Citing performance appraisal as task is an important part of a managers work. This is understandable given that the process of performance appraisal, as traditionally practiced, is fundamentally flawed. It is incongruent with the values-based, vision-driven, mission-oriented, participative work environments favoured by forward thinking organisations today. It smacks of an old fashioned, paternalistic, top down, autocratic mode of management which treats employees as possessions of the company.
So I want to ask you people, does performance appraisals really work?
Anything that does not work does not exist. It would have vanished by now. But performance appraisals are day by day evolving to assess the candidates better and better, despite fast changing business models and job responsibilities that can't always be quantified.
Performance appraisals for employees are same as examinations to the students. Does examinations work? They do. It all depends up on what expectations one has from the deliverables of these. If one expects that the performance appraisal has to perfectly measure a candidate in all respcts, we are expecting too much.
Performance appraisals are to assess the fitness of an employee for the role given by the organization for that employee. It is a feedback mechanism to the decision makers. Decision makers know what percentage of that to be discarded and what percentage of it to be used. Again, there could be failures in this assessment by the decision makers also.
Simply put performance appraisals are like a small lamp in a forest. The bigger the organization the lesser the visibility or effective. That'swhy organizations which are decentralsied as responsibility centers will have better results if we take out around 25% inefficiencies on the system, on the person appraising etc. If the organisation is bogged down with somany other personnel problems like favoretism etc, it will show on the organisation's appraisal itself and thus the whole organization fails. That is what we see in so many cases today. This can't be attributed to appraisal system.
In the absecnce of appraisal system, what else should one use? Accounting system records and measures the financial performance. It is widely accepted and approved that the system works. But there are worse failures even in that. Similarly for employee performance it is the appraisal system.
So it hugely depends on how the system is designed for the organization.
there are to many variables and legalities in today's workplace for performance appraisals to be an effective tool. in the past they were a tool for guidance and an agreement on a method of improvement. i believe we can all grow and should reach for higher goals, no matter what our position. today that is conveyed by a check mark "needs improvement". many managers, unfortunately hit middle of the road and are done with it as it avoids union issues, keeps the friends they are not supposed to be fraternizing with in the first place and keeps them on the top of the popularity poll in the company.
if you want to use performance appraisals, you have to start at the beginning and educate the appraisers again as most have forgot the purpose of the appraisal. it is not to reward friends, it is not to punish the one that does not listen to the same music or said no to eating lunch, and it is not a "picture shot", it is an evaluation of criteria over a span of time and requires thought and objective evidence or it is a waste of time. you have to learn each employee and appraise them on their merits against the requirements of the position, goals for that position and company policies and standards as it is also not a race and/or competition.
In reading the statement that "anything that does not work, would be gone". I do not mean to be rude or disruptive but, I disagree with the comment in that we have have debates on government control of industry, assistance to families due to poor wages, unequal pay for minorities and women, corruption in the political systems. If we wish to end with "it must be working because it exist", we should end all debates as these situations have existed longer than the human resource system and very little has changed. The Pareto principle was written for the financial industry in the 1500s and it has not changed; we should accept that the majority of the wealth will be in the hands of the few and accept wages and benefits as they are; I myself think many things are out of date and in need of change.
I am a manager and auditor and I look at attendance, output and the quality of the output. No one receives a review but, if the above are good; I thank the individual on the floor and not on a piece of paper. If training or discipline is necessary, they are documented formally but, not on a review. The quality of products, attendance sheets, participation on improvement teams, etc. are all means to measure and yet very few are used in the performance review. Most managers cannot quantify "gets along with others as compared to quiet and remains alone". Which is a negative trait or is either?
If Performance Apprisal does not work, question is : Whatworks ? Or .. U say no 'apprisal' at all ? Actually, there is nothing to be wooried about Performance Apprisals.
A performance Apprisal is required to be submitted by the 'apprisee' to his /her immediate supervisor. It starts with "self apprisal" and then goes up.Performance apprisal should be done by right people in its best spirit. Further, there is ( should be ) the scope that the apprisal be reviewed by the next higher ups. If things are well documented and done in right earnest, then there may not be any substitute of Performance Apprisal. Again, if mis-used deliberately, the appriser might be questioned by his/her higher ups.
If any one has any 'methodology" better than this, pls let us know.
performance appraisal really work. apart from analyzing swot, it also helps employee other side perception. scope for improvement and need for trainnig if any. many cases it gives insight of manager and his/her expectation level. Similarly this is an opportunity for the manager to understand the vital strength of the sunordinate. By
vaishnavi ganesan, Partner/Principal/VP, Talent Express
| 05 14 2010 12:00:26 +0000
Yes, Performance Appraisal does work, provided the appraiser is not biased and is fair enough not overlooking the achievements / contributions of his appraisees. Otherwise, the whole purpose of PMS will be defeated. Also, an Appraiser should have a tenure of at least 6 months with his Appraisees. By
Jagdish Singh Nadar, Human Resources, Nuberg Engineering Ltd.
| 05 14 2010 09:56:24 +0000
yes performance appraisal is a best tool to check the employs work so if someone is doing his work well he get heigher degree of motivation from performance appraisal
Performance appraisal is one of the official channels through which an employee's work in an organization is gauged. Although many organizations have a very mechanistic approach towards it, it is nonetheless an important way to document an employee's work in the organization based on which his progress over there is decided.
In fact many organizations take this as a tool to honestly and wholly gauge an employee's contribution towards it success and reciprocate it with deserving rewards, thus giving a fillip to the employee's enthusiasm to improve his work.
yes performance appraisals do work provided done at by a competent person with total transparency.In face appraisals are very important for a healthy corporate environment .
Performance appraisal is must and every employer must follow it. This is a kind of motivation for an employee and he gives his best in the work. This will also help in retaining the employees.
1) each of us is any case evaluated. I prefer a transparent process.
2) it function in practice IF: any case it's not only a "mechanics". After evaluation, actions have to follow, with the right HR support. For example: line managers generally dont' like to assigna "need improvement" because then I've to communicate and then support for improvement or other course...Left alone, they think don't have the time for this stuff. With the right HR support (counsultancy, communication, follow up plan design etc.) they fill more self confident and operatively supported. The same unluckily enough is true on the opposite side: the "outstanding" evaluation. Well, <<if I evaluate Mr/Mrs/Miss X "outstanding" then I will face trouble with his/ her collegaue Y...>> or <<If I evaluate him/ her "outstanding" than I generate career expectation at the moment I don't feel to be able to satisfy...>> and so on. Also in this case professional HR support can switch risk perception and indeciviness into clear evaluation then into value-for- comapny (and people) actions..
Yes it does work,it tells us the real performance of an employee from different angles and dimensions not only employee performance but also the contribution of the employee to the organization growth.
As Performance appraisal is an objective, systematic and periodical evaluation of staff performance, it therefore enhance the reliability of the company’ staff selection/ assessment procedure and policy.
Staff is more motivated to learn and grow under this performance appraisal methodology.
Enable the assessment of the present and future potential of staff and determines the training and development needs.
Enable management in better decision making and planning of manpower ensure the effective and judicious use of resources.
It acts a tool for job enrichment, promotion, salary increment, career planning, training and development and manpower planning.
Every organization needs to groom its best and shed off the weak after putting due effort to give feedback and improve performance. Some people's strengths are really not what the organization's business skillset requires. In most cases, appraisal is the best forum where employee gets appreciated for strengths and feedback to improve self.
Performance appraisals sometimes really demotivate a person when really expectations are set high and he has managed to meet the expectations but not to that level. This will result in deteriorating performance and will not encourage the person to deliver more. By
Guruprasad A Deshpande, Associate Finance, Infosys BPO Ltd.
| 01 18 2010 11:16:12 +0000
Performance appraisals (PA) do work but can work better if they have two-sided linkages. On one hand, PA should be linked to the strategies, policies, and objectives of the organisation. On the other hand, PA should be connected to the reward and motivation systems within organisation. On the other side, one argument is that PA is just taken as a routine. Very true but it is so because the linkages are missing.
Performance appraisal for me are biggest motivation to perform well, beside self satisfaction, it not only boost self-confidence but also generate a healthy competition to perform well. In small companies (especially start-ups), employee strength is low and visibilty is high and thus not limited to manager itself. It also helps in reducing attrition of high-performance employees, while not increasing the overall cost of employees to company.
Because it gives idea of the performance of a person which helps in improvement and it helps in recognizing problems and give suggestions to sort out them.
I agree with Darshana. We cannot please everybody in an organisation. Neither we can compromise with the terms, conditions and policies of the organisation. But I have seen performance apprisal working on many employees and motivating them. If not on everybody....
Dear Rajender, there are certain rules and regulations that cannot be removed from the company policies. I agree with you that it doesn't make a "Very big" impact, but Performance apprisal actually works.
The system of apprisal is certainly a good one. But my experience shows, it is not implemented properly. It all depends upon how your personal relations are with your direct seniors. I have seen hardly any outstanding work is considered during apprisal. It sounds bitter, but unfortunately it's reality. Never seen any senior far who thinks more of one's capabilities, performance than other things.... By
Rajendra , Manager - Projects, ITT Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.
| 05 14 2010 06:27:23 +0000
underline competent person who should it be , immediate line manager or a experienced HR personnel who will likely be honest and straight forward and act as a refree in the appraisal processses.
Audit committees in a frequency of every six months or yearly should be sent by HR or Divisions to understand the ground reality in order to create a conducive work environment.Groups working against the interest of the company and their activities will have to be monitored in order to soften the political climate at a very early stage so that the employee is always given a benifit of doubt judgement at the time of the appraisal
The HR department has to reconsider its goals and objectives periodically as it changes with time. Interviews should be held as per the requirement and need of a particular process or department. Tjis will avoid selecting wrong people for the wrong job. Unless the beginning is right the purpose of an Performance appraisal will not be achieved. Hence we need a very dynamic Human resource department.
If corporates really want to go about performance, then, it would lead to more Hire and Fire. But, why in the first place you Hire a person and then later say, you are not upto the Mark.
Here, we need to focus on the Employee Retention and lesser attrition rate. It is like this, you subject Humans to Quality Testing every time you are doing a "Performance Appraisal". I don't think this is what a company wants to do.
Humans do not want to be thrown into re-cycle bin, because they are not working. Humans want to exist.
I agree with your point on that "we need to start from beginning and educate the appraisers again on the purpose of the appraisal". Most of the appraisers do not know or understand that appraisals are done to periodically evaluate, judge the performance of the appraisee. And one more point to note here is that, if we look at the "Aahays" most of the agreement seems to move towards one goal. Compensation+++, increment or raise in salary after the "Appraisal Cycle". This is really wrong. I think we even need to educate the appraisee also.
Next the most important thing, I would like to bring at this point is the absence in total of HR representatives right from the beginning of the "Appraisal Cycle". Even though the modern day "Tool" says that it is Transparent and has more visibility, there is no way to avoid some one botching up your career or life. What we are envisioning is career discussion and growth of an Individual and a broader growth of a Corporate. In the present day work environment of Horizontals and Verticals, there is no dearth supply of corporate mongers. Sometimes, even the "Appraisers" don the role or tricked to do so. HR representatives do not enter the scenario at all.
This Humanoids or Androids talking to each other about doomsday in the Low level OSI Network, should not be there at all. The human interaction has to be brought in with active presence of HR representatives.
Performance appraisal generally divides the entire team into three camps one which believes in working as per their managers needs and requirements and not for the company. And one which believes in benefitting the company they work for and the last one are those people who are not interested in either of the above two.
Performance appraisal is often used as a tool by managers to exploit their subordinates as their appraisal rating is dependent on how much flatter and butter their managers. It is not always used for the purpose for which performance appraisal is done.
The preformance appraisals are but only a task to be completed at the year end and are hardly taken seriously, all the had happened throgh the year for which the appraisal are be made in writting is done in a jiify in days or maximum in a week and quickly discussed and debated with the manager one is reporting, invariably the manager who is sitting for the appraisal doesnt even know the crux of the matter.I had even come across the appriser coaching or even writting a appraisal for a blue eyed boy of his (Apraisee)and then apprasing him as excellent or giving him a good grade. "MASKA MALISH OF THE IMMEDIATE BOSS IS THE CORPORATE WORD ".
The flaw in the whole system lies in not having any record, substatiated proof or evidence that the good job had been achieved by the individual , it might be a team work or else good luck or fluke.After all this work of writting a self appraisal for the year , training programme for imrovement and career enhancement are discussed by the appraiisers and recorded in the sheets of the appraisee but during all these thirty years of my stint in various location and position ,I havent come acroos any of the corporates judicously following, honouring or conducting these training sheduled for the individual., this proves that the entire appraisal system are only a farce for proving a point for certain section in the hierachy for their ends.
If the performance appraisal is not working for everybody, then it has no significance in the organization. In such situations company will hardly grow!!!!!1
I am yet to come across a company where performance appraisal is done as it should be. In most cases the questions in an appraisal form are vague and in other cases they are not seriously considered as either you immediate line manager or the management would have already decided on the quantum of raise or the number of promotion for that calendar year.
If performace appraisals are heeded to, it can be an eye opener for companies. They can reveal a lot about what is wrong and right in an organisation. Also there should be no victimisation if from an appraisal some bitter truths are revealed.
Not fully. It works only in some cases and consepts. It is not a PERFECT TOOL to judge the candidate / employee for all the times. If you are only interested in results and not in the efforts taken, then you may use this tool. According to me, results are surely important, but, at the same time, efforts and situations are equally considerable. So, it can not be the best.......
Yes It Works! Every employee want to grow their selves but Sometimes for completing task sooner, when some appraisal are thrown, it down's the performance of employee. The Employee which think "Isn't I am working fine?" this motivation factor become motiveless.
The personal relationship with your manager had greater influence on performance appraisal performance. So have a better relationship with your manager for better ratings.
I completely agree with you Mr. William. In earlier scenarios this tool was utilized to improve the skill sets of the work force by providing comprehensive training also. But now, it has been completely changed. Most present day users of this tool either see this as an alternative for "Carrot and Stick Policy" or to seek some punishment. Whatever the matrix says for the appraisal, people are expected to follow it.
What is really lost are "People Managers", who either are no longer available or available in lesser numbers.
Performance appraisal has double face. So far the [personnel is performance oriented and achieves the target appreciation about his performance is a moral boosting for the person. He tries to do better because that boosts his ego. On the other hand when the personnel is denounced for bad performance he feels insulted and belittled. Performance appraisal is meaningful when there is free appraisal from both sides and is used for moral boosting and not for showing indignation to any one. Performance must be used for moral boosting by exploring ways and means to upgrade the efforts and promote the competitive spirit in the person.
I don't agreed. It depends upon the boss's view and preference to the staff. In small organization it is absolutely not working... Everthing is preset, it is just a routine work or to show it on the paper
The way they are practiced in most organizations, they do not work. Today's performance appraisals are a mix of "Coaching/Guiding Sessions", "real performance appraisals","target setting" & salary conversation.
If performance appraisals are done on a regular basis by reviewing an individual's recent past performance with specific items included in the feedback, then they work very well.
Part of the reason in India is that most managers are not trained as managers. They became managers because they have done their time in the industry. Managing people and giving feedback is an art.
@Darshana.. First of all Performance Appraisal is not a compliance issue. It is part of governance so there is no statutory requirement to meet.
Performance appraisals are done
1. To let employees know where they stand with respect to others in the ompany
2. Identify people that are not pulling their weight
3. Identify key business areas that the whole organization must remember while taking key decisions
4. Identify training/developmental needs across the organization to keep it "current" and "vibrant"
If your appraisal system is able to produce above 4 things, good for you but most Indian companies use this great HR tool to have salary conversations.
I disagree, the performance appraisal is just a document for HR department. There is no mechanism to confirm reliability and no analysis. If any person has to grow in an organization, its nothing but the relationship between the supervisor and personnel.
Performance appraisal actually doesn't work. Disagreement about contribution and performance ratings can create a conflict ridden situation that festers for months. Most managers avoid conflict that undermines work place harmony. In today’s team-oriented work environment, it is difficult to ask people who work as colleagues, and sometimes even friends, to take on the role of judge and defendant.
Further compromising the situation, with salary increases frequently tied to the numerical rating or ranking, the manager knows he is limiting the staff member’s increase if he rates his performance less than “outstanding”.
During an interview or even later there are things which your HR should not know. These are the things which might reduce your value or become an obstacle in your progress or may be get you rejected in an interview. What do you think are the...
I dont know which side to take because both are equally tough ones. Idealistic professionals are few but still there are performers. I am not satisfied by the sides given.
