Introduction Performance appraisal depicts an evaluation, which isperformed periodically to access the job performance of an employee (Robertson2013, p.
2). As such, it can be equated to a report card for the assessment ofan employee. The formal process entails gathering information on theperformance of a person in an organization, which is used for several otheractivities that include decision making such as re-assignment, pay, training, and promotion among others.
The human resource department uses performance appraisalsas means for assessing the employee knowledge, skills, ability, and the entirejob performance. Thus, the appraisals help in the elimination of behaviorrelated to productivity issues and ensuring that there is motivation ofemployees to have a better contribution in the workforce (Giangreco, Carugati, Pilati & Sebastiano 2010, p. 155). There are different strategies, whichcould be adopted by organizations for implementation depending on basicpreferences, but these have their independent limitations and advantages to theentire organization.
Advantages Performance appraisals are vital since they provide aneffective documentation of the performance of an employee for a given period. Thus, they help in getting insights into the competency and capability level ofa worker in executing the assigned duties. The report also assists in theidentification of the areas of need for training and development of a worker (Giangreco, Carugati, Pilati & Sebastiano 2010, p. 156).
Such occurs since there istime that is available for the workers to interact with their bosses in theorganization. The process of performance appraisal helps in creatingrapport between the manager and the employee. The situation occurs since thesetwo groups of people get a chance to interact and talk with one anotherregarding the performance of a worker (Robertson 2013, p. 3). Consequently, themanager gets the opportunity to offer the employee feedback related to theperformance, as well as discussion of the goals that needs to be accomplishedover time.
Furthermore, the employee use these occasions as means of discussingissues related to the work in the organizations and getting clarifications onexpectations from their job roles. The workers have the opportunity to use the structure asthe platform for the development of the goals, which they have to achieve in agiven period (Mulvaney 2017, p. 86). Therefore, they allocate adequateresources towards achieving these goals at all times while in theorganizations. The performance appraisal systems also act as motivating meansfor employees who are supported by an effective compensation system and meritincrease in their work environment. The performance appraisals create a chance fordocumenting the history of the performance of the employee. Thus, organizationsrecord performances of all individuals and the documentations should always beput in the file of the employee. The aim is to ensure that an historical recordof the development and performance of the employee is kept.
Theunder-performers are also identified through the conduct of the performanceappraisals (Mulvaney 2017, p. 87). The outcome is that those who cannot meetthe performance requirements are eliminated from the organization. Hence, thesystem for the performance appraisal should be highly effective to ensure thatthere is a chance to identify individuals who need to be eliminated in theorganization. These include the creation of a smooth transition of therelationship, which should exist in the organization. Performance appraisals need to be a good celebration ofthe deeds of the employee.
Therefore, they act as sources of encouragement andmotivation for the staff members. Hence, there should be no surprises when itbecomes impossible to address the issues as they emerge and conducting theannual reviews (Stathakopoulos 1997, p. 135). The appraisals also reward thestaff members for the good jobs, which they have done while working in theorganization. These systems also help in correcting the undesired behavior, which could be evident from the conduct of duties of the employee in theorganization.
Employee growth is enhanced through the conduct of theperformance appraisal. Workers who are motivated value development, plan, andstructure for growth. Hence, an effective performance appraisal system createsan opportunity for the employee to have a chance of reaching their fullpotential while working in the organization. Consequently, a positiveexperience is created between the manager and the employee (Stathakopoulos1997, p. 136). Good managers are always proud when they see that employees aredeveloping professionally and have a continuous growth in their work environment. Organizations have a good global look on the existing performance managementsystem where their goals are tied to the performance management processes andstrategic initiatives. The system of performance evaluation helps instrengthening the self-development of the employees.
Hence, the workers becomemore responsible in their work environment. The outcome of this is that theindividual level performance of an employee improves significantly (Simmons& Eades 2004, p. 153). The staffs that are honest contribute to enhancingorganizational culture and ensure that the firm operates on the principles ofhonesty and trust with its customers. Moreover, it becomes easy to identify theopportunities of the employees such as the ability to process specific skillsat a fast rate as compared to others. Therefore, the supervisor is able toassign the employee the job roles and responsibilities, which match the skillthat is processed at a fast rate (Mulvaney, McKinney & Grodsky 2008, p. 126). In addition, managers have a chance to recognize the achievement of theemployee in execution of their work and duties.
Consequently, workers developthe morale to perform their job roles and responsibilities at a high level ofeffectiveness, which results in the achievement of the organizational goals andobjectives. Limits Performance appraisals have the negative element ofcreating a negative experience. The situation develops when they are notexecuted in the right manner in the organization. Consequently, employeesdevelop a negative perception on these structures, which limits their abilityto achieve the intended purpose (Jirjahn & Poutsma 2013, p. 801).
There isalso the case of having the halo effect where the supervisors engage in theappraising of a person based on qualities that are considered to be positiveonly. Therefore, the traits that are negative are not taken into considerationduring the appraisal method. Hence, such an appraisal does not contribute tothe depiction of the true picture and nature of the employee.
Consequently, there are employees who could be promoted in the organization when in the realsense they do not deserve such promotions as compared to others in the sameorganization. On the same note, there is the horn effect where there is the considerationof the employee negative qualities as compared to positive quality. The appraisal process of the organization has the chanceof discouraging the staff members. Thus, the process should be the other thatoffers positive reinforcement, encouragement, and celebration of theaccomplishments in a given year (Jirjahn & Poutsma 2013, p. 802). Thedocument provided by the managers should not contain issues that needcorrections, but also things that are positive for the entire time of theemployee. Moreover, the performance appraisals have the weakness of introducingan element of inconsistent messaging.
When the managers fails to keep clearrecords and notes of the behavior of the employee, it becomes complex for suchindividuals to send consistent message to the workers (Siaguru 2011, p. 116). Thus, it is paramount for the managers to ensure that they have a clear recordof the activities and issues related to the performance of the employees sothat when it comes the time of appraisals, they can easily refresh their mindsand review employee appraisal in the shortest time period. The process of conducting performance appraisals resultsin the waste of the resources from the organization and it is time consuming. Thus, managers have to allocate their resources in executing the intendedorganization objectives, which does not result in attaining the desired results(Robertson 2013, p.
8). Further, the time that would be used for productionprocess is utilized in conducting the performance appraisals. Hence, theseactions makes the organization be prone to the waste of valuable time, whichcould be utilized in executing other functions and operations for betterperformance and revenue growth (Mulvaney, McKinney & Grodsky 2008, p. 127). The supervisors often procrastinate the preparation of the performanceappraisal documents since they tend to take a lot of time for the departmentalduties. The employees often feel cheated by these performanceappraisals. They develop feelings that the managers often rate them in a biasedmanner.
Such is based on the aspect of having the employers tying the bonusesand raises of the employees to the performance ratings (Simmons & Eades2004, p. 154). The waiting game results in the loss of money in spite of theretroactive salary boost. Hence, the appraisals could lead to creating ade-motivating factor for the effective execution of the functionality of theemployees in the organization.
Performance appraisals are conducted by human beings. Thus, they are vulnerable to rater biases and errors (Sudarsan 2009, p. 54). These issues lead to the reduction of the credibility and reliability level ofthese systems as a means of assessing the performance level of an organization.
Furthermore, they create a stressful environment for all the involved personssince these individuals have to sacrifice their resources and time so that theycan participate in the entire process of performance appraisal. There are also cases of avoidance to engage in theperformance appraisal process. Therefore, the gathered information from thisprocedure is characterized of an element of inconsistencies (Siaguru 2011, p. 117). A lot of paper work is also used, which creates an element of bureaucracyon how the appraisal process is run in the organization. In addition, theprocess could be termed as a disillusionment since there instances where thereis no follow-up from the involved parties.
Central tendency also develops in the organization duringthe appraisal process of the employee. Thus, the superior obtains anappropriate appraisal by offering the central values. The talented employeesare denied the opportunity of obtaining promotions while those that do notdeserve promotion could easily be promoted (Sudarsan 2009, p. 55). Moreover, there are some bosses that are lenient in employees grading while others arevery strict. Individuals that deserve promotions tend to lose the chance ofbecause of the managers that are strict while others get the opportunitybecause of the lenient supervisors. Performance appraisals results in creation of aninteraction section between the bosses and their employees. Therefore, thereare managers who fear that if they give negative appraisals they could indeedend up spoiling their relationships, which they have established with thesubordinates (Brown, & Heywood, 2005, p.
660). Hence, when the employee isappraised, the situation could results in giving higher grades than expected. The injustice results in destruction of good relationship, which could beestablished with employees that deserve in the organization. The use ofdifferent techniques in the appraisal process has the impact of destroying thegood will that exists between the seniors and the juniors in the organization. Further, the variety on the techniques that are adopted complicates the processof comparing employees successfully.
Culture significantly influences the appraisal systemthat is adopted in the organization (Brown, & Heywood, 2005, p. 659). Assuch, the approach that the managers adopt to appraise the employees should bein line with the established cultural values of the firm.
The system that isbased on the openness and participation of employees acts as a major starter ofthe culture of the organization, which is non-participative and authoritarianwith regard to the policies of the employees. The failure of the organizationoccurs because of the differences in culture, which should be looked atthroughout. Conclusion In conclusion, performance appraisals are effective whenthe organization conducting them has a purpose and goal. Hence, the obtainedfeedback helps in strategic planning and aligning the business goals of theorganization. However, for the cases where the firm conducts the appraisalsystem just for the sake, the situation results in the waste of time.