Developing a Performance Appraisal

Developing a Performance Appraisal System

All organizations develop an appraisal system that episodically reviews the staff members overall performance. In order to successfully carry out such a system there are certain elements that need to be addressed.

First of all one should determine the purpose of a performance appraisal system along with its benefits to the organization. Appraisal systems are especially important within an organization because they provide information to the employees about their past performances by giving feedback. A performance appraisal system can be useful when it comes to deciding who deserves a pay raise, promotion, or discipline, and produce a report of what the organization will need to work on to achieve ideal productivity . For a performance appraisal system to be effective, the system has to be thought out, calculated to fit certain needs of the organization, non-discriminatory, non-bias, with correct implementation and administration. In order to make this type of system advantageous to the organization and its employees, many different components must be incorporated.

According to the article Basic elements of effective performance appraisal systems "An effective performance appraisal system that accomplishes an organization's goals should have an outline of essentially four elements:

1. Based on observed job-related behavior. Objective performance criteria should be based on some form of observable behavior related to the duties of the job. The criterion for evaluation is communicated to employees and goals and objectives should be reached through consultation between the manager and employee.

2. Conducted by trained superior. Persons conducting the appraisals, usually immediate supervisors, are trained in how the system works and how to deliver effective feedback on performance.

3. Based on written policy and guidance. Written guidelines for administering the appraisal system should be up-to-date, communicated to every employee assigned responsibility for conducting reviews and used by raters without deviation. Any exception should be approved before the fact and documented.

4. Provide for employee feedback and input. Employees who disagree with a rating should be given an opportunity to challenge the rating and have further explanation of how the rating was derived." (The Employers' Association People and Performance, 2007)

Finally it is time to determine the criteria for each element that should be present in an appraisal system. All organizations are somewhat different and will require altered elements to reach optimal performance. There are a number of different methods that can be used for performance appraisal systems and all have their advantages and disadvantages. Some of these methods include the essay, the critical incident technique, the trait/behavior checklist, the job duties checklist, behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), forces-distribution rankings, and management by objectives. The essay is highly individualized with few or no predesigned criteria, however there is little or no structure and is not effective when being compared to other employees. The critical incident technique provides highly specific feedback with the use of actual examples of the employees work along with encouraging supervisory attention to performance throughout the year. Both The trait behavior checklist and the job duties checklist define desirable behaviors, are easy