employee
If Necessary, initiate Corrective Action

Appraisal Methods

Absolute Standards: employees

are compared to a standard, &
their evaluation is independent
of any other employee in a
work group

Types of Absolute Standards

Critical incident
appraisal

Checklist

Graphic rating
scale

Forced choice

Behaviorally
anchored
rating scales

Types of Absolute
Standards
Critical Incident Appraisal

Performance evaluation that focuses

on key behaviors that differentiates
between doing the job effectively or
ineffectively

The appraiser writes down anecdotes

describing employee actions that were
especially effective or ineffective

Types of Absolute
Standards
Critical Incident Appraisal

Strengths:

It focuses on behaviors
Positive incidents can provide good
examples for other employees

Weaknesses:

Time consuming
Not quantifiable

Types of Absolute
Standards
Checklist Appraisal

Performance evaluation in which a

rater checks off applicable employee
attributes

Appraiser uses a list of behavioral

descriptions & checks off behaviors
that apply to the employee

HR evaluator evaluates employee, the

appraiser merely records the data

Checklist Appraisal Sample

Checklist
1) are the supervisors orders usually
followed?
2) does the individual approach customers
promptly?
3) does the individual suggest additional
merchandise to customers?
4) does the individual keep busy whenn not
serving a customer?
5) does the individual lose his temper in
public?
6) does the individual volunteer to help
other employees?

Yes

No

Types of Absolute Standards

Checklist Appraisal

Strengths:

Reduces bias because

the rater & the scorer
are different

Weaknesses:

Inefficient
&
time
consuming to develop
individualized
checklist items for
numerous
job
categories

Types of Absolute
Standards
Graphic Rating Scale

A performance appraisal method

that lists traits & a range of
performance for each

Used to assess factors such as

quantity & quality of work, job
knowledge,
cooperation,
loyalty,
dependability, attendance, honesty,
integrity, attitudes, & initiative

Graphic Rating Scale Sample

Performance
Factor

Performance Rating

Quality of work, skill,

completeness

Consistently
unsatisfactory

Occasionally
unsatisfactory

Consistently
satisfactory

Sometimes superior

Consistently
superior

Quantity of work done in a

day

Consistently
unsatisfactory

Occasionally
unsatisfactory

Consistently
satisfactory

Sometimes superior

Consistently
superior

Job knowledge is
information pertinent to
the job that an individual
should have for
satisfactory job
performance

Poorly informed
about work duties

Occasionally
unsatisfactory

Can answer most

questions about
the job

Understands all
phases of the job

Has complete
mastery of all
phases of the job

Dependability is following
directions & company
policies without
supervision

Requires constant
supervision

Requires
occasional follow
up

Usually can be
counted on

Requires little
supervision

Requires
absolute
minimum
supervision

Types of Absolute
Standards
Graphic Rating Scale

Strengths:

Less time consuming to develop &

administer
Provide quantitative analysis useful
for comparison
Compared against checklist, more
generalization of items makes it
possible to compare individuals in
diverse job categories

Weaknesses:

Do not provide the dept of

information essays or critical incident

Types of Absolute Standards

Forced Choice Appraisal

A type of checklist
where the rater must
choose between two
or more statements

The appraisers job is

to
identify
which
statement
is
most
descriptive
of
the
individual
being
evaluated

Forced Choice
Sample
Would you rather go to a
party with a group of
friends or attend a lecture
by a well known political
figure?

Types of Absolute
Standards
Forced Choice Appraisal

Strengths:

Reduces bias & distortion because the

appraiser knows the right answer

Weaknesses:

People being appraised tend to dislike

this method because they are being
forced to answer
Frustration arises from not knowing
the right answer

Types of Absolute
Standards
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale

A performance appraisal technique

that generates critical incidents &
develops behavioral dimensions of
performance

Combines major elements of graphic

rating & critical incident methods

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Sample

Position: Employee Relations Specialist
Job Dimension: Ability to absorb & interpret policies
This Employee Relations Specialist:
9. could be expected to serve as an information source concerning new &
changed policies for others in the organization
8. could be expected to be aware quickly of program changes & explain
these to employees
7. could be expected to reconcile conflicting policies & procedures correctly
6. could be expected to recognize the need for additional information to
understand better policy changes
5. could be expected to complete various HRM forms after receiving
instruction
4. could be expected to require some help in mastering new policies
3. could be expected to know that there is always a problem but encounter
errors before realizing his mistake
2. could be expected to incorrectly interpret guidelines
1. could be expected to be unable to learn new procedures after explanations

Types of Absolute
Standards
Behaviorally Anchored Rating
Scale

Strengths:

Specific
feedback
communicates

that

it

Weaknesses:

Suffers
from
same
distortions
inherent in all rating methods

Appraisal Methods

Relative Standards: Evaluating

an employee's performance by
comparing the employee with
other employees

Types of Relative Standards

Group Order
Ranking

Individual
Ranking

Paired
Comparison

Types of Relative
Standards
Group Order Ranking

Evaluating
an
employee's
performance by by placing them into
a particular classification

Example: evaluator places employees

into a particular classification such as
top 20% of the population

Types of Relative
Standards
Group Order Ranking

Strengths:

Prevents rater from inflating their

evaluations so that everyone looks
good or average

Weaknesses:

If the population is small, even if all

are excellent evaluator is forced to
place an excellent employee into the
last places
Zero-sum game consideration.

Types of Relative
Standards
Individual Ranking

Ranking
employees
performance from highest to
lowest

Same
advantages
&
disadvantages as group order
ranking

Types of Relative
Standards
Paired Comparison

Ranking Individuals performance by

counting the times any one individual
is the preferred member when
compared with all other employees

Appraiser selects one job trait, &

compares each employee in a group
with others. Score is obtained by the
summation of the number of times
the employee is superior

aired Comparison Sample

Job Skills Evaluated: Innovation &
Employee Being Rated
Creativity
Comparison
with

Admir

Admir

Betty

Carmen

Dante

Emilio

+
+
+
+

Betty

Carmen

Dante

Emilio

+
+

+
-

+
-

Types of Relative
Standards

Strengths:

Each employee is compared against

every other

Weaknesses:

Difficult to accomplish if the company

has many employees

Appraisal Methods

Outcomes:
an
appraisal
method that includes mutual
objective setting & evaluation
based on attainment of the
specific objectives

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Use behavior based measures

Combine absolute & relative

standards

Provide ongoing feedback

Use multiple raters

Rate selectively

Train appraisers

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Use
behavior
based
measures: do not rate using
'traits'
such
as
loyalty,
courage, reliability, etc. since
these are objective & do not
equate into productiveness

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Combine
absolute
&
relative standards: AS is
biased
towards
positive
leniency, while RS has little
actual variability. Solution is to
mix them up so that they
cancel each others weaknesses

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Provide ongoing feedback:

do not sum up all negative
feedback for a long period of
time before giving it to the
employee. This will make the
appraisal
an
unpleasant
experience
which
the
employee will try to avoid

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Use multiple raters: probability

tells us that as the number of raters
increase, so does the probability of
attaining more accurate information

Peer evaluations
Upward appraisal
360 degree appraisals

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Rate selectively: appraisers

should only rate those areas in
which they have job knowledge

Creating Effective Appraisal Systems

Train appraisers: appraising

employees
correctly
is
a
difficult
job
&
is
often
underestimated. Training is
needed to eliminate bias &
halo effects