Tag: Office Organization and Management

The idea of measuring performance has been around for centuries. The journey of this concept began during the industrial revolution when a system was created to document the productivity of humans alongside machines. This system was then revisited during World War II when the military wanted to identify high performers with the potential to move up in rank. As the military began to adopt this new way of reinforcing positive behaviors during the war, corporations began to adopt this process. They started creating systems for documenting performance as well as allocating rewards and creating benefits for high performers.

By the 1960s, General Electric saw an opportunity to revolutionize the now 20-year-old performance management process. The team began leveraging this existing system and used it as a development tool to help people grow while reducing employee turnover. Other high-performing organizations soon followed suit to reduce their own turnover.

The next decade doesn’t just bring peace and love. The 1970s also brought inflation. As inflation started to rise, organizations became unable to afford compensation or merit pay increases for all employees. So they started to create a process to objectively understand how to provide merit increases to high performers.

The performance management process evolved in several phases.

• First Phase: The origin of performance management can be traced in the early 1960’s when the performance appraisal systems were in practice. During this period, Annual Confidential Reports (ACR’s) which was also known as Employee service Records were maintained for controlling the behaviors of the employees and these reports provided substantial information on the performance of the employees.
• Any negative comment or a remark in the ESR or ACR used to adversely affect the prospects of career growth of an employee. The assessments were usually done for ten traits on a five or a ten point rating scale basis. These traits were job knowledge, sincerity, dynamism, punctuality, leadership, loyalty, etc. The remarks of these reports were never communicated to the employees and strict confidentiality was maintained in the entire process. The employees used to remain in absolute darkness due to the absence of a transparent mechanism of feedback and communication. This system had suffered from many drawbacks.
• Second Phase: This phase continued from late 1960’s till early 1970’s, and the key hallmark of this phase was that whatever adverse remarks were incorporated in the performance reports were communicated to the employees so that they could take corrective actions for overcoming such deficiencies. In this process of appraising the performance, the reviewing officer used to enjoy a discretionary power of overruling the ratings given by the reporting officer. The employees usually used to get a formal written communication on their identified areas of improvements if the rating for any specific trait used to be below 33%.
• Third Phase: In this phase the term ACR was replaced by performance appraisal. One of the key changes that were introduced in this stage was that the employees were permitted to describe their accomplishments in the confidential performance reports. The employees were allowed to describe their accomplishments in the self appraisal forms in the end of a year. Besides inclusion of the traits in the rating scale, several new components were considered by many organizations which could measure the productivity and performance of an employee in quantifiable terms such as targets achieved, etc. Certain organizations also introduced a new section on training needs in the appraisal form. However, the confidentiality element was still being maintained and the entire process continued to be control oriented instead of being development oriented.
• Fourth Phase: This phase started in mid 1970’s and its origin was in India as great business tycoons like Larsen & Toubro, followed by State Bank of India and many others introduced appreciable reforms in this field.
• In this phase, the appraisal process was more development driven, target based (performance based), participative and open instead of being treated as a confidential process. The system focused on performance planning, review and development of an employee by following a methodical approach.
• In the entire process, the appraisee (employee) and the reporting officer mutually decided upon the key result areas in the beginning of a year and reviewed it after every six months. In the review period various issues such as factors affecting the performance, training needs of an employee, newer targets and also the ratings were discussed with the appraisee in a collaborative environment.
• This phase was a welcoming change in the area of performance management and many organizations introduced a new HR department for taking care of the developmental issues of the organization.
• Fifth Phase: This phase was characterized by maturity in approach of handling people’s issues. It was more performance driven and emphasis was on development, planning and improvement. Utmost importance was given to culture building, team appraisals and quality circles were established for assessing the improvement in the overall employee productivity.

Performance evaluation is the process of evaluating how effectively employees are fulfilling their job responsibilities and contributing to the accomplishment of organizational goals.

Performance evaluations are extremely important to an organization, although they may be difficult to conduct. They tell organizations whether their selection methods are right.

They demonstrate where training, development and motivational programs are needed and later help to assess whether these have been effective.

As a matter of fact, many organizational policies and practices are evaluated, in large part, through their impact on performance.

Performance evaluations, after all, are the basis on which managers make decisions about compensation, promotion, and dismissal.

Purpose of performance evaluation

• Periodic performance evaluation is an employee’s report card from his/her manager that acknowledges the work he/she has done in a specific time and the scope for improvement.
• An employer can provide consistent feedback on an employee’s strengths and strive for improvement in the areas that the employees need to work on.
• It is an integrated platform for both the employee and employer to attain common ground on what both think is befitting a quality performance. This helps in improving communication, which usually leads to better and more accurate team metrics and, thus, improved performance results.
• The goal of this entire process of performance evaluation is to improve the way a team or an organization function, to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction.
• A manager should evaluate his/her team member regularly and not just once a year. This way, the team can avert new and unexpected problems with constant work being done to improve competence and efficiency.
• An organization’s management can conduct frequent employee training and skill development sessions based on the development areas recognized after a performance evaluation session.
• The management can effectively manage the team and conduct productive resource allocation after evaluating the goals and preset standards of performance.
• Regular performance evaluation can help determine the scope of growth in an employee’s career and the level of motivation with which he/she contributes towards the success of an organization.
• Performance evaluation lets an employee understand where does he/she stands as compared to others in the organization.

Performance evaluation;

• Is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development,
• Is a process of evaluating an employee’s performance of a job in terms of its requirements,
• Is the process of evaluating the performance of employees, sharing that information with them and searching for ways to improve their performance,
• Provides the basis for assessment of employee contributions, coaching for improved performance and distribution of economic rewards,
• Refers to the outcome of the behaviour of employees.

360-degree review

The 360-degree survey is a comprehensive review mechanism that helps gather the greatest insights and feedback on an employee’s performance from his/her supervisor, peers, colleagues, and subordinates.

Supervisor evaluation

The supervisor evaluation survey is deployed to collect feedback and information from employees related to their supervisor. Supervisor evaluation helps an organization and its leadership understand the accuracy of the work done by the supervisor and also help them evaluate the overall value the supervisor adds to his/her team and to the organization as a whole.

Manager evaluation

A manager evaluation survey offers a set of questions that are answered by the employees to evaluate their direct or indirect manager’s effectiveness at work. This survey is extremely useful for the management to understand the manager’s performance, the attitude at work, willingness to help his/her subordinate, and more.

Senior management evaluation

Senior management evaluation survey questions are used to understand the employee’s perspective of the senior management and evaluate their abilities to be able to run the organization smoothly. This questionnaire should have questions that help an organization gather insights on effectiveness, direction, policy-making abilities, and other useful traits. 

Employee satisfaction surveys and employee engagement surveys are also one of the best ways to conduct the performance evaluation. A satisfied and engaged employee is most likely to perform 14% better than his/her counterparts (Gallup).

Employee satisfaction

An employee satisfaction survey is deployed to understand how satisfied or dissatisfied your workforce is. It is essential you measure employee satisfaction as dissatisfied employees not only not perform well but also can be a major reason for high levels of employee attrition in an organization. This survey can power your workforce and HR strategies to cultivate a work culture that enables your organization to win from within. Many times, if an employee doesn’t feel challenged enough, then he/she remains unsatisfied with the work. Performance evaluation can find reasons behind one’s contribution to the company and ways of enhancing it.

Employee engagement

Employee engagement survey enables you as an organization to test the levels of engagement of your employees and to understand how motivated they are to perform well in the workplace. Employee engagement is a matter of concern for most organizations, and disengaged employees set a negative example for other employees. Disengaged employees perform poorly as compared to their colleagues. Thus, this survey can be used to analyze and review the level of performance of an employee and take corrective measures immediately.

Objectives:

• To confirm the services of probationary employees upon their completing the probationary period satisfactorily.
• To effect promotions based on competence and performance.
• To assess the training and development needs of employees.
• To decide upon a pay raise where (as in the unorganized sector) regular pay scales have not been fixed.
• To let the employees know where they stand insofar as their performance is concerned and to assist them with constructive criticism and guidance for the purpose of their development.
• To improve communication, performance evaluation provides a format for dialogue between the superior and subordinate and improves understanding of personal goals and concerns. This can also have the effect of increasing the trust between the rater and the ratee.
• Finally, performance evaluation can be used to determine whether HR programs such as selection, training, and transfers have been effective or not.

Advantages

Career Development

Performance evaluations allow managers to help employees with career development. Performing an unbiased evaluation can point out where employees are excelling and the areas needing improvement. After the evaluation is completed, managers can develop plans with specific tasks to help employees develop in their career and meet goals that benefit the company. Evaluations can help employees increase their commitment to the firm and productivity. Employees that add value to the firm are considered first when better positions open up and employers decide to promote from within.

Work Achievement Recognition

Performance evaluations give managers a chance to recognize employees who performed well during the evaluated year. Recognizing employees for their achievements builds their morale, and employees with high morale are more productive. If monetary bonuses and raises are given based on performance evaluations, employees possess tangible evidence that shows the company values their hard work. Employees can list achievements received by an employer as awards on their resume if ever looking for another job.

Disadvantages:

A disadvantage of performance evaluations is that the managers evaluating employees may show bias to certain employees, which may happen intentionally or unintentionally. One major risk of using performance evaluations is that some managers unconsciously favor employees that possess similar characteristics as the manager. Bias causes managers to focus more on the personality and style of the employee instead of the actual achievements. This can result in good employees feeling slighted, which may cause tension in the workplace. Bias also affects the favorable employee because he may miss much-needed guidance to improve his performance.

One-Sided Feedback

Another disadvantage of performance evaluations is that the meeting can result in a one-sided conversation. Although a manager may give an employee a chance to offer feedback, some managers already make up their mind about an employee and are not opened to two-sided dialogue. If the performance review is one-sided, employees may feel as if their opinions do no matter. This may cause an employee to shut down and refuse to communicate with management in the future. Managers should listen to feedback presented by employees, and correct evaluations if employees make valid points.

Performance evaluation process

Step 1

In most organizations, a performance evaluation process states that an employee’s performance is tracked every three and six months, provided, the employee has worked with the organization continually for that tenure. The HR department can send across an online survey for the employees to fill out regarding their satisfaction and engagement levels.

Step 2

The employee’s immediate manager will decide his/her performance quality after evaluating the yearly performance, conducting an employee engagement survey, and eventually having a face-to-face meeting.

Step 3

The feedback received from the online employee satisfaction survey can be kept anonymous. This feedback can be analyzed in real-time from a centralized dashboard. On the basis of the analysis, the manager can prepare further questions for the face-to-face performance evaluation meeting.

For a probationary employee to be termed as a tenured employee, he/she must perform as per their supervisor’s expectations for six months. The first six months of an employee’s tenure are crucial as the management always has a watchful eye on them for all their contribution towards assigned tasks, ownership skills, and punctuality in task completion.

Mid-cycle Review Process

The Mid-cycle Review is an informal 1:1 meeting between supervisor and employee to discuss the performance plan previously established. During the mid-cycle review, teams informally assess whether expectations are being met and if any readjustments need to be made.

Mid-year evaluations are formal, and they’re needed. People may leave anytime. You don’t want to have a poorly performing employee leave the company one month before the annual performance reviews. Also, bonus policies are dependent on performance. The more transactional the work is, the more consistent and continuous it becomes concerning performance metrics. Therefore, this mid-year formal review allows managers to sit with their team members and figure out the roadblocks, objectives, and achievements.

• Adjustments to goals may occur, where appropriate.
• Conversations may be documented, if desired.
• Supervisor and employees should acknowledge successes and note opportunities for improvement.

Steps:

No Last-Minute Meetings

Book the meeting a few days in advance and be consistent with your check-ins and provide the employee with proper meeting objectives and time to prepare.

Let the employee know that it is not a quick meeting to talk about small issues. But rather a formal conversation on things that matter. Communicate the purpose of the meeting clearly and make sure the employee understands the agendas without any confusion.

Adequate Preparation

A great manager ensures that their employees know they are as invested in their success as they are. That’s why it’s better to start preparing in advance. Talk to peers or stakeholders the employee has worked with and take notes. Prepared a detailed list of goals and responsibilities and what was achieved concerning those objectives. A list of actionable items will help you provide constructive feedback instead of vague conversation.

During the Review Meeting

Keep it formal, direct, and backed by data. Listen to employee input and incorporate acknowledgment of different perspectives. Also, this meeting is as much about the next 6 months as it is about the last 6. Refresh objectives, create plans, and help your employees feel motivated.

• Meet somewhere quiet, with no distractions.
• To start, re-iterate the purpose of the meeting with the agenda for the day.
• Allow the employee to share his version of the happenings of the last 6 months first.
• Review the progress of goals and communicate your feedback.
• Discuss the action plan for the next 6 months.
• Allow the employee to ask questions.

Follow-Up

A manager’s duty isn’t over once the meeting is over. Do follow-up on the items discussed in the meeting. Send an email after the mid-year review to talk about key points and tasks for the employee. It will help you keep a check on the promise made during the meetings.

Performance Review

The Performance Review is the process in which both supervisor and employee formally assess performance and meet 1:1 to discuss the overall performance of the year, according to the expectations set in the plan and any adjustments made during the mid-cycle review.

• Employee self-assesses online.
• Supervisor assesses employee online.
• Both supervisor and employee meet 1:1.
• Acknowledgements from the employee and employee supervisor.

End-cycle Review Process

End of the Rating Period

• Employees should complete the Self-Assessment around eleven (11) months and give to their supervisor. Employees may leave sections blank if appropriate or desired.
• At the end of the performance review period, the supervisor will complete the Annual Review and Salary Review Addendum and submit it to the school/department management center HR office for approval to ensure the Annual Review language is appropriate and pay guidelines are followed.
• Once the Annual Review and proposed salary increase are approved and signed, the management center returns the Annual Review to the Supervisor.
• The supervisor will hold an end of the rating period performance discussion with the employee. Supervisors should give employees sufficient notice of when their performance discussion will be scheduled so that employees may prepare for the discussion. It is recommended to give employees at least one to two (1-2) days’ notice.
• The supervisor and employee together will review the past year’s performance, including objectives and goals and the performance rating appropriate for the performance over the same time frame. If the evaluation of the employee’s performance changes based on their self-evaluation or the discussion, the supervisor should re-submit the Annual Review Form for review and approval by the management center.
• Employees should sign the completed Salary Review Addendum Form that has already been approved by the management center. The form is a means of documenting the outcome of the discussion, but is not a substitute for a one-on-one discussion with the employee. Employee’s signature acknowledges receipt only, not agreement. The Salary Review Addendum and Annual Review should then be submitted to the management center’s HR office (or directly to HR Records if instructed by the management center) within one (1) business day of signature so the Annual Review can become part of the Employee’s personnel file and any salary increase, if applicable, can be entered into the Employee’s next paycheck.

A review is not a guarantee of an increase. Additionally, employees who have below average ratings do not qualify for a salary increase.

Reliable and Valid:

Appraisal system should provide consistent, reliable and valid information and date. Appraisals should measure what they are supposed to measure. For example, if the objective of appraisal is to show potential of an employee for promotion, it should supply the date relating to potentialities of the employee.

Clear Objectives:

The objectives of performance appraisal should be clear, specific, timely and open. The appraisal system should be fair and beneficial to both the individual employee and the organization should be linked with other subsystems of personnel management.

Standardisation:

The appraisal form, procedures and rules should be standardised. There should be well-defined performance criteria and standards. Employees should be made fully aware of these standards as appraisal decisions affect all employees of the group.

Fob Relatedness:

The appraisal system should focus attention on job-related behaviour and performance. It should provide information on job related activities and areas.

Training:

Evaluators should be given training in procedures and principles of appraisal. They should be provided with knowledge and skills in designing appraisals, conducting post appraisal interviews and correcting rating errors.

Mutual Trust:

Before introducing the appraisal system, a climate of mutual trust, cooperation and confidence should be created in the organisation. Under the system, the employees should be treated in a supportive manner.

Help Focus:

Appraisal should not judegemental. It should not be purely control- oriented. The evaluator should also play the role of coach and counsellor. He should- help people reach their full potential. The overall purpose of appraisals should be developmental.

Feedback and Participation:

The ratings should be communicated to both the employees and the raters. The appraisal r system should be open and participative. The employees should get information on their performance. The system should involve employees in the goal setting process.

Recognition of Differences:

Organisation differs in terms of work, size, resources, needs and environment. Hence, the appraisal system must be designed to meet the needs of particular organisation. It should be specific and tailor made for the particular company.

Post Appraisal Interview:

An appraisal system is only as effective as the manager is iii communications. Hence, an interview with the employee should be arranged after appraising his performance. It will help to know the difficulties of work and training needs of employees. In interview, problem solving approach should be adopted and counseling should be provided for improving performance.

Role of Top Managers in Performance Management

The top managers play a lead in the entire process by setting trends for the lower rung and acting as role models for the employees. Their responsibility is to design policies which ensure an efficient management of performance in an organization and to define and act upon the core values relating to performance. Top management plays a vital role in convincing the line managers that performance management can be instrumental in the achievement of business goals and thus ensure that they take this aspect seriously in their work front for maximizing employee satisfaction and productivity.

Top managers are expected to develop a high performance culture in an organization by ensuring the following:

• By communicating an organization’s mission and values to its customers and employees.
• By clearly defining the work expectations and communicating to everyone for ensuring success in the achievement of business goals and facilitating an overall performance improvement.
• By keeping the employees informed about their progress towards the achievement of goals and suggesting corrective actions for non-achievement of performance.
• By establishing a shared belief amongst the employees regarding the importance of continuous improvement in performance.

Managing your employees, helping to develop their skill sets and growing their productivity in a meaningful way is no easy task! Fortunately, there are some excellent tools available today to make it all a lot easier.

Orientation

It sounds pretty basic but we’ve seen time and again that Managers get the following wrong! Simply put, managers should provide each new employee with a copy of their specific job description.

Ideally, candidates get a copy of their job description during the recruitment and selection process. A manager’s primary role is to provide new employees, as well as seasoned employees with the tools necessary to perform their job functions. Identifying key KPIs sets the stage for ongoing performance evaluation and ensures accountability within the workforce.

Managers also are responsible for workforce planning as it relates to performance evaluation workforce planning matches the right job assignments and tasks with employee skills, qualifications, and interests.

Training

We believe that an enormously important part of the performance evaluation process includes employee training and development, which are within the purview of an HR and management role.

Although managers may use the talent of experienced, long-term employees to assist with skills training, the ultimate responsibility for training rests on the shoulders of the department manager. In addition to developing the skills and capabilities of their employees, managers identify employees who have high potential. Such employees are distinguishable from high performing employees. Managers use their own skills and talent to select employees who demonstrate aptitude and promise.

Feedback

Managers are responsible for providing employees with constructive feedback on a regular basis.

Throughout the evaluation period, managers give their employees ongoing support, feedback and counseling on performance issues and, when necessary, disciplinary and corrective action. When employee performance suffers, managers are the first ones to observe the decline. It’s their responsibility to address performance issues and determine whether an employee needs skills training or corrective action to return her to an acceptable performance level.

Appraisal

The culminating stage in the performance review is the actual performance appraisal. Managers complete leadership training that enables them to understand the importance of performance management and evaluation, as well as how to prepare for and conduct an annual performance appraisal. Preparing for an appraisal requires that managers know how to rate employees; their duty is to rate employees according to the company’s expectations and performance standards. Therefore, a manager’s role includes observation and assessment. It’s up to the manager to conduct an appraisal meeting that employees look forward to and one that encourages employees to achieve their goals year after year.

As a manager, you are expected to:

• Use the performance management process as a valuable tool for supporting employee development and improvement.
• If your employees sense a lack of interest on your part, they’ll lose interest too.
• When talking with your team about the process, be sure to emphasize its benefits, and encourage employees to take ownership of their own performance and development.
• Determine an appropriate schedule for regular performance conversations with those you manage directly.
• Conduct short, regular meetings to discuss and record milestones, accomplishments, successes and challenges as they occur, when details are fresh in both your minds. This will allow you to better monitor progress on goals, and provide coaching as required. Plus, these short meetings reduce the effort it takes to prepare for and conduct your annual performance reviews because you’ve tracked progress and performance and provided the needed feedback when it was most valuable.
• Use the annual performance review meeting to review the achievements, setbacks, development and training that have already been discussed throughout the year — and then use this information to establish goals and a development plan for the coming year.
• Deliver regular positive and constructive feedback.
• Give employees feedback during one-on-one meetings and informally as regularly as possible.
• Commend your employee in front of their peers.
• Make performance notes about each employee in the period between conversations, so that come conversation time, you have concrete examples to share.
• Remember that the goal of feedback is to describe desired behaviors and expectations, not to dwell on undesirable behaviors.
• Check-in on goal progress
• Regularly check in with employees on their progress on goals; offer coaching or assistance, or revise goals as necessary.
• Communicate and revisit performance expectations.
• Communicate your organizations’ performance standards and expectations to your employees. This will help your employees differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and results and reduce any misunderstandings.
• Gather feedback on employee performance from multiple sources. Use a 360-degree feedback or survey tool to complete and validate your own observations and perceptions.
• Improve your management and leadership skills.
• Take the time to learn how to be a better manager and coach. Invest in your own development!
• Acquaint yourself with the different management needs of the different generations.
• Employees from the Millennial generation may have different needs and different expectations of managers. Research tells us they require constant feedback and recognition, and expect quick career advancement. Workers from other generations have different needs. Learn what motivates each employee, and adjust your management approach accordingly.
• Coach your employees in a way that strengthens two-way communication and reinforces desired behaviors.
• Coach when you want to focus attention on a specific aspect of the employee’s performance.
• Advise the employee ahead of time of issues you want to discuss.
• Focus on describing your expectations and the desired behaviors rather than describing the gaps.
• Take the time to understand why their performance is what it is, and get them to take ownership for performance improvements.
• Support your employees’ professional and career development while making them accountable for it.
• Regularly ask employees about their career aspirations and help them identify areas they may wish to improve or develop, as well as resources available.
• Ensure each employee has a well-defined job description and understands the skills and competencies they must develop in order to progress up the career ladder.
• Give your employees the time and flexibility they need to complete learning and development activities.
• Ensure development is having an impact on performance.
• Submit your completed employee reviews by the designated deadline.
• Failing to complete your formal performance review documentation on time sends your employees the message that recognition of their success and support for their development is not your top priority. It may also delay any pay for performance/ merit increases or bonuses your organization allocates to employees based on their performance ratings.
• Understand and correctly use your organization’s rating scale.
• Be objective and have quantitative/qualitative facts ready to substantiate the ratings you give.
• Provide details on how the employee demonstrated the core and job specific competencies you are rating them on.
• Provide details on how they accomplished their goals, the milestones they met and work products they delivered.
• Assign each employee a development plan to help them improve their performance and support the organization’s success.

Employees’ responsibilities

• Work towards achieving your individual goals, which help the organization reach its objectives.
• You and your manager should have set these goals collaboratively as part of your performance management activities.
• Keep track of your progress on your goals and regularly communicate their status to your manager, especially if you’re facing challenges that could prevent you from achieving your goals.
• Take responsibility for your own professional and career development.
• Be clear about how you would like to grow professionally.
• Know what knowledge, skills and experience you want and need to develop.
• Actively seek opportunities for professional and career development, both in the organization or through external learning resources.
• Be open to feedback
• Accept constructive feedback and take the initiative to improve.
• Complete any development plans assigned to you and apply the learning to improve your performance.
• Seek support as required
• Work to establish and maintain a healthy relationship with your manager.
• Ask your manager for feedback and guidance, especially when you encounter challenges.
• Solicit feedback and guidance on your performance from others you work with.
• Keep a record of your performance achievements, successes and challenges.
• Keep a performance journal and share things like your successes, and the feedback and recognition you receive from others with your manager.
• Give others feedback.
• Just as you need feedback and recognition to improve your performance, your co-workers need it too. Give feedback verbally, as well as using online communication and social collaboration tools available to you. And don’t be afraid to copy managers on your written feedback so they can gain more insight into their employees’ performance.
• Complete your self-appraisal by the specified deadline.
• Reacquaint yourself with your job description, critical competencies for the role and performance expectations as defined by the organization.
• Understand and correctly use the organization’s rating scale.
• Be honest about your performance but don’t underestimate your abilities.
• Be objective and have quantitative/qualitative facts ready to substantiate the ratings you give yourself.
• Provide details on how you demonstrated the core and job specific competencies you are being rated on.
• Provide details on how you accomplished your goals, the milestones you met and work products you delivered.
• Consider your current knowledge, skills and abilities as well as your career aspirations and identify learning activities that could benefit you and your organization.
• Draft your goals for the coming period, making sure they in some way contribute to the organization’s goals, and are appropriate for your role.

As managers add performance documentation to their processes, they should keep in mind that these bits of documentation are all part of a profile for each employee. Documentation should be reviewed regularly to look for trends, changes in performance or repeated issues.

Managers should use this documentation to set goals and define challenges. Documentation paints a picture of the employee, one that is worth taking a look at.

Documentation provides management with a guide to improvement. They are able to see areas of weakness, as well as strengths. If performance reviews are consistently showing improvements, perhaps it is time for a raise, promotion or added responsibilities.

If the same negative issues arise with an employee, maybe it is time for a written and verbal warning, or suspension. Documentation should be used as an unbiased tool for improvement.

Documenting performance not only helps management lead, it can help them plan. Documentation allows management to see what path each employee is on. Are they steadily headed for the top, or are they going south?

Documentation will make it clear if an employee is on the path to a termination meeting, or a succession-planning meeting. In the case of highly-skilled or hard to place positions, management might need this information to plan accordingly. Documentation works both ways. Leaders shouldn’t only use this information to properly give employees the boot. They should use it to hone in on their key players and keep them on the right path.

Documenting performance is such an easy way to fortify a positive employer brand, help guide the workforce and protect the organization.

Whether your company is just starting to document performance, or improving this process, it is a worthwhile step to take. No one’s memory is not perfect, nor is it unbiased. Documenting performance helps everyone from judges to managers make better decisions.

Performance reviews and write-ups will also be very helpful in the case of a reduction in force. Although we are in the upswing of the recession, layoffs are still quite common in businesses across the nation.

Having documentation of both the good and the bad can greatly assist in choosing who goes in the reduction in force. Layoffs are a virtual minefield of legal issues. When management has taken the time to properly document each employee’s performance, they are taking steps in guarding the brand and the organization.

A Performance management system is a tool that should be aligned with overall organization goals followed by department goals and individual goals. In other words, the organizational strategic goals should be linked with each activity performed by every department or employee.

Administrative

The performance management system is also set as the deciding factor for employee promotion, demotion, salary increment, transfer, and terminations. It enables to identify the performers, non-performers, or underperformer employees in an organization. It merits the competency and skill level of employees. Hence, it clearly defines the administrative role as well and supports the management decisions.

Communication

It is an effective communication channel to inform employees about their goals, job responsibilities, key deliverables, and performance standards. Further, it is also a structured method to indicate the key areas of improvement required by the employee in order to improvise his performance. In other words, it provides the platform to learn and train on skills, and knowledge for better performance and results.

Developmental

It is the structured method of communicating positive feedback, improvement areas, and development plans. The manager can use various methods like training, mentoring, coaching, etc., and their team members perform better.

Organizational Maintenance

The performance management system is the yardstick for measuring employee, department, and organization achievements and evaluating the performance gaps through various tools and techniques. Hence, it maintains the health of the organization and its performance standards.

Documentation

The performance management reviews, feedback, and forms should be documented and maintained periodically by every organization. It would enable them to look forward, set new targets, design developmental needs, design training and learning programs, and career progression of employees and for the department. Hence, it helps in driving the organizational needs to desirable objectives.

1. Establishing performance standards

The first step in the process of performance appraisal is the setting up of the standards which will be used to as the base to compare the actual performance of the employees.

This step requires setting the criteria to judge the performance of the employees as successful or unsuccessful and the degrees of their contribution to the organizational goals and objectives. The standards set should be clear, easily understandable and in measurable terms.

In case the performance of the employee cannot be measured, great care should be taken to describe the standards.

2. Communicating the standards

Once set, it is the responsibility of the management to communicate the standards to all the employees of the organization. The employees should be informed and the standards should be clearly explained to the employees. This will help them to understand their roles and to know what exactly is expected from them. The standards should also be communicated to the appraisers or the evaluators and if required, the standards can also be modified at this stage itself according to the relevant feedback from the employees or the evaluators.

3. Measuring the actual performance

The most difficult part of the Performance appraisal process is measuring the actual performance of the employees that is the work done by the employees during the specified period of time. It is a continuous process which involves monitoring the performance throughout the year. This stage requires the careful selection of the appropriate techniques of measurement, taking care that personal bias does not affect the outcome of the process and providing assistance rather than interfering in an employees work.

4. Comparing actual performance with desired performance

The actual performance is compared with the desired or the standard performance. The comparison tells the deviations in the performance of the employees from the standards set. The result can show the actual performance being more than the desired performance or, the actual performance being less than the desired performance depicting a negative deviation in the organizational performance. It includes recalling, evaluating and analysis of data related to the employees’ performance.

5. Discussing results [Feedback]

The result of the appraisal is communicated and discussed with the employees on one-to-one basis. The focus of this discussion is on communication and listening. The results, the problems and the possible solutions are discussed with the aim of problem solving and reaching consensus. The feedback should be given with a positive attitude as this can have an effect on the employees’ future performance. Performance appraisal feedback by managers should be in such way helpful to correct mistakes done by the employees and help them to motivate for better performance but not to demotivate. Performance feedback task should be handled very carefully as it may leads to emotional outburst if it is not handing properly. Sometimes employees should be prepared before giving them feedback as it may be received positively or negatively depending upon the nature and attitude of employees.

Purpose of Performance Appraisal

Provide continuous feedback

It is essential for the employers to know what performance and achievements have been made by their employees. But, it is also equally important for an employee to know where they stand, where they are going and how they are going to get there. Thus, giving feedback to employees is also a major purpose of performance appraisal.

Measure performance accurately

Every company has to set mutually acceptable criteria or performance standards so that it could compare employee’s performance with it. This helps in accurate measurement of employee’s job performance which is necessary for the company to know where it is heading towards.

Provide clarity of expectation and actual result

Every employee wants them to be told about their duties; what the organization really wants them to do. However, this is not enough to get good output from them.

They should also be told how well they have done their duties and how can they improve their performance. They should be made clear about how near they are to do their expectation.

Determine training and developmental needs

Only determining weak points is not enough. A company should also make efforts to abolish them. A properly carried out performance appraisal is a tool to determine what necessary steps are to be taken in order to help the employees in improving their performance. The increment in skills and knowledge develop an overall personality, attitude and behavior of the employees.

Provide career path

Performance appraisal works as a mirror to employees and it clearly shows what they are professionally and where they stand.

On the other hand, it helps the company in recognizing employees with potential. Companies provide career development opportunities to such employees and pave their way to a successful and stable career.

Arguments against Performance Appraisal

Creates Negative Experience: If not done right, the performance appraisal can create a negative experience for both the employee as well as the manager. Proper training on processes and techniques can help with this.

Time Consuming: Performance appraisals are very time consuming and can be overwhelming to managers with many employees. I’ve known managers who were responsible for doing an annual PA on hundreds of employees.

Natural Biases: Human assessments are subject to natural biases that result in greater errors. Managers need to understand these biases to eliminate them from the process.

Waste of Time: The entire process can be a waste of time if not done appropriately. Think about the time investment when the end result is negative. It is time wasted on all fronts.

Stressful Workplace: Performance appraisals can create stressful work environments for both employees and managers. Proper training can help to reduce the stress involved in the process.

Importance of Performance Appraisal

• To identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees to place right men on right job.
• To maintain records in order to determine compensation packages, wage structure, salaries raises, etc.
• To maintain and assess the potential in a person for growth and development.
• To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status.
• It serves as a basis for influencing working habits of the employees.
• To review and retain the promotional and other training programmes.

Promotion: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programmes for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case.

Compensation: Performance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which includes bonus, high salary rates, extra benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority.

Employees Development: The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing future development programmes.

Selection Validation: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard.

In the world of human resources and employment, documentation about an employee’s performance can make or break your ability to discipline, terminate, or fairly promote, reward, and recognize employees.

Documentation is essential for managers and HR staff because you need to make a serious effort to record all of the events in the employment history of your employees both positive and negative incidents of performance.

Need:

• Documentation offers a history of the employee’s improvement or failure to improve performance over time. It is chronological and a precise description of the employee’s actions, the manager’s actions, and events as they occur.
• Documentation provides evidence that performance issues were discussed with the employee in a timely and concise fashion.
• Documentation provides evidence that supports management decisions to take unfavourable action such as discipline or termination with an employee.
• Documentation offers proof that an employee deserves an available promotion or opportunity over other employees who are also eligible.
• Documentation provides evidence to justify salary increases, decreases, or why an employee received no raise.
• In the event of a lawsuit, complete and thorough documentation protects an employer’s interests. The documentation can support management’s actions in terminating an unsuccessful employee. It also can prove that the employee was terminated for reasons that are legal as opposed to others such as illegal discrimination.

Things to remember when recording your annual staff assessments.

1. Follow a consistent format.

The payoff is that a well-documented assessment makes it easy for you (and your employee) to review performance progress or regress. It can help reduce your legal risk if an employee needs to be performance managed or perhaps dismissed. To help guide you through how to document the performance reviews, here are some key components worth factoring in.

2. Record essential information

This should come at the top of the document and include the basics such as the date, employee name, department, employment status, manager’s name and performance period. Get this information right now, and you will only need to make minor amendments for the next review.

3. Have a performance goals rating system

To determine the rating you wish to assign to each of your employee’s performance goals, we suggest using a numerical system for example:

• Being outstanding
• Exceeds targets
• Meets targets
• Needs improvement
• Unsatisfactory

NA for developing or not applicable

Using this system means when you and the employee both give a separate rating it should be clear what your agreed rating will be. This also helps form the discussion points around Key Performance Indicators, and whether the employee is performing as expected.

4. Include job skills and personal attributes

These objectives might include sections such as Accountability, Initiative, Attention to Detail and Teamwork. Your review document should include space for the employee to comment including examples that back up the rating they give themselves. There should also be a space for you (or the manager) to comment in addition to a section for explaining the final rationale for the agreed rating.

Remember to record your observations about your employee’s job performance as objectively as possible, and tie your conclusions to hard data. By supporting your assessment with specific examples the employee can see exactly where they can improve. If the employee’s work is substandard, you suspect they might need to be performance managed, or even dismissed being able to provide documents that outline the steps you took to try and correct any performance issues will help reduce your legal risk if the matter ends up in court.

5. Include a position description review

Before going any further, it’s important to review your employee’s existing position description to make sure it’s still relevant. During the course of a year, or even six months, many aspects of your employee’s role can change as your business grows or targets shift. Now’s the time to make any updates necessary to ensure your employee’s position description and key performance indicators reflect their current and ongoing role.

6. Have development objectives

This is where you ask the employee to indicate what areas they would like to focus on during the coming months. In this section of the review document you can include questions such as: What new skills or behaviours would you like to work on in the coming year to support you in your role? Or: Are there any professional development opportunities you would like to undertake, relevant to your career goals?

7. Overall performance review rating

Ask the employee to give an overall rating of their performance for the year. Then you do the same, and together you agree on the final rating. This is also where some forethought into the final message you would like to leave the employee with can be helpful. For example, Performance Reviews suggests writing down three things the employee did well during the year and two areas that most need improvement. Then, ask yourself: “What’s the single most important take away I want the employee to remember?” Refine your message to one key idea as your overall impression of their performance.

8. Make sure you both Sign off.

It seems obvious, but be sure both you and the employee sign and date the document to show you’re in agreement about its contents. Technology now ensures companies can digitally document when a document is read, updated, and signed off. In the past HR administrators would utilise paper files and perhaps a spreadsheet, but with childHR the entire process can be documented online and stored for future reference.

A 360 degree appraisal involves 4 groups of people. The appraiser/manager, the appraisee (self-appraisal) plus feedback gathered from peers and subordinates or customers/clients.

It is one of the most crucial modern performance appraisal methods because this is the only group that determines the organization’s success as a whole.

Nowadays, companies use the modern methods of performance appraisal, which have a broader scope than the traditional methods and provides a more accurate and comprehensive evaluation of an individual.

Stages of the 720-degree performance appraisal process

1. Pre appraisal feedback

Before a manager or supervisor sits down with their employee, feedback is collected from all the notable and worthy touchpoints. Who does an employee interact with who could weigh in on their performance in a meaningful way? Who has input that could help shape employee progress and success? Managers and HR work to define who these valuable points of feedback are and also work to set targets and goals to go over in the official appraisal.

2. Self-appraisal

How an employee sees themselves matters. Using a self-report questionnaire, employees fill out a performance review on themselves, ranking and rating their strengths, weaknesses, performance, and more. This is a useful discussion tool, as it helps managers and employees both see gaps in communication or understanding and work to address them.

3. Coworker/colleague appraisal

Feedback from peers can be very useful in helping employees understand their team impact and contribution to the team dynamic. Cultural fit is just as much a measure of success as any other metric that an employee is being reviewed on, so understanding how an employee relates to and with their peers is an important factor in the assessment.

4. Customer Appraisal

What do customers think of your employee? Customer satisfaction is key to the success of any organization, and having an understanding of your employee’s ability to relate well with and serve their customer base is indicative of their overall success in meeting your company goals. Sometimes customers aren’t outside clients, but other business departments. An IT department, for instance, services other employees and those employees are the IT teams “customers.” These relationships are equally valuable to ensuring long-term business success.

5. Direct report and subordinate appraisal

Getting feedback from the people that your employee manages or oversees is useful in analyzing the organizational, communication, motivational, leadership, and delegation skills.

6. Manager or Supervisor appraisal

This is one of the most common parts of any performance appraisal system – the performance, responsibilities, and attitude of an employee being assessed by those who oversee their projects and ultimately their job success.

7. Post appraisal feedback

Researchers of the 720-degree appraisal method note that this is its key differentiator between this method and others. This step includes additional guidance to help employees meet their goals and stay in regular communication with their managers.

Benefits of implementing a 720-degree performance appraisal method

Does this method hold up when compared to other performance appraisal processes? Here are some of the benefits that some businesses have reported seeing:

• More holistic and comprehensive feedback leads to a better understanding of performance. Hearing from customers, teammates, managers, and other stakeholders can help identify any performance gaps or places of improvement.
• Multi-dimensional feedback helps employees better cooperate and communicate more consistently.
• Can greatly reduce appraisal barriers such as prejudice, bias, and discrimination. These are much more common when employee reviews are conducted as feedback between employers and managers only.
• Greater transparency: Such as regular feedback and consistent communication with other feedback channels, such as coworkers leads to more engaged employees who feel that they are valued, respected, and that their contributions and success matter to the overall future of the organization. Better employee relationships are built on trust, communication, and feedback and ultimately lead to better employee retention, which reduces both costs and lost productivity for companies.