1. Performance Appraisal
and Management
Performance Appraisal: Process, Methods; Factors that
distort appraisal
Performance Management: Process, Relationship to
Performance Appraisal, Potential Appraisal and its
relevance
2.
3. Performance Appraisal
Objective assessment on an individual’s performance
against well defined benchmarks
Assessment should not be confined to past performance
alone
Potential for future performance should also be
assessed
Other terms used for Performance Appraisal:
Performance rating, employee assessment, performance
review, personnel appraisal, performance evaluation,
employee evaluation, merit rating
Closely linked to Job Analysis (Ref.Fig.10.1)
4. Objectives of Appraisal
To effect promotions based on competence and
performance.
To confirm the services of probationary employees
upon their completing the probationary period
satisfactorily.
To assess the training and development needs of
employees.
To decide upon a pay raise where (as in the
unorganised sector) regular pay scales have not
been fixed.
5. Objectives of Appraisal (contd..)
To let the employees know where they stand in terms of their
performance and to provide constructive criticism and guidance to
help them develop
To improve communication
Finally, performance appraisal can be used to determine whether HR
programmes such as selection, training, and transfers have been
effective or not.
6. Multiple Purposes of Appraisal
General Applications Specific Purpose
Identification of individual needs
Performance feedback
Developmental Uses Determining transfer and job assignments
Identification of individual strengths and developmental
needs
Salary
Promotion
Retention or termination
Administrative Uses/Decisions Recognition of individual performance
Lay-offs
Identification of poor performers
HR planning
Determining organisation training needs
Organisational Evaluation of organisational goal achievement
Maintenance/Objectives Information for goal identification
Evaluation of HR systems
Reinforcement of organisational development
Criteria for validation research
Documentation Documentation for HR decisions
Helping to meet legal requirements
7. How Performance Appraisal can Contribute to Firm’s
Competitive Advantage
Improving
Performance
Making
Strategy and
Correct
Behaviour
Decisions
Competitive
Advantage
Ensuring
Values and
Legal
Behaviour
Compliance
Minimising
Dissatisfaction
and Turnover
8. How Performance Appraisal can Contribute to
Firm’s Competitive Advantage
Improving performance:
By directing employee towards organizational goals
By monitoring employee behaviour to ensure that the goals
are met
Making correct decisions:
Appraisal is a critical input in making decisions on pay rise,
promotion, transfer, training etc
Ensuring legal compliance:
Fair appraisal systems help minimise performance-related
litigation
9. How Performance Appraisal can Contribute to
Firm’s Competitive Advantage
Minimising dissatisfaction and turnover:
Fair and accurate appraisal results in high motivation and
increased job satisfaction
Consistency between organizational strategy and
behaviour:
Employees want to be rewarded and hence they engage in
behaviour that they perceive will be rewarded
Performance appraisal helps in judging this consistency
It helps in bringing to the fore any negative consequences
of the strategy-behaviour link
10. Organizational Strategy and
Performance Appraisal
Based on strategy, organizations can be grouped as
defenders, prospectors and analysers
Defender strategy:
Have a narrow and relatively stable product-market
domain
Primary attention is to improve the efficiency of existing
operation
Performance appraisal is used for identifying training
needs and may be more behaviour-oriented
11. Organizational Strategy and
Performance Appraisal
Prospector strategy:
These organizations continuously search for different
product and market opportunities
Emphasise on skills identification and acquisition of
human resources from external sources
Performance appraisal is used to identify staffing needs;
emphasis is on results
They focus on division and corporate performance
evaluation as they compare with other companies during
the same evaluation period
12. Organizational Strategy and
Performance Appraisal
Analyser strategy:
Operate in two types of product-market domains: one
is stable; other is changing
They watch their competitors closely and rapidly adopt
the ideas that appear promising
Both skill building and skill acquisition are emphasised;
training programmes are extensively employed
Both training and staffing needs are identified through
appraisals
Appraisal systems are considered at individual, group
and divisional levels
Examine current and past performance within the
organization
13. The Performance Appraisal
Process Objectives of
Performance Appraisal
Establish Job
Expectations
Design an Appraisal
Programme Feedback
Appraise Performance
Performance Interview
Performance
Management Archive Appraisal Data
Use Appraisal Data for
Appropriate Purposes
14. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Objectives of Appraisal
Individual approach: focus on correcting the problems
Effecting promotions and transfers, assessing training needs,
awarding pay increase, lay offs etc
Systems approach: focus on improving the performance
Appraisal system evaluates opportunity factors
Physical environment: noise, ventilation, lighting, available
resources-human and computer assistance
Social processes: leadership effectiveness
Emphasis is on how the work system affects an individual’s
performance
15. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Establish Job Expectations
Inform the employee what is expected of him
or her on the job
A discussion is held with the superior to
review the major duties contained in the job
description
Individuals should not be expected to begin
the job until they understand what is expected
of them
16. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Design Appraisal Programme
Formal vs. informal appraisal
Whose performance is to be assessed?
Who are the raters?
What problems are encountered?
How to solve the problems?
What should be evaluated?
When to evaluate?
What methods of appraisal are to be used?
17. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- Formal vs. informal
Formal Appraisals:
Occur at specified time periods
Required by the organization for the purpose of
employee evaluation
Most often used as primary evaluation
Informal Appraisals:
Occur whenever the supervisor feels the need for
communication
Discussions are held in private
Helpful for performance feedback
Should not replace formal appraisal
Both can be used in combination
18. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- Whose performance
should be rated?
Is it individuals or teams?
Ratee may be defined as the individual, work
group, division or organization
Ratee may be defined at multiple levels too
E.g. at the work group level for merit pay
increases and at the individual level for training
needs assessment
Group-level appraisals may be necessitated
by two conditions:
Group cohesiveness
Difficulty in identifying individual contributions
19. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- Who are the raters?
Immediate supervisor
Subordinates
Peers
Clients (internal or external)
Rating committee: consists of immediate supervisor
and few other supervisors who come in contact with
the employee
Beneficial when employee has to perform a variety of
tasks in different environments
Specific benefits:
Objectivity in rating as more than one rater is involved
Raters at different levels observe different facets of
performance
Disadvantage:
Diminishes the role of the immediate supervisor
20. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- Who are the raters?
3600 system of appraisal: superiors, peers, subordinates
and clients are involved
Developed at GE, US in 1992
Popular in India too: Reliance Industries, Wipro, Godrej
Soaps etc. use this system
Self appraisal: employee himself evaluates his
performance
Provides the employee with an opportunity to participate
in evaluation
Specifically so if combined with goal-setting (as in MBO)
Employees are less defensive
Best suited when executive development is the main
purpose: managers clearly assess their areas of
differences
May be more lenient, less viable, more biased and less in
agreement with the judgement of others
21. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- Who are the raters?
Two requisites that must be fulfilled by the
rater:
Must be free from bias
Must have an opportunity to observe the full
spectrum of activities and behaviour of the
ratee over an extended time period
22. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- What are the Problems of
Rating?
Leniency or severity: Either of these makes the
assessment subjective and defeats the purpose of
appraisal
Requiring the ratings to conform to a forced distribution
is one way to reduce this error
Central tendency: Employees are incorrectly rated
near the average or middle of the scale
The rater tries to play safe by doing this
Terms like ‘satisfactory’, ‘average’ etc. are used
Forced distribution can also create problems with
accuracy; especially when most employees are
performing above standard
23. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- What are the Problems of
Rating?
Halo error: One aspect of an individual’s
performance influences the evaluation of the
entire performance of the individual
Rating employees separately on each of a
number of performance measures and
encouraging raters to guard against the halo
effect help in reducing the halo effect
Rater effect: Favouritism, stereotyping and
hostility
Perceptual set: Rater’s assessment is
influenced by previously held beliefs
24. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- What are the Problems of
Rating?
Primacy and recency effects: Ratings are heavily
influenced by behaviour exhibited by the ratee
During the early stages of the review period (primacy)
Nearing the end of the review period (recency)
To avoid this error, the rater may be asked to consider
the composite performance of the ratee
Rater must also be aware of the tendency of ratees to
improve odds in their favour during the rating period
Status effect: Overrating of employees in higher-level
or higher-esteem jobs and underrating employees in
lower-level or lower-esteem jobs
25. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- What are the Problems of
Rating?
Performance dimension order: Two or more
dimensions on a performance instrument
follow or closely follow each other
Both may describe similar qualities
Rater rates the first one accurately and rates
the second similar to the first
Rating would differ if the dimensions had been
arranged in a different order
Spillover effect: allowing past ratings to
unjustifiably influence current ratings
Other Errors: Self study
26. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- Solving Rater’s Problems
Provide training to raters
This training should address real-life
problems like union influences
Video tapes are played and trainees are
asked to rate
Trainer gives the correct rating and illustrates
the rating errors made
Self Study: Factors that help improve
accuracy, Factors that may lower accuracy,
Abilities of right evaluators (Page 292-293)
28. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- What Should be Rated?
Objective measures: Quantifiable and highly useful in
performance measurement
Quality
Quantity
Timeliness
Cost effectiveness
Subjective criteria: Dependent upon human judgements; must
be based on careful analysis of behaviours viewed as
necessary for job performance
Need for supervision
Interpersonal impact
Community service – Employer Supported Volunteering
(ESV). Eg: Standard Chartered Bank, IBM, Mindtree,HSBC
Corporate Social Sustainability (CSS)
Potential appraisal -PHILIPS
29. The Performance Appraisal Process: Design
Appraisal Programme- When to Evaluate?
Can be carried out once in three months, six
months or a year
Frequent assessment may be better
Helps in giving timely feedback and remedial
measures
This helps the ratee to improve performance if
there is a deficiency
Performance of trainees and probationers
should be evaluated at the end of the
respective programmes
30. Methods of Performance Appraisal
MBO
Future-oriented
Cost Rating
Accounting Scales
Checklists
Essay
360 Degree Appraisal
Forced
Assessment Centres
ACRS Choice
Appraisal
Tests and
Methods
Forced
Observations Distribution
Critical
Field Review
Incident
BARS Past-oriented
Psychological
Appraisals
31. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Rating scales
Simplest and most popular technique
Consists of several numerical scales each
representing a job-related performance criterion
Dependability, initiative, output, attendance etc.
Each scale ranges from excellent to poor
Each criterion is rated and total numerical score is
calculated
Advantages: Adaptability, easy use, low cost
Disadvantages: Rater’s biases, numerical scoring
gives an illusion of precision that is really unfounded
32. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Checklist
Checklist of statements on the traits of the employee and his job
is prepared in two columns: “yes” and “no”
Each item is ticked off and the list is forwarded by the rater to the
HR department
Rater only does the reporting; actual evaluation is done by the
HR department
Points are assigned to each “yes” ticked and total score is
calculated based on this
When points are assigned it is called a weighed checklist
Advantages: economy, ease of administration, limited training of
rater, standardisation
Disadvantages: Rater’s bias, more use of personality than
performance criteria, misinterpretation of checklist items, use of
improper weights, relative ratings
33.
34. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Forced Choice Method
Rater is given a series of statements about
the employee
Rater is forced to select a statement which is
most or least descriptive of the employee
After selection by the rater, HR does the
actual assessment
Advantage: absence of personal bias
Disadvantage: statements may not be
properly framed
35. Please circle or highlight the response that best describes
your behaviour and least describes your behaviour
Works in accordance with organisational
policies and standards.
1.1. Personal appearance/grooming
Well groomed
Usually neat
Pays attention but untidy
Little attention
36. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Forced Distribution
Method
This method seeks to overcome the problem
of leniency
Rater is compelled to distribute the ratees on
all points on the rating scale
This method operates under the assumption
that the employee performance level
conforms to a normal statistical distribution
It assumes that employee performance levels
conform to a bell shaped curve- this is also
the main weakness of this method
37. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Forced Distribution
Method
In organizations that select and retain only the good
performers, this approach cannot be used
If used it will result in reduces employee morale
Error of central tendency: rater may resist placing an
employee in the lowest or the highest group
It is also difficult to convince the ratee as to why he
has been placed in a particular group
In small groups and in high ability groups, this
method is generally not acceptable to raters and
ratees
38. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Critical Incidents
Method
Focuses on certain critical behaviours of an employee
that make all the difference between effective and
non-effective performance of a job
These incidents are recorded by the superiors as and
when they occur
Advantages: Evaluation is based on actual job
behaviour
It has descriptions in support of ratings; giving
feedback is easy
Increases the chances that the subordinates will
improve as they learn more precisely what is
expected of them
39. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Critical Incidents
Method
Limitations:
Negative incidents are more noticeable than positive
ones
Recording of the incidents becomes a chore for the
supervisor; he may put it off and may even forget
Overly close supervision may result
Managers may unload a series of complaints about
incidents during an annual performance review session
Feedback may be too much at once and appear as a
punishment to the ratee
Management should use incidents of poor performance
as opportunities for immediate training and counselling
40. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Behaviourally Anchored
Past Oriented:
Rating Scales- BARS
Rating scales whose scale points are
determined by statements of effective and
ineffective behaviours
The scales represent a range of descriptive
statements of behaviour varying from the
least to the most effective
Rater must indicate which behaviour on each
scale best describes an employee’s
performance
41.
42. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Behaviourally Anchored
Past Oriented:
Rating Scales- BARS
Features:
Areas of performance to be evaluated are identified
and defined by the people who will use the scales
The scales are anchored by descriptions of actual job
behaviour that represent specific levels of
performance
Supervisors agree upon these
Dimensions and anchors are precisely defined
All dimensions of performance to be evaluated are
based on observable behaviour and are relevant to
the job; BARS are tailor-made to the job
Raters who use the scale are actively involved in the
development process and hence they will be
committed to the final product
43. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Field Review Method
Someone outside the assessee’s own department-
someone from corporate office or HR- does the
appraisal
The outsider reviews employee records and holds
interviews with the ratee and his superior
This method is primarily used for making promotional
decisions at managerial levels
This method is useful when comparable information is
needed from employees in different locations
Disadvantages:
Outsiders may not usually be familiar with conditions in
work environment
No opportunity to observe employee behaviour or
performance over a period of time
44. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Field Review Method
Raters making field reviews generally receive
training on how to conduct the interview and
develop their writing skills
They will be less biased in spite of biased
information from supervisors
The rater may be able to pinpoint areas
requiring training and development
assistance
45. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Performance Tests and
Observations
This applies to limited number of jobs
Tests may be of the paper-and-pencil variety or an
actual demonstration of skills
Test must be reliable and validated
Such tests are apt to measure potential more than
actual performance
For the test to be job related, observations should be
made under circumstances likely to be encountered
Cost of test development and administration should
not be too high
46. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Confidential Records
Confidential Record typically has 14 items:
Attendance
Self expression-written or oral
Ability to work with others
Leadership
Initiative
Technical ability (job knowledge)
Ability to understand new material
Ability to reason
Originality and resourcefulness
Areas of work that suit the person best
Judgement
Integrity
Responsibility
Indebtedness and memo served
47. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Confidential Records
Twelve of these are filled on a four-point
scale: excellent, good, fair and poor
Justification is required for good or poor
rating
Overall rating on a five-point scale may be
separately given: Outstanding, Very Good,
Good, Average, Poor
Justification is required for this too
48. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Essay Method
Rater must describe the employee within a number of
broad categories such as:
Rater’s overall impression of the employee’s
performance
The promotability of the employee
The jobs that the employee is now able or qualified to
perform
Training and development assistance required by the
employee
May be used independently or in combination with
other methods
Extremely useful in filling information gaps about
employees that often occur in the better structured
checklist method
49. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Essay Method
Strength of this method depends on the
writing skills and analytical ability of the rater
Many raters do not have good writing skills-
they become confused as to what to write
Time consuming method and depends on the
memory power of the rater
A ‘high quality’ appraisal in this method may
provide little useful information about the
performance of the ratee
50. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Cost Accounting Method
Evaluates performance from the monetary
returns the employee yields to his or her
company
A relationship is established between the cost
included in keeping the employee and the
benefit the firm derives from him or her
Performance is evaluated based on the
established relationship between the cost and
benefit
51. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Comparative Evaluation
Approaches
A collection of different methods that
compare one worker’s performance with that
of his co-workers
Usually conducted by supervisors
Can result in a ranking from best to worst
Useful in deciding merit-pay increases,
promotions and rewards
There are two methods under this:
Ranking method
Paired-comparison method
52. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Comparative Evaluation
Approaches- Ranking Method
Superior ranks his subordinates in the order of merit-
from the best to worst
The HR department only knows that A is better than
B- the ‘how’ and ‘why’ are not questioned or
answered
There is no fractionalisation into component elements
Subject to halo and recency effects
Rankings by two or more raters may be averaged to
reduce biases
Ease of administration and explanation are the
advantages
53. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Past Oriented: Comparative Evaluation
Approaches- Paired Comparison Method
Appraiser compares each employee with every other
employee, one at a time
The number of comparisons is calculated with the
help of a formula: N(N-1)
2
N stands for the number of employees to be
compared
E.g. if there are 10 employees, the number of
comparisons will be 45
The result is then tabulated and a rank is created
from the number of time each person is considered to
be superior
54. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented Appraisals
It is not sufficient to assess the past
performance alone
How an employee can perform in the days to
come is equally important
For this one must focus on employee
potential or setting future performance goals
55. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: Management by Objectives
Concept proposed by Peter Drucker in 1954
This management philosophy values and utilises
employee contribution
How MBO works:
First the goals each subordinate is to attain are
established
It could be done by superiors alone or in consultation
with the subordinates
These goals can then be used to evaluate performance
Next, performance standards for a particular time
period are set
As they perform, the subordinates know fairly well what
there is to do, what has been done and what remains
to be done
56. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: Management by Objectives
How MBO works: (contd.)
In the third step, the actual level of goal attainment is
compared with the goals agreed upon
Evaluator explores reasons for the goals not met and
for the goals that were exceeded
Possible training needs can be assessed in this step
The superior may also be alerted to conditions in the
organization that affect a subordinate but over which
he has no control
Final step involves establishing new goals and new
strategies for those not attained previously
Subordinates who successfully reach the previously
established goals may be allowed to participate more
in the new goal-setting process
57. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: Management by Objectives
Criticisms:
It is not applicable to all jobs: those jobs with little
flexibility are not compatible with MBO
Can be used only for managerial personnel and
employees who have a fairly wide range of flexibility
and self-control
When linked to rewards, employees may try to set
easily accomplishable goals than challenging ones
May lead to setting up of goals with short term
horizons to the disadvantage of long term goals
58. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: Psychological Appraisals
Large organizations employ full-time industrial
psychologists
They are used for evaluations to assess future
potential of employees
Appraisal consists of in-depth interviews,
psychological tests, discussions with supervisors and
a review of other evaluations
Psychologist then writes an evaluation of the
employee’s intellectual, emotional, motivational and
other-related characteristics that suggest potential
and may predict future performance
The evaluation may be for a particular job opening, or
a global assessment
59. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: Assessment Centres
Mainly used for executive hiring
Now utilised for evaluating executive or supervisory
potential
Assessees are required to participate in exercises,
activities etc which require the same attributes for
performance as in the actual job
After recording the ratee behaviours, raters meet to
discuss these observations
Decision regarding the performance of each
assessee is based upon this discussion
Self-appraisal and peer evaluation are also used for
final rating
60. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: Assessment Centres
In spite of having trained observers and
psychologists, measuring these over a few days’ span
is difficult
Very costly approach
Raters may be influenced by the personality of the
candidate; they may evaluate the individual’s social
skills rather than quality of decisions
Involves hazards: Good job performers may feel
suffocated in the simulated environment
61. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: 3600 Feedback
Multiple raters are involved in evaluation
It is a systematic collection of performance data on
an individual or a group derived from a number of
stakeholders- immediate supervisors, team
members, customers, peers and self
Provides a broader perspective about an employee’s
performance
Facilitates greater self-development through multi-
source feedback
Perceptions that the employee holds about himself
can be compared with those held by the others
Makes the employee feel accountable to his internal
or external customers
62. Methods of Performance Appraisal
Future-Oriented: 3600 Feedback
Technique is helpful in assessing soft skills
Helps in identifying and measuring interpersonal
skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills
Receiving feedback from multiple sources can be
intimidating; so the organizations must create a non-
threatening environment by emphasising the
positives
Selection of rater, designing questionnaires and data
analysis can be time consuming
Getting a balanced objective feedback from multiple
raters is difficult
Separating honest observations from personal
differences and biases could be difficult for raters
Failure in India” Collectivism and Power distance
63. The Performance Appraisal
Process: Performance Management
Performance appraisal provides feedback
about employee job performance
Performance management consists of three
steps that are needed to complete the
process:
Performance interview
Archiving performance data
Use of appraisal data
Ref: Table 10.6: Appraisal and Management
64. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Performance Management- Performance
Interview
Once the appraisal has been made, the raters have
to discuss and review the performance with the
ratees
The main aim is giving feedback on where they stand
Goals of performance interview:
To change behaviour of employees whose
performance does not meet organizational
requirements or their own personal goals
To maintain the behaviour of employees who perform
in an acceptable manner
To recognise superior performance behaviours so that
they will be continued
65. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Performance Management- Performance
Interview
Tell and sell/Directive Interview:
Interviewer lets the assessee know how well
he is doing and sells him on the merits of
setting specific goals for improvement, if
needed
Tell and listen Interview:
Provides the subordinates with chances to
participate and establish a dialogue with their
superiors
Purpose: communicate the rater’s perception
about ratee’s strengths and weaknesses and
let the subordinates respond to these
66. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Performance Management- Performance
Interview
Problem solving/Participative Interview:
An active and open dialogue is established between
superior and subordinate
Perceptions are shared, solutions to problems are
presented, discussed and sought
Mixed Interview:
Combination of tell and sell and problem solving
interviews
Whatever be the approach, the aim should be
counselling and development and not criticism, witch-
hunting and buck passing
Ref. Table 6.7: Guidelines for effective appraisal
interview
67. How to conduct an interview:
There are four things to keep in mind.
• Be direct and specific. Talk in terms of objective
work data and concrete examples.
• Don’t get personal. Do not directly attack the
person or compare directly.
• Encourage the person to talk. Stop and listen to
the person. Give him a fair chance to justify his
points.
• Develop an action plan. Make sure that by the
end of the day, the person knows his merits and
demerits and is willing to rectify.
68. Communication Skills for the
Appraisal Interview
Skills Benefit Description Example
Nonverbal Suggests interest Rater sits with a slight While the ratee is
Attending and active listening. forward, comfortable speaking, the rater
lean of the upper body, looks at the person
maintains eye contact, and gently nods head
and speaks in a steady to signal interest.
and soothing voice.
Open and Appropriate use of —Open questions — Open questions
Closed open and closed encourage information start with words like
Questions questions can sharing and are most “Could,” “Would,”
ensure an effective appropriate early in an “How,” “What,” or
flow of interview or in complex, “Why”.
communication ambiguous situations.
during an interview.
—Closed question — Closed questions
evoke short responses start with words like
and are useful for “Did,” “Is,” or “Are.”
focusing and clarifying.
69. Communication Skills for the
Appraisal Interview (Cont.)
Skills Benefit Description Example
Paraphrasing Paraphrasing can clarify A paraphrase is a You might begin by
and convey to the ratee concise statement in saying “If I have this
that you are listening your own words of what right…” or “What
actively. someone has just said. you’re saying is…” and
It should be factual and end with “Is that
nonjudgmental. correct?” or “That’s
what you are saying?”
Reflection of Shows that you are Similar to paraphrase, a Start by saying
Feeling trying to understand the reflection of feeling is a something like “It
emotional aspect of the factual statement of the sounds like you’re
workplace. The empathy emotions you sense the feeling…” End as you
and sensitivity of such other person is feeling. would a paraphrase
reflection can open up Be cautious about using (“Is that right?”).
communication and this technique
allow the interview to insincerely or with those
move more who need professional
meaningfully to task- help.
related issues.
70. Communication Skills for the
Appraisal Interview (Cont.)
Skills Benefit Description Example
Cultural Communication is more Pay attention to cultural When dealing with
Sensitivity effective when you are differences that may employees from a
sensitive to the possible influence how another culture that is highly
influence of cultural person communicates formal, avoid
differences. and how you might addressing them in the
communicate with workplace by their first
others. names. Doing so may
signal disrespect.
71. How to Determine and Remedy
Performance Shortfalls
Cause Questions to Ask Possible Remedies
Ability• Has the employee ever been • Train
able to perform adequately? • Transfer
• Can others perform the job • Redesign job
adequately, but not this employee? • Terminate
Effort • Is the employee performance • Clarify linkage between
level declining? performance and rewards
• Is performance lower on all • Recognize good
tasks? performance
•
Situation Is performance erratic? • Streamline work process
• Are performance problems • Clarify needs to suppliers
showing up in all employees • Change suppliers
even those who have adequate • Eliminate conflicting
supplies and equipment? signals or demands
• Provide adequate tools
72. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Performance Management- Archiving
Performance Data
Refers to storing the appraisal data
This facilitates future use
These details are very important when
employees raise issues regarding their
promotions, pay hikes, confirmation,
affirmative action etc.
73. The Performance Appraisal Process:
Performance Management- Use of
Appraisal Data
Remuneration administration
Validation of selection programmes
Employee training and development
programmes
Promotion, transfer and lay-off decisions
Grievance and discipline programmes
HR Planning
(Read: Edward Deming on Performance
Appraisal)