Performance Appraisal

Meaning of Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal system has been defined in many ways. The easiest way to understand the meaning of performance appraisal is as follows:

It is the systematic assessment of an individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development in that job. Thus, performance appraisal is a systematic and objective way of evaluating the relative worth or ability of an employee in performing his job. The two aspects of performance appraisal considered to be important are: systematic and objective.

The appraisal is said to be systematic when it evaluates all performances in the same manner, by applying the same approach, so that appraisal of different persons are comparable. Such an appraisal is taken from time to time according to plan; it is not left to probability. Thus, both raters’ and ratees know the system of perfor­mance appraisal and its timing. Appraisal has objectivity also. It’s important aspect is that it attempts at precise measurement by trying to remove human biases and prejudices.

According to Flippo, a prominent personality in the field of Human resources, “performance appraisal is the systematic, periodic and an impartial rating of an employee’s excellence in the matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.”

In the words of Yoder, “Performance appraisal refers to all formal procedures used in working organizations to evaluate personalities and contributions and potential of group members.” Thus performance appraisal is a formal programme in an organization which is concerned with not only the contributions of the members who form part of the organization, but also aims at spotting the potential of the people.”

It is a systematic way of judging the relative worth of an employee while carrying out his work in an organization. It also helps recognize those employees who are performing their tasks well and also- who are not performing their tasks properly and the reasons for such (poor) performance.

According to International Labor Organization, “A regular and continuous evaluation of the quality, quantity and style of the performance along with the assessment of the factors influencing the performance and behavior of an individual is called as performance appraisal.”

In short, we can say that performance appraisal is expected to result in an assessment of: development potential of the employees, training needs for the employees; capabilities of employees being placed in higher posts, behavior and obedience of the employees; and the need of the organization to evolve a control mechanism.