A Performance Appraisal System - Essay Example

Performance Appraisal Introduction Performance appraisal system refers to a formal system used for measuring,evaluating as well as influencing the worker’s job related outcomes, attributes and behaviors (Bernardin & Beatty, 2009). Essentially, the main aim of this system is to determine the productivity level of the workers and ways of improving it. Therefore, performance appraisal plays an important role in managing the employees and meeting the goals of the organization. The ability to make personal judgments or judge others in the work place is inevitable and universal. Nevertheless, without a formal structured system of appraisal as well as evaluation, employees will instill judgments on their fellow colleagues, supervisors, subordinates and peers informally and arbitrarily. This ability to make judgments, without following the correct procedure, may create ethical, legal and motivational problems within the organization. Alternatively, a formal appraisal system provides structured guidelines that are lawful, valid, reliable and defensible (Starcher, 2006). Smith (2006) and Bernardin & Beatty, (2009)point out that performance appraisal in an organization is a complex and challenging process. Usually, most managers do not acknowledge, but the fact remains it is an inevitable component within the management and supervisory process. Generally, workers will be judged on their performance, irrespective of whether or not they are under a formal appraisal system. After all, this is the nature of human beings to judge others. Because several of these uninformed, informal judgments will be flawed, there is need for formal appraisal system so as to reduce the possibilities of making judgments about others (Landy & Farr, 2003). This will benefit the organization and promote employee’s performance. Advantages Formal appraisal system has significant benefits to employees, the managers and the entire organization. To the organization; Source of management information Performance appraisal is an efficient source of information in an organization. Appraising employees’ systems ensures that the overall performances of the organization are focused to attaining the set goals (Grote & Grote, 2002). The views and reviews from the system include but not limited to questions like, ‘how will the organization attain its goals and what it will contribute?’ The results of the performance appraisal may lead to overall improvements of the job performance e.g. improved customer service and better productivity. This benefits the organization in various ways. First and foremost, basing on the future employee decisions and their needs, it is easier for an organization to decide which type of training and promotion needs are required to increase job satisfaction and overall productivity. This information regarding is very crucial for effective management. Secondly, formal appraisal helps in identifying inefficient and ineffective job practices and unearths possible problems that may be limiting the organizational progress (Wiese & Buckley, 2008). This is the best opportunity for the organization to improve its performance once it has identified the source of its weaknesses. Literally, there is a relationship between personal work and the organizational goals, and if this relation is kept close, there is a possibility for increased profitability to the organization. However, it is only through the appraisal system that the company uses to measure employee satisfaction and establish close relationships for effective performance. To the manager; Recognition of outstanding performance It is the managers duty to know the affairs and the progress of his/her employees. Knowing the employees by their career, strengths and weaknesses provide an opportunity for the managers and the supervisors to formally recognize them especially for their good performance (Bernardin & Beatty, 2009). This helps them identify the most appropriate technique of rewarding them. Workers feel satisfied when they are recognized and rewarded. This will help them increase their productivity. Current performance appraisal systems depersonalize issues. Most supervisors and managers concentrate on behaviors and outcomes, as opposed to personalities. Such established systems give support to the ongoing dialogue, feedback and communication about the organizational aims and objectives. Furthermore, they aid in communication between the workers and their supervisors. Therefore, performance appraisal gives a clear target of work standards and priorities and builds a concrete trust between the managers and the workers (Bolman & Deal, 2003). Lastly, performance appraisal helps the managers identify the best performers and poor performance as well as their likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Some workers perform poorly, not because they are dwarfs in their duties, but may be misplaced in their careers. Unless the manager conducts a formal appraisal, he or she may not know. Having known, it will be easier to handle the workers basing on their needs and competencies. To the employees; Source of motivation and satisfaction Performance appraisal of employees may have significant effects on the levels of worker motivation and satisfaction-either for better or for worst. It provides the workers with work recognition for the efforts they put. According to Maslow and Expectancy theory and other motivational research, it has been concluded that recognition is a mandatory incentive in all organizations (Fink & Longenecker, 2009). The appraisal system assists the managers and supervisors in informing the workers that the organization requires their efforts for growth and development. This form of recognizing the workers may have a lot of motivational influence on the worker’s sense of commitment, worth and belonging. Surprisingly, human beings prefer negative recognition rather than no recognition at all. If there is nothing else, the presence of formal appraisal program in an organization will show the workers that indeed the organization needs and appreciates their individual efforts and performance. This appreciation alone motivates the workers. However, regular appraisal programs help the low performing workers to improve their performance. This is especially when fellow workmates are rewarded for their outstanding performance (DeVries, 2006). Training and development According to (De Cenzo & Robbins, 2006), performance appraisal helps in identifying performance gaps and provides a perfect opportunity for the subordinate and the managers to identify the most appropriate training and development needs. The discussion of performance appraisal is used to identify presence or absence of the required work skills. Training and development needs may be made more relevant if the pre-requisite work skills are clearly defined in line with the required performance outcomes. In simple terms, performance appraisal makes training needs more pressing by establishing clear relations to future career aspirations and the desired outcomes. Furthermore, consolidated appraisal data helps the organization to determine the training and development requirements (Edmonstone, 2006). Form the organization perspective, such data may be used to make sound decisions that help minimize costs in future. Recruitment and induction Data from the appraisal program is very useful for monitoring the organizational induction and recruitment practices (Armstrong, 2012). For instance, how best are the workers performing who were employed two years ago? Generally, recruitment and selection process should continually be evaluated for better accountability and management. By following the annual data of the new workers and the organization analysis, it is possible for an organization to assess the general performance; whether it is stagnating, growing or declining. The current performance of workers partially depends on their competence and their mastery of the work skills. To analyze the performance, there is need to evaluate the criteria used to arrive at making final recruitment (Starcher, 2006). This implies that the organization has to evaluate its processes to maintain its operation standard and provide quality service. Employee evaluation One of the main objectives of performance appraisal is the employee evaluation. Given the definition of performance appraisal as the process of examining and evaluating the employees’ performance, workers should continuously be evaluated to maintain organizational performance. Although the evaluation process may be dehumanizing, it helps the workers to develop their ideas and work objectively. Formal appraisal, therefore, provides orderly guidelines of evaluation individual employee (Athey & McIntyre, 2007). This will minimize tension within the organization since it is a duty or a routine to follow. Total quality management Organizations thrive to provide quality products and services to meet the recommended standards. Since the organization has complex structures, it may not be easy to identify which section or who contributes to low standards. This may cause shift-of-blame among the departments and individual workers. Appraisal programs ensure that every worker is responsible for ensuring that quality is maintained (Smith, 2006). Nevertheless, it is beyond reasonable doubt that without safeguards like appropriate design, sufficient administrative support, training for appraisers and comprehensive job analysis, the process of appraisal risks being like any other bureaucratic rituals managers and the subordinate should endure. Pressure on employees Performance appraisal puts a lot of pressure on the workers for better organizational performance. When the workers are couscous that they will be appraised with respect to some factors, they will always strive to do their best because their future mostly depends on appraisals. In several organizations, workers tend to be reluctant in their duties and work as if they are forced. They work sluggishly to buy time. In some occasions, they skip duties, especially the seniors, because they shall not be accountable after all. Appraising employees will make them work objectively because they will be held accountable (French, 2001). Thus, every employee has an internal drive to work willfully. There is little supervision since each one has to account for his/her performance. Presence of the appraisal system, therefore, acts as a driver to accelerate good work. Warnings Evaluation during the performance appraisal provides an early warning to workers whose performance has fallen below certain levels (Bohlander et al., 2001). During the assessment process, the supervisor can monitor the trend of performance of all the workers and issue warnings for any poor performance. Before the productivity of an employee falls to a level of threatening the overall organizational performance or his/her job, a formal meeting may be convened to discuss the threat and provide suggestions for improving. Some employees who may not be aware of their level of performance will take heed and improve their performance. This will give a second chance for the ill-fated and reconcile with the organizational mandate. Disadvantages Performance appraisal is a universal process practiced in various organizations worldwide. Irrespective of recommendations from various management teams, appraising employees’ performance faces some challenges. These include: Timeliness and Time consuming One of the adverse challenges of performance evaluation is the fact they the process is time consuming. Supervisors cum managers take a lot of time preparing paper-work, organizing meetings and making follow-ups in the name of explaining the results. This time wasted could be daytime hours which could otherwise be used constructively, especially for those workers who have shown outstanding performance and have nothing much to gain from the evaluation process (Wiese & Buckley, 2008). Furthermore, the entire process does not get the expected priority. Essentially, workers should get a timely response to enable them learn whether they are doing their work as expected. Absence of formal or informal response provided by the formal performance appraisal system, the workers may not know how they can perk up their processes about the work. Failure of the supervisor to carry out timely performance appraisal shows poor leadership skills and may strain employee-supervisor relationship. This case is particularly true when worker’s salary raise mainly depends on completion of performance appraisal. Late appraisals imply untimely wage increase. Misdirection Most of the reports from the performance appraisals stir up tension among the workers. In most cases, employees do certain duties for the sake of receiving the best evaluation, as opposed to contributing towards the overall business direction and performance. In order for the workers to have job security, they may be too concerned on improving on areas they perform poorly, even at the expense of the areas they do best (Bernardin & Beatty, 2009). This may compromise the overall performance of the organization. Office dynamics While the overall aim of performance appraisal is to improve the organizational performance, it may have negative effects on the office dynamics. Initially, all the workers are encouraged to work as a team. Teamwork has been given a lot of emphases especially in complex organizational structures. Every part of the organization contributes to the outcome, therefore, there is need to work jointly. However, some workers who may have been evaluated and graded poorly to feel there was no justice during the evaluation. In turn, they will isolate themselves and fail to cooperate with their colleagues. Negative reports breed hatred and resentment amongst the co-workers especially those with low evaluation records. Alternatively, these workers become antagonistic towards their seniors who assessed their work (Armstrong, 2012). Supervisor bias Either intentional or unintentional biases ruin the integrity of the formal performance appraisal system. Biases happen when the supervisors or the managers overlook or undermine poor employee performance especially during the early evaluation stages and concentrate mostly on the latest performance (Landy & Farr, 2003). According to Armstrong (2012), it is evident that supervisors’ biases occur when they feel it is time-consuming and costly to produce quality performance appraisals that may result in a less well-constructed appraisal. Furthermore, supervisors, especially those who got promotions recently, may have a hard time to rate the job performance of his former colleagues. This is a notorious disadvantage of the performance appraisal systems and may have permanent effects on worker’s status with the organization. The effects on the employee may be very severe, and may lead to termination if the biases are persistent enough to render ratings of performance that are abysmally low (Roberts, 2008). Negative approach Employees and supervisors may dread performance appraisal season. Some supervisors, especially those working in small businesses may feel it is a waste of resources to make employee’s performance appraisal. Usually, small businesses operate with a few management staff with few employees (Wiese & Buckley, 2008). This is a waste of time for such supervisors when they are supposed to devote some time to organize for employee appraisal. Therefore, workers may fear to receive appraisals that have neutral or negative feedbacks about their work performance. Supervisors who are not interested in the process tend to give negative feedback because of the negative attitude towards appraisal and not due to poor performance. For small organizations, this process creates tension because both the supervisors and the employees are at close proximity and often interact. Therefore, there is a tendency of mischief in the performance (Flippo, 2004). Leadership and training Before any organization launches the performance appraisal system, or even hiring new managers/supervisors, it has to provide training on leadership on how to evaluate work performance more effectively. Training on leadership comprises of ways of writing a performance appraisal document and how to carry out the process (Grote & Grote, 2002). However, training provided by the employers is woefully insufficient to prepare the supervisors to give unbiased feedback to workers in such a way that inspires the employees to strive for better performance ratings. Most organizations train their supervisors on performance appraisal system’s mechanics while disregarding the importance of using the performance feedback to motivate the team members (Starcher, 2006). Value of appraisals in organizations A performance appraisal program is an essential tool to worker’s professional development. It ensures that the organization meets its goals and objectives to its bottom line. There is no employer, irrespective of the organization that exempts the program due to its benefits. Performance appraisal enhances communication, improves the morale of the workers and addresses the employee complains effectively. Bernardin et al. (2008) concur with the fact that organizations use performance appraisal programs to monitor workers’ performance, motivate them and elevate their morale. Monitoring worker performance requires constant documentation, which may be accomplished only using the performance appraisal form. When the workers are informed that the organization is interested in their input, and their efforts will be rewarded, they are inspired to work harder to receive the rewards (Smith, 2006). Self-esteem is improved when workers are recognized and rewarded for the work. There are several possible benefits the firm may gain from adopting the performance appraisal. There is a general consensus in the conviction that performance appraisals may lead to positive implications of the firms. From most of the research, organizations using the program have recorded significant performance in their performance. Since Toyota Company appraising its employees in late 1990s, there have been increased sales volumes. In early 1990s, for instance, the company sold approximately 2 million units of automobiles to African continent (Fink & Longenecker, 2009). The organization underwent vigorous management change and implemented the use of performance appraisal systems to monitor its performance. Surprisingly, by late 1990s, the sales had doubled. This is due to the positive effects of performance appraisal. Other benefits of performance appraisals are (Armstrong, 2012): Effective communication:- effective communication in all organizations is the basis for employee motivation. As admitted by most firms, feedbacks from performance appraisal serve in reducing workers’ perceptions of uncertainty. Basically, feedback cum management-employee communication serves as a guide towards job performance. Enhances employee focus by building trust:- thoughts, behaviors or issues distract workers from performing best in their duties. Such obstructions tend to consume a lot of psychological energy of the workers thus reducing their efficiency and lose sight of the desired organizational goals. A well-constructed performance appraisal program has the capacity to minimize such obstructions and promote integrity within the organization. Reinforcement of the desired performance: organizations may find it more efficient and effective to match individual employee’s goals and the performance with the goals of the organization. A performance appraisal is very flexible to providing room for discussion in the relationship between organizational and individual goals. This cordial relationship may result in employee satisfaction and acceptance of appraisal outcomes. Improvement of performance:- appraisals are valuable tools for effective communication with workers concerning how their work performance stands with the expectations of the organization. Within the organizational level, several researches reveal a positive relationship exists between performance improvement and human resource management practices. Conclusion Formal appraisal is very essential process in all the organizations. First and foremost, it enables the managers and the supervisors to identify various training needs of the employees any other evolving training plan for them. Through the process, the organization attains its objectives. It is a source of satisfaction for the psychological needs of the employees. Workers get to know how they perform in their duties; should they show outstanding performance, they are rewarded accordingly (Bolman & Deal, 2003). A systematic performance appraisal gives both the organization and the worker a careful evaluation, as opposed to a snap judgment for their performance. However, performance appraisal is facing a lot of challenges in organizations. Implementation of the process is very costly in terms of financial and time resources. Organizing for trainings, meetings is very expensive, yet the organization treasures these resources most. Furthermore, it creates some tension between the staff especially if the process was done bialy. 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Wiese, D.S. & Buckley, M.R., 2008. The evolution of the performance appraisal process. Journal of Management History, 4(3), pp.233-49. Read More