Performance Appraisal Discussion
Abstract
In modern business environment, a proper human resource management can become one of the key sources of company’s competitive advantage. To ensure the compliance of employees’ performance with the company’s objective, management should perform regular performance appraisal. To achieve the most reliable and consistent results, the company should take care about the key component of a successful appraisal process and ensure the fairness of the obtained evaluation information. If conducted properly, performance appraisal can increase company’s productivity and make it more competitive.
Nowadays human resource management in a company aims not only at hiring professional employees but also at supporting their engagement and expertise to ensure the optimal level of company’s performance. To control the quality of work and to gain a profound understanding of the necessary future improvements, human resource management should evaluate the employees’ performance. The approach of performance appraisal implies annual performance evaluation session when the company provides an employee a feedback on and the assessment of his/her working processes and outcomes.
The Importance of Performance Appraisals
Recurrent performance evaluation has benefits both for the company and for an employee. Performance appraisals are key to the creation of the company’s competitive advantage through proper human resource management. A proper performance appraisal provides the grounds for making decisions in regard to the staff promotion or termination, training, bonuses, etc. Such decisions allow the management to increase company’s productivity and achieve better performance. Moreover, performance appraisal facilitates efficient communication and interaction between a company and an employee (Abdelhadi, Jamal, & Leclerc, 2015). Thus, from the perspective of an employee, it allows to can receive the feedback on his/her work and identify areas for future development. Moreover, by the means of performance appraisal an employee can assess his/her career path, professional growth rates, gaps in his/her competencies and discuss opportunities to enhance the employee’s performance. Proper performance appraisal can increase employee’s motivation, loyalty and engagement (Abdelhadi, Jamal, & Leclerc, 2015). In addition, by discussing the results of performance appraisal, a company and an employee can eliminate a possible mismatch between an employee’s view on his/her responsibilities and company’s expectations towards the expected outcomes. Moreover, by involving employees into the process of performance appraisal a company can foster the development of the common vision of the company’s objectives and thus increase productivity (Abdelhadi, Jamal, & Leclerc, 2015).
Performance Appraisal Components
According to Longenecker and Fink (1999), a proper performance appraisal system comprises of three key components: systems design, managerial practice, and appraisal system support (Longenecker & Fink, 1999). By the “system design” the authors imply that a company should have and communicate to its employees a clear appraisal goal and objectives. Setting clear goals provides two major benefits for a company: firstly, it allows applying SMART assessment criteria which are aligned with the company’s objectives; secondly, it fosters employees’ engagement into the appraisal process because they understand its purpose (Cintrón & Flaniken, 2011). Moreover, the authors state that employees should …
