Aligning Performance Appraisals
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According to Webster's Dictionary, calibration is a set of graduations that indicate values or positions. In terms of performance management, calibration can be important to make the performance evaluations as accurate as possible by introducing a graded review of the performance evaluation to ensure that it is as accurate as possible.
Because of the inherent individual biases that we all tend to have in how we perceive the behavior and performance of those who work for us, having a process where others are allowed to review employee ratings, comments, goals and development plans, provide better performance evaluations. It is true that new prejudices are introduced in this process, but by allowing more people to participate in the employee interview, new perspectives and alternative points of view can be gained which can contribute to creating an assessment that reflects the employee's performance.
The process of having other people or groups review the employee interviews is the basis for calibrating performance management. In a SHRM survey, 54 percent of HR professionals responded that their organization conducts some form of calibration, and 35 percent said that ratings were changed as a result of the calibration process.
When more than a third of the reviews are changed in some way, it is likely that the quality of the employee interviews will improve overall. This is an important quality assurance process that is missing in many organisations.
Some calibration processes involve a simple escalation from manager to manager to review the employee interview. Others are more comprehensive in that they involve a group responsible for reviewing employee interviews and working closely with the manager to improve them.
It is important that the process is flexible and does not involve too many people. In this way, you can avoid the process becoming analysis-paralysing. A calibration process for performance management is intended to be a quality assurance measure and not a means of directing criticism at the manager.
The calibration usually involves other managers, supervisors or team leaders who know the employee in question well. It is desirable that they can provide input based on a certain degree of first-hand experience with the employee.
However, some organizations use a person with little or no knowledge of the employee's work or workplace behavior in the group discussions. The idea is that this person can ask relevant questions and have an unbiased view of how the employee interview is conducted. However, they cannot make any significant input into the employee's performance. However, if performance notes (journal notes) have been used to a large extent during a given evaluation period, the person concerned will have a good deal of information to use as a basis for discussing the employee interview.
Most organizations should consider introducing some form of calibration in connection with the employee interview. From a moral perspective, employees will feel better when they know that emphasis has been placed on completing employee interviews. Incorporating calibration into performance appraisals enhances accuracy and fairness. Consider adopting this crucial quality assurance measure for comprehensive employee evaluations with IceHrm.
