Read this article on employee performance appraisal to know how to appraise an employee's performance (for employers). For employees, check out what factors you may be judged on.

Employee Performance Appraisals

It’s a regular phenomenon! It may happen once a year or several times a year, but it will happen. It’s a thing that has many fretting and sweating and there is no escape from it. It’s performance appraisal. As long as there are jobs, there will be appraisals. It’s just inevitable! How else would the organization keep track of how its employees are doing on a scale that the organization considers to be acceptable? It’s the appraisal that makes way for an expert estimation of the quality, quantity, and other characteristics of the employees. It’s the appraisal that decides whether to continue with the services of an employee in the same way or to proceed with any of the following: advancements, raises, rewards, and layoffs. Even though it may seem like a nightmarish experience to many of the employees, it also provides them with an opportunity to raise their game and keep it at par throughout the period between the appraisals and get their just rewards in the form of raises and advancements. Having said that, appraising an employee is no child’s play and the whole procedure should be planned and carried into action by the management with all sincerity and honesty, as an unfair appraisal can seriously hamper an employee’s motivation to work and may further fiddle with the company’s own employee turnover. Continue reading to know about how to proceed on appraising an employee.
 
How To Appraise An Employees Performance
Although every organization has its own way of going through the appraisal process, some factors on which the employees are appraised remain the same.
 
Quality
The quality of work that an employee delivers on a regular basis should be considered during the evaluation rather than one or two strong performances or one or two below average performances. It is the organization’s part to keep a track on how well each employee delivers his/her part. Things to consider: quality of the work delivered, duration within which it was delivered, difficulties in getting it done, problems sorted out in work by the management and the likes.
 
Company’s Framework
The organization should duly take notice of how many times an employee deviates from the rules, regulations, and guidelines set by the company within which employees have to stay in and work accordingly. An ideal employee will try and adhere to all this without any fuss and will perform within the framework. A not-so ideal employee will consistently have troubles staying inside the framework and may have to be reminded time and again to stick to the company rules.
 
Personality
Right from personal hygiene to a several personality traits; it all counts when at work. An improper personal hygiene like showing up at work ungroomed, in dirty or unprofessional attire, without bathing, and the likes can easily distract rest of the staff. While talking is acceptable as no employee will be able to do without it; it should not transform into unnecessary gossip. Doing so will not only hamper employees own work but may well end up making other employees interested in the chitter-chatter, leaving the work at hand in isolation. An ideal employee will refrain from any of such stuff and focus solely on the work at hand.
 
Compatibility
It is important for an employee to be able to maintain a healthy working rapport with, not only the team he/she is working with, but with other staff that isn’t a part of his/her team. The supervisors should duly take notice of how well the employee is liked by others in the team and how well he/she is able to perform in a group without negative competitiveness, while at the same time encouraging other members of the team. An employee who is found consistently arguing over the stuff should be given a red flag.
 
Absenteeism
It requires an employee to be present at work to be able to provide a quality of service to his/her organization within its framework without letting his personal habits getting in the way while maintaining a positive rapport with the colleagues and seniors. The details about each employee’s presence in the company should be thoroughly noted and should be available in hand at the time of evaluation. It hampers the company’s overall performance if the absenteeism rate is high. An ideal employee will be on work for a good 90-95% of the working days. Not only should he/she be present for work, he/she should be on time too.
 
Things To Remember When Appraising An Employee
  • It is important to keep track of an employee’s performance throughout the period between one appraisal to the next or from the time the employee joined the organization to the next appraisal. The appraisal should be based on actual statements rather than opinions.
  • Both positive and negative aspects of the performance should be considered during the appraisal. The positive aspects shouldn’t outweigh the negative ones and the negative aspects shouldn’t come in the way of an honest evaluation. Proper weightage should be given to both.
  • At the time of appraisal, provide the employees with ways to improve rather than just stating what they are doing wrong.
Employee performance appraisal calls for the above factors to be taken into consideration while keeping the whole process bias free. Only then you can evaluate their performance for what they have been. Happy appraising!


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