Question No. 1:
Components of effective performance management
process?
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:
It means to check either employees performance is of such a level that can meet or fulfill
organizational goals. Here we have to make ensure that employees performance is
supporting top management goals or not.
EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENTCOMPONENETS:
Effective Performance management is the systematic process of:
Planning
work and
setting
expectations
Continually
monitoring
performance
Developing
the capacity
to perform
Periodic
rating
Rewarding
good
performance
1. Planning work and setting expectations:
It is the first phase in which employees work is to be planned and activities are
devised. After clearly stating what to do, the expectations are created regarding
the employees that if the person performs on middle level or average level, his
performance must be at some particular level. If he high performs, then the
performance level is expected out of the performer.
2. Continually monitoring performance:
The continuous monitoring of the performance is also important. The employees
must be monitored so that whatever they are doing they can obtain guidance.
Moreover, if their direction of performance is diverted, It can be moulded back to
achieve desired outcomes of the organization.
3. Developing the capacity to perform:
The performance management also includes the development of performance
capacity. If the employee is guided in a better way, they he will be able to perform
as per the reqirement so as to achieve the organizational goals.
4. Periodic rating:
The performance of the employee must be periodically rated and he must be
informed about that. Because if he has the complete knowledge of his
performance, then he can do it in a better way because he will come to know how
much improvement is needed by him, or what capabilities to develop.
5. Rewarding good performance:
Good performance of the employees must be rewarded. It is a source of
motivation for him and it encourages him to do more regarding his job in the
organization. Moreover, the forms of rewards can vary. It can be either in the
form of bonuses, promotions or in the form of recognitions and certificates.
CONCLUSION:
Good managers have been speaking and practicing effective performance management all
their lives, executing each key component process well. They not only set goals and plan
work routinely, they measure progress toward those goals and give feedback to
employees. They set high standards, but they also take care to develop the skills needed
to reach them. And they use formal and informal rewards to recognize the behavior and
results that accomplish their mission.
Question No. 2:
Role played by HR department regarding performance appraisal?
HR manager plays the advisory role to the supervisor in the performance appraisal process.
He assists the supervisor regarding:








The process of appraisal
Necessaities to conduct appraisals
Possible circumstances and handling
Drawback if not conducted properly
Serves as policy maker
Training of supervisor
Compliance with law
Compensation and performance
1. Process of appraisal:
HR manager guides the supervisor of lower level employees about the process of
performance appraisals. He tells him the standards and provide him with a rating scale so
that he evaluate the performance of employees and give feedback to the management.
2. Necessaties to conduct appraisals:
The necessary steps that are required to be performed by the supervisor during the
performance of appraisal techniques are fully disclosed by the HR manager. He tell him
about the requirements of the organization here.
3. Possible circumstances and handling:
The possible circumstances that can occur during conduction of appraisals of the
employees, especially when the employees are new in the organization and don’t know
about the performance appraisals may give unexpected reaction to the supervisor. HR
manager tells how to handle them in good manner.
4. Drawbacks if not conducted properly:
If the appraisals are not conducted properly, then what may be the circumstances are rold
by the HR manager to supervisor so that he may be prepared in mind for the possible
reaction of the employees during appraisals.
5. Serves as policy maker:
HR manager assists the supervisors in conducting appraisals. He makes policy of the
requirements, standards of the employees ‘performance and their appraisals.
6. Training of supervisor:
HR manager provides the training to supervisor for the whole process of performance
appraisals. He trains him in a way so that he can do his work of appraising employees in
a proper way.
7. Compliance with law:
The responsibility of HR manager is to comply with the standards of the law imposing in
the country regarding appraisals. For example, the law says that there must be no
discriminatory practice handled in the appraisal process. If the standards of law are not
adopted, then it can take to sue the organization.
8. Compensation and performance:
HR establishes a method for tying compensation to its performance appraisals through
assessing the organization's capability for rewarding employees through pay-forperformance or merit pay systems. Conducting job analyses, reviewing compensation
practices and developing rewards programs for employees whose performance meets or
exceeds the company's expectations falls under the purview of the HR department,
meaning the HR leader and compensation specialists.
Question No. 3
Identify and analyze the problem to appraise employee?
People commit mistakes while evaluating people and their performance. Biases and
judgment errors of various kinds may spoil the show. Bias here refers to inaccurate
distortion of a measurement. These are:
• First
impression
s
1
(i)
2
• Halo
• Horn effect
4
• Central
tendency
• Leniency
3
6
• Stereotypin
g
•Recency
effect
5
First impressions (primacy effect):
The appraiser's first impressions of a candidate may color his evaluation of all
subsequent behavior. In the case of negative primacy effect, the employee may
7
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
seem to do nothing right; in the case of a positive primacy effect, the employee
can do no wrong (Harris, p.192).
Halo:
The Halo error occurs when one aspect of the subordinate's performance affects
the rater's evaluation of other performance dimensions. If a worker has few
absences, his supervisor might give the worker a high rating in all other areas of
work.
Horn effect:
The rater's bias is in the other direction, where one negative quality of the
employee is being rated harshly. For example, the ratee does not smile normally,
so he cannot get along with people!
Leniency:
Depending on rater's own mental make-up at the time of appraisal, raters may
be rated very strictly or very leniently. Appraisers generally find evaluating
others difficult, especially where negative ratings have to be given..
Central tendency:
An alternative to the leniency effect is the central tendency, which occurs when
appraisers rate all employees as average performers. For example, a professor,
with a view to play it safe, might give a class grades nearly equal to B,
regardless of the differences in individual performance.
Stereotyping:
Stereotyping is a mental picture that an individual holds about a person because
of that person's sex, age, religion, caste, etc. By generalizing behavior on the
basis of such blurred images, the rater grossly overestimates or underestimates a
persons' performance. For example, employees from rural areas might be rated
poorly by raters having a sophisticated urban background if they view rural
background negatively.
Recency effect:
In this case the rater gives greater weightage to recent occurrences than earlier
performance. For example, an excellent performance that may be six or seven
months old is conveniently forgotten while giving a poor rating to an employee's
performance which is not so good in recent weeks. Alternatively, the appraisal
process may suffer due to a ‘spill over effect' which takes place when past
performance influences present ratings.
POOR APPRAISAL FORMS
The appraisal process might also be influenced by the following factors relating to the forms
that are used by raters:




The rating scale may be quite vague and unclear
The rating form may ignore important aspects of job performance.
The rating form may contain additional, irrelevant performance dimensions.
The forms may be too long and complex.
Solution To Appraisal Problems:
1. Beginning
Schedule a time with your new employee to reach a mutual understanding of the
job's duties and responsibilities.. The first several weeks of employment are
critical for your new employee--the mutual agreement you reached earlier is
solidified and you can then hold your new employee to the performance standards
established for her role with your company.
2. Acountability
Delay in the evaluation process causes frustration among employees that leads to
dissatisfaction with company management. Hold managers accountable for
preparing their employees' performance appraisals in a timely manner.
3. Adequate Feedback
Providing feedback on just an annual basis tends to focus mainly on the most recent
accomplishments. Unless there is a method for tracking performance throughout the
year, only a portion of an employee's accomplishments are evaluated during the
appraisal.
4. The Right System
Utilizing a performance appraisal system that's right for your company size, work
environment, business and industry is important. The wrong type of performance
appraisal can work against you, and employees will not look forward to the
process
5. Explain Your Purpose
Explain to employees how your organization invests time and effort in
professional development. Train your supervisors and managers on how to
conduct performance appraisals that instill pride in individual accomplishments
and contributions to the company.
Question No. 4
What do Performance Appraisal Measure?
Performance Appraisal Measures the following:

Work output (quality and quantity)

Personal competencies

Goal (objective) achievement
How To Measure:
1. Set up random methods of quality control throughout your company.
While your employees are aware of the checks, they don't know when they will
occur, so if they are slacking in some way or not performing to par, that will
surface eventually. Suggested areas of quality control include spot checking
products, reviewing phone calls, and inspecting log books
2. Survey your clients about their customer service experience as a way of assessing
employee performance.
Ask them if they are satisfied with their product or service. Getting an outside
perspective on performance is smart as it offers an objective analysis. In addition,
client satisfaction should be your ultimate mission, and if your clients are
genuinely satisfied, then your employees are getting something right.
3. Evaluate performance of employees by considering all areas of their work ethic and
individual achievements.
This method of assessment would look at each employee as a whole and most
likely on an annual basis. If an employee is lacking, this assessment would give
her an opportunity to improve. If an employee is excelling, then the assessment
would recognize that, but still suggest ways of improvement. Under this criteria
would be the following:
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


How much an individual is able to produce either in product or sales.
The quality of that product or service.
How fast an employee produces a product or makes a sale.
How reliable an employee is, including how often they are absent or
late for work.
How well an employee adheres to company policies.
How an employee presents him or herself physically and intellectually.
4. Opt to initiate basic employee appraisals to indicate performance levels in various
areas of the workforce, and both general and job-specific responsibilities.
For example, manager appraisals are intended for supervisors to evaluate the
performance of their subordinates. Peer and team appraisals are intended for
employees to appraise each other as individuals or within a team environment.
Self-appraisals are also an option, in which employees are given the opportunity
to appraise themselves
5. Resort to more comprehensive employee assessment methods if you fear for the
future of your company.
Options include hiring a professional assessor who can appraise the everyday
functionality of your business, as well as the performance of your employees. An
outside assessor can provide impartiality and, therefore, feedback that is devoid of
personal relationships and feelings. A 360 appraisal is a second option that
subjects an employee to appraisals by all his or her direct superiors and peers.
Question No. 5
When goal setting , performance appraisal and development are consolidated
into a single system to ensure that employee support a company’s strategy ?
Before a company can realize the benefits of having a fully aligned workforce, there are
several changes that must take place. As with any major organizational improvement,
achieving alignment doesn’t happen overnight; it requires time and a full commitment
from leadership. And while the changes needed to take place, and the ultimate outcome
will be different for each organization, the following tips can help any company on the
road to gaining enterprise-wide alignment:
1. Gather foundational information
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

Get out and review your job description and the goals, competencies and
development plans set for you at your last appraisal. Use these as the foundation
for preparing details on your accomplishments, strengths and areas for
development.
Gather any regular reports you've created (e.g. weekly reports, monthly
highlights, project status reports). They'll help you recall performance highlights
and milestones, as well as any challenges.
It can also be helpful to review your last appraisal and look at the feedback and
ratings you were given then. It will help give you a sense of how you've grown
and developed over the last period.
2. Review your performance journal notes
If you've kept a journal of your performance over the last performance cycle, get it out
now and review your notes. Notice any trends or recurring themes that reveal things like:
particular strengths, challenging people or situations, knowledge or skills you need to
develop, projects or work you really enjoyed, etc.
3. Prepare a list of your accomplishments
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
With all this information as background, you're ready to prepare a list of your
accomplishments. As you do, it's important to relate them to your goals and higher level
organizational goals. Give your manager any contextual details they need to understand
your performance. Identify any challenges that limited your abilities to succeed, as well
as any support you received from others.
Make note of any training or development activities you completed.You can use this
information as background for your discussion with your manager during your
performance appraisal meeting, or even submit it to your manager before your review, to
help them in their preparation.
4. Do a self-evaluation
Even if your company doesn't formally do them, it's good idea to complete a selfevaluation. Ideally, you should use the same performance appraisal form your manager
will be using. Go through each competency and goal listed, and rate your performance.
Be honest in your ratings. The goal of this exercise is not to campaign for good ratings,
but rather to share your perception of your performance with your manager before your
appraisal meeting.
5. Prepare a list of areas for development
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
In reviewing your job description, competencies, goals, performance journal notes, list of
accomplishments, etc, identify any areas where you felt you struggled, or where others
may have noted your performance lacked, and make note of these.
You should also identify any areas where you would like to expand your
skills/experience/expertise or share them with others as part of your career growth and
progression.
6. Draft goals for the coming period
Take a proactive approach and draft some possible goals based on your job description,
your department or the organization's higher level goals, your skills/experience/abilities,
etc. In drafting your goals, you might want to look for opportunities to expand your
duties, broaden your knowledge, or take on more responsibility. You can review and
refine these in your meeting with your manager.
7. Share your preparations with your manager
Ideally, you should share the materials you've prepared with your manager before your
performance appraisal meeting. This will help them prepare for your meeting more
effectively and encourage a more meaningful two-way dialogue between you. It can also
help them prepare for any differences in perception that might exist between the two of
you, avoiding surprises at review time.
8. Prepare an open mind
Often we come to our performance appraisal meeting with our manager feeling a bit
defensive. We're bracing ourselves to hear criticism, or we're jockeying for
ratings/positioning that impact our compensation and advancement in the company.
CONCLUSION
It's your career! You have both the power and responsibility to manage your own performance
and ensure your ongoing development and success. Make the most of the opportunity your
performance appraisal offers to make your contributions known and to get meaningful feedback
and direction that will help you grow. Proper preparation and participation can help ensure that.
References:
1.
2.
3.
4.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/problems-performance-appraisals-1913.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/performance-appraisal-problems-solutions-1922.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-Performance
http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-management/referencematerials/more-topics/effective-performance-management-doing-what-comes-naturally/
5. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/role-hr-performance-appraisal-19415.html
6. http://www.halogensoftware.com/learn/how-to/how-to-prepare-for-your-performanceappraisal