5 Key Success Factors of a Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is a recurring phenomenon in employee leadership. In this article, we explain in detail what a performance appraisal is, discuss the different types of assessments, explain how to measure work performance, and share a model for evaluating employee performance.

What is a performance appraisal?

Performance appraisal is also called performance evaluation, performance review and employee appraisal (performance). Performance appraisal is a method of regularly assessing an employee’s work performance and overall contribution to the company in order to improve that performance.

Performance appraisals help to provide feedback, provide a formal time to assess job performance and distribute increases and bonuses to employees.

An essential element of employee appraisal is that it is a shared responsibility between the employee and the manager. While the manager takes the lead in this process, the active participation of employees creates the necessary buy-in to make the improvements for which performance appraisal is designed. We will discuss this later in this article.

Performance evaluation is part of the performance management cycle. The difference between performance assessment and performance management is that performance management encompasses all interactions between the employee and the supervisor that contribute to performance improvement. Performance appraisal is a regular meeting within the performance management cycle in which the employee is officially assessed.

Performance evaluation is the practice we know best. This is usually done once or twice a year, at the beginning of the year and around the semester. These are formal meetings at which the direct supervisor assesses the employee’s performance in the employee’s main duties and responsibilities. On the basis of this assessment, a performance value is defined which is used for shares, rewards, and terminations.

What is work performance?

Since performance assessments are used to assess and improve work performance, it is important to define what work performance is.

Work performance is the extent to which an employee performs the tasks described in his or her job description. People who perform well in the workplace meet all job requirements, job objectives, and performance criteria. This is also referred to as work performance.

Employees can also help their organization by adopting behaviors that are not directly related to their jobs. This is referred to as extra-role performance, contextual performance or organizational citizenship behavior.

Employees can also help their organization by adopting behaviors that are not directly related to their professional duties. This is called supplementary role performance, contextual performance or corporate citizenship behavior.

This additional role behavior includes helping co-workers at work when they return from an absence, helping co-workers who are facing high work pressure or other problems and wanting to do things that do not fit your role, but that contributes to the organization in general.

Role behavior and role behavior are important when it comes to good performance, and both should be considered in performance evaluation.

5 Key success factors for performance evaluation

Performance evaluation varies from company to company. However, there are several best practices that every manager should be aware of when assessing employee performance.

1. Use a clear diagram

Executives and employees may feel uncomfortable with the performance assessment. This is probably the most formal framework in which they will find themselves throughout the year, and it does not happen often enough to make it a common phenomenon.

The use of a performance assessment form or other assessment plan is useful both for preparing the meeting and for the performance assessment itself. As an example, we have included a performance assessment form.

2. Involve the employee as much as possible

One of the main problems with evaluation interviews is the lack of employee consent. A meta-analysis by Cawly, Keeping & Levy (1998) shows that there is a strong correlation between employee involvement and reaction.

Employee participation is the extent to which employees can participate in performance evaluation. Employees who participated in the performance appraisal expressed greater satisfaction, found the session much fairer, more useful and much more motivated to improve. A high level of employee participation explains 40% of the variation in satisfaction, 35% of equity, 30% of utility and 19% of motivation to improve.

3. Start with the bad news

Most of us have learned to start with good news before giving the bad news and making suggestions for improvement. According to Daniel Pink (2018), employees are happier when bad news is discussed at the beginning of the interview. The positive information is then stored until the end so that the meeting ends with a positive note.

4. Employees want more regular feedback

Getting feedback once a year is not something that promotes performance. Employees state that they seek regular and continuous feedback to improve their work. Find ways for managers to communicate with employees through the continuous use of technology. More suggestions on this topic can be found in the following section on evaluation requests.

5. Carefully document your staff’s evaluations

Important decisions about who to promote, what salaries to increase, but also who to fire, are based on performance management information. Evaluation interviews must, therefore, be carefully documented. Performance data should be evaluated and reported consistently across the organization and stored in a central database. This is also important if you are moving to more continuous feedback.