The Dos And Donts Of Performance Appraisal

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Performance Appraisal

Introduction

Performance appraisal has always been a basic or fundamental part of many organizations. It is defined as the systematic evaluation of an employee’s performance and personality by qualified persons, especially his supervisors. The employee’s qualities and personalities are matched up to the features that the job requires (Greene, 2010). In essence, it may be defined as the assessment of an employee’s job performance using the job requirements as the yardstick. An effective and efficient performance appraisal has the capacity to strengthen the organization through enhancing the employee’s morale, creating common goals for managers and employees alike, enhancing teamwork in the organization, as well as enhancing loyalty and productivity (Bose, 2002). However, there are instances where performance appraisals may impact negatively on the employee’s performance, especially where is it not carried appropriately. This is the case for the nurse in the case study.

One of the key problems with the appraisal is that it seemed to mainly focus on the negatives that the nurse had done. It is evident that there was a breakdown of communication between the appraisers and the nurse. This explains why the nurse was taken aback when the nurse manager brought to the fore an incident that took place months ago. On the same note, performance appraisal has to be objective as to examine both the positives and the negative aspects (Bose, 2002). Unfortunately, this is not the case in the case study as the nurse feels that the evaluation did not consider her good or commendable performance. The report ignored the performance about which she felt good. Research shows that such a thing would lead to low morale, which explains the anxiety and stress. It is noteworthy that the incorporation of the positive aspects of the nurse’s performance would come in handy in enhancing objectivity in the report, which would essentially achieve the key objective: the measurement, maintenance and enhancement of job performance (Bose, 2002).

As much as the nurse feels that the report was farfetched and “out of the blue”, the nurse manager’s report cannot be entirely ignored. His report may have been predicated by the issues to which he attached importance, in which case the issues or areas where the nurse felt she did well in were ignored. Research shows that in most cases, managers allow non-performance issues to influence the appraisal process as seen in the case study. While the nurse manager’s behavior may be illogical, it is noteworthy that the nurse had a duty to have a clear knowledge of the issues on which the evaluation would concentrate, or even the things to which the nurse manager attached more importance.

Nevertheless, some corrections should be made on the performance appraisal process in the organization so as to enhance productivity in the organization (Greene, 2010). This would eliminate the notion that the process is solely aimed at castigating the employees or nurses in this case. First, there must be proper communication between the appraisers and the employees as to the importance of the evaluation, as well as the issues on which the evaluation will concentrate. Second, it is imperative that the process involve collaboration between the two parties, rather than making one of them the subject (Greene, 2010). As much as the appraisal examines qualities of the employee, making him or her a participant would eliminate the stress and anxiety with which the evaluation comes. Third, it is imperative that the appraisal process examines the strengths, as well as weaknesses so as to be objective (Greene, 2010). Appraisal process should not b a yardstick for pointing at the weaknesses, rather it should aim at enhancing the employee’s performance. The negatives or weaknesses should be presented as challenges on which the employee should work, with the help of the organization (Greene, 2010).

References

Bose, D. C. (2002). Principles of management and administration. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.

Greene, R.J, (2010). Rewarding Performance: Guiding Principles, Custom Strategies. New York: Taylor & Francis