Performance appraisal includes:
– identification: determining the areas of work the manager should be examining
– measurement: judging how “good” or “bad” employee performance was
– management: managing and improving employees’ performance, the main goal of any appraisal system (Gómez-Mejía, Balkin & Cardy 2012, 251.)
One popular approach to identify performance dimensions is focusing on competencies, characteristics people bring with them in order to succeed. There are lot of appraisal formats to choose from. They can be classified in two ways: by the type of judgement (relative or absolute) and by the focus of the measure (trait, behaviour). Relative judgement requires supervisor to compare an employee’s performance to others. Absolute judgment asks supervisor to make judgements about an employee’s performance based on performance standards. There are challenges that needs to be considered when doing measurement, e.g. rater errors and bias, the influence of liking, organizational politics, legal issues. Effective performance management needs team work and communication (Gómez-Mejía, Balkin & Cardy 2012, Chapter 7.)
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurement tool, which tells how well an organization is achieving its goals and objectives. KPIs can be applied to any area of performance, but it should align with the organization’s critical success factors. SMART KPIs are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. It’s important that KPIs and how they relate to employees’ work, are clearly informed for everyone in the company (MindTools.)
Our Case is about a bad experience in performance appraisal. The message is that there should be specific goals to employee and so appraisals would be easier to supervisors and employees. An employee had a bad experience, because he was doing lot of extra work and thought it is going well. In the performance appraisal supervisor gave negative feedback instead. The HR Director realized this unfair situation, and they made specific goals to be completed in six months. Then the employee knew better where to pay attention and he was happy afterwards because he knew what to expect from the appraisal (Bumgarner, 2011.)
In one of my previous job, NPS (Net Promoter Score) was very important and we were discussing about it if not every day, at least every week. NPS is one Key Performance Indicator so I take it here as an example. In my opinion as an employee it is not very fair indicator. There are questions how satisfied the customer was and would he or she recommend the company for someone. It is very popular among companies nowadays, but there are problems too. For example, it doesn’t explain why a customer would recommend the firm (Shevlin 2019). Shevlin (2019) says NPS measures intention, not behaviour.
All in all, I find it very interesting that according to a survey, 25% of workers say their company’s performance appraisal process is not effective in improving their performance. At the same time 89% of HR managers say their company’s performance appraisal process is effective in improving employee performance. Why is there such a difference and what could be done? Most of the companies hold performance appraisals at least once a year (Half 2015.)
References
Bumgarner, J. 2011. A Performance Appraisal Horror Story (With A Happy Ending). Cascade Employers Association. URL: http://www.cascadeemployersblog.com/salarytrends/a-performance-appraisal-horror-story-with-a-happy-ending Accessed: 24 February 2020
Gómez-Mejía, R. L., Balkin, B. D., Cardy L. R. 2012. Managing Human Resources. Seventh Edition. Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Half, R. 2015. How Effective Are Performance Appraisals? Rober Half Business. URL: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/management-tips/how-effective-are-performance-appraisals#accordianBody Accessed: 24 February 2020
MindTools. Performance Management and KPIs. URL: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_87.htm Accessed: 24 February 2020
Shevlin, R. 2019. It’s Time to Retire The Net Promoter Score (And Here’s What To Replace It With). Forbes. URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronshevlin/2019/05/21/its-time-to-retire-the-net-promoter-score/#319e58726bbb Accessed: 24 February 2020
Sivuston otsikko 