performance appraisal ratings

1. Performance appraisal ratings
With the evolution and development of appraisal systems, a number of tools and
techniques of performance appraisal have been developed. Firstly, there are graphic-
rating scales which compare individual performance to an absolute standard. In this
method, judgments about performance are recorded on a scale. This is the oldest and
most widely used technique. This method is also known as linear rating scale. The
appraisers are supplied with printed forms, one for each employee. These forms
contain a number of objectives and behavior- and trait-based qualities to be rated (like
quality, volume of work, job knowledge, dependability, initiative and attitude). Rating
scales are of two types: continuous rating scales and discontinuous rating scales.
In continuous order like 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the appraiser assigns the points to each
degree. Performance regarding each character is known by the points given by the
rater. These points are added up to find out the overall performance. Employees are
ranked on the basis of total points assigned to each one of them. One reason for the
popularity of the rating scale is its simplicity, which permits many employees to be
quickly evaluated. Such scales have relatively low design cost and high incase of
administration. They can easily pinpoint significant dimensions of the job. The major
drawback of these scales is their subjectivity and low reliability. Another limitation is
that the descriptive words often used in such scales may have different meanings to
different raters.
Another popular and effective method of performance appraisal is employee ranking.
Under this method the employees are ranked from best to worst on some
characteristics. The rater first finds the employee with the highest performance and
the employee with the lowest performance in that particular job category and rates the
former as the best and the latter as poorest. Then the rater selects the next highest and
next lowest and so on until he rates all the employees in that group.
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