Effective Performance Appraisal

The performance appraisal system is always questioned in terms of its effectiveness and the problems of reliability and validity. It is always difficult to know whether what is appraised is what was supposed to be appraised. As long as subjective judgment is there this question cannot be answered perhaps, the following steps can help improve the system.

1. The supervisors should be told that they themselves will be evaluated on the basis of how seriously they are performing their duties.
2. To perform assigned task of evaluation in a better way superior should be provided with better training of writing report.
3. To carry out job evaluation studies and prepares job descriptions/roles and prepares separate forms for various positions in the organization.
4. The system should be designed in such a way that it is neither difficult to understand nor impossible to practice.
5. The supervisor should monitor whether the improvement in performance in the areas found weak is taking place or not and, if not, help the employee to achieve the required improvement.
6. Finally, reviewing, the appraisal systems every now and then help updating it, and making appropriate changes in it. This is the most important factor in making performance appraisal effective, with the passage of time necessary changes in tasks, abilities and skills to perform has to be made. If changes in the format are not considered the reports may not generate the kind of result needed to satisfy appraisal objectives.

a) Behaviorally Based Measures: The research strongly favors behaviorally based measures over those developed around traits. b) Ongoing Feedback: Employees like to know how they are performing the duties assigned to them. c) Multiple Raters: If a person is evaluated by a large no of superior then chance of getting more frequent information increases d) Peer Evaluations: Peer evaluations are conducted by employees’ co-workers, people explicitly familiar with the jobs involved mainly because they too are doing the same thing, they are the person who know the co-workers’ day to-day work behavior and should get a chance to provide the management with some feedback.