Legal Implications Employers must prepare for more discrimination lawsuits and jury trials related to performance appraisals Unlikely that any appraisal system will be immune to legal challenge © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Courts Normally Require Either absence of adverse impact on members of protected classes or validation of process. System that prevents one manager from directing or controlling a subordinate’s career. Appraisal should be reviewed and approved by someone or some group in organization. Rater, or raters, must have personal knowledge of employee’s job performance. Must use predetermined criteria that limits manager’s discretion. © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Appraisal Interview Achilles’ heel of entire evaluation process Scheduling interview Interview structure Use of praise and criticism Employees’ role Use of software Concluding interview © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Interview Structure Discuss employee’s performance Assist employee in setting goals and personal development plans for next appraisal period Suggesting means for achieving established goals, including support from manager and firm © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Conducting Separate Interviews Merit in conducting separate interviews for discussing (1) employee performance and development and (2) pay When topic of pay emerges in interview, it tends to dominate conversation with performance improvement taking a back seat © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Use of Praise and Criticism Praise is appropriate when warranted Criticism, even if warranted, is especially difficult to give “Constructive” criticism is often not perceived that way © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Employees’ Role Should go through diary or files and make notes of every project worked on, regardless of whether they were successful or not Information should be on appraising manager’s desk well before review © 2008 by Prentice Hall

Concluding the Interview Ideally, employees will leave interview with positive feelings about management, company, job, and themselves Cannot change past behavior, future performance is another matter Should end with specific and mutually agreed upon plans for employee’s development © 2008 by Prentice Hall

A Global Perspective: Two Cultures’ View of Performance Appraisal Special problems when translated into different cultural environments Chinese companies tend to focus appraisals on different criteria Place great emphasis upon moral characteristics May tolerate less than optimal performance because maintaining family control is so important © 2008 by Prentice Hall

© 2008 by Prentice Hall