1. Performance Appraisal Study Unit 7

2. INTRODUCTION Appraisal done individually or as work team:
Individually appraisal:
Single employee’s performance
Measure against pre-determined standards
Team appraisal
More complex due to multidimensional nature of teams
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3. … INTRODUCTION Informal Appraisals:
Observation, memory, hearsay, intuition, private networks
Social context & org politics influence appraisal
Formal Appraisals:
Rational, more accurate, fair & useful to all
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4. … INTRODUCTION Difference between performance and effectiveness:
What the worker actually does
Can be observed
Includes those actions that are relevant to the organisation’s goals, and
Can be measured in terms of each individual’s proficiency (level of contribution)
Effectiveness:
The evaluation of the results of performance
Is “beyond” the influence or control of the individual (E.g. the number of promotions an individual (has) received over the past three years)
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5. … INTRODUCTION
Appraisals of employees should be based on performance (rather than effectiveness)
Def of Performance Appraisal:
The evaluation of an individual’s work performance in order to arrive at objective personnel decisions.
THUS: Does not appraise the employee…rather the performance
Using personal judgments (subjective) involves interpretation/discernment of the situation
Almost always part of appraisal process!!
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6. … INTRODUCTION Appraisals can help the org:
Enhances the quality of organisational decisions, ranging from pay raises to promotions to discharges
The quality of individual decisions, ranging from career choices to the development of future strengths, can be enhanced
It can affect the employee’s views of and attachment to his/her organisation
It provides a rational, legally defensible basis for personnel decisions
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7. … INTRODUCTION Employer reasons for appraisal:
Individual differences in performance makes a difference
Documentation & feedback on appraisal needed for legal defence
Provides a rational basis for constructing a bonus/merit system
Operationalise strategic goals & clarify performance expectations
Can include teamwork & can appraise teams
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8. … INTRODUCTION Employee reasons for appraisal:
Performance feedback is needed & desired
Performance improvement necessitates assessment
Fairness = differences in performance can be measured and has an impact on the outcomes
Assessment & recognition motivates improved performance
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9. USING RESULTS OF APPRAISAL
Development of appraisal info & its applicants:
Job Analysis
Criterion Development
Performance Appraisal
Personnel Training
Wage & Salary Admin
Placements
Promotions
Discharge
Personnel Research
Applications of Performance Appraisal
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10. … USING RESULTS OF APPRAISAL
Using the results of performance appraisal:
1. Personnel training (performance appraisal provides feedback)
2. Wage and salary administration (performance appraisal used to determine pay rises)
3. Placement
4. Promotions (based on how well the individual is performing in his/her job)
5. Discharge (based on just cause (= inadequate performance))
6. Personnel research
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11. APRAISAL & THE LAW
Schedule 7 of the Labour Relations Act: unfair labour practices
Malos:
Discrimination is frequently related to the assessment of employee’s job performance
Content of performance appraisals is NB → Criteria of legally sound job performance appraisal:
Objective (rather than subjective)
Job-related or based on job-analysis
Based on behaviours (rather than traits)
Within ratee’s control
Related to specific functions (rather than global assessments)
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12. APRAISAL & THE LAW ... Malos:
Procedural recommendations for legally sound appraisals:
Standardised & uniform for all
Formally communicated to employee
Provide notice of performance deficiencies & opportunities to correct them
Access for employee to review appraisal results
Formal appeal mechanisms
Multiple, diverse & unbiased raters
Thorough documentation
Detect potential discrimination
Subjective & untrained raters becoming more popular → used WITH objective & trained raters & criteria

13. THEORY OF PERSON PERCEPTION
How you appraise = how you perceive a person
Aka Social Cognition or Attribution Theory of Person Perception
London:
Fixed in views of the “way things should be”
These views filters information about others (ignore info that does not fit our initial view)
Framework of Person Perception (Klimoski & Donahue):
Consequences for perception of target
Consequences for perceiver
Target
Perceiver
Content
Info processing
Motivation/Affective
Interpersonal/Social

14. SOURCES OF APPRAISAL INFO
Objective production data:
Example; Sales personnel, counting the number of items sold per day
Personnel data:
Absenteeism, turnover and accidents
3. Judgmental data:
Commonly used usually by supervisors.
Different types: graphic rating scale, behavioural scales

15. RATING ERRORS Halo Based on rater’s feelings about employees 2 Types:
Valid - Failure to differentiate performance across different dimensions
Invalid - Uniformly consistent ratings when ratings ARE justified
Leniency
“Hard graders” (lower than true performance) – Severity leniency VS
“Easy graders” (higher than true performance) – Positive leniency
Central Tendency
Unwilling to assign extreme high/low ratings
Everyone is average

16. RATER TRAINING
Research results indicate that training improves evaluators’ ability to judge.
Certain evaluator errors (halo, leniency and central tendency) can be reduced, but training success depends much on the purposes for which performance appraisal ratings are made
Frame-of-Reference Training:
Provide raters with common reference standards by which to evaluate performance
Shown examples of good, poor & average performance
Increases accuracy of ratings

17. RATER MOTIVATION Reasons for not being motivated are:
No rewards from the organisation for accurate appraisals and few, if any, sanctions for inaccurate appraisals.
Motivated to obtain valued rewards for their subordinates, such as promotions and salary increases.
Raters are motivated to give inflated ratings because the ratings received by subordinates are a reflection of the rater’s (own) job performance.
They tend to inflate their ratings because they wish to avoid the negative reactions that accompany low ratings.

18. CONTEXTUAL PERFORMANCE
Organisational citizenship / Extra-Role perfromance
Examples:
Persist with enthusiasm & extra effort
Volunteer for activities not related to own job description
Helping & cooperating with others
Endorsing, supporting & defending org objectives
Appraisals should include contextual factors also
Need to assess employees’ contributions to org welfare

19. SELF- & PEER APPRAISAL Self-Assessments: Appraise own performance
Mostly have higher opinions about own performance than others
Less positive leniency when used to getting frequent feedback from supervisors
Fewer halo errors present – recognise own strengths & weaknesses
Of greater value when used for development (rather than administrative purposes)

20. SELF- & PEER APPRAISAL Peer Assessments: Appraise your fellows
3 Techniques:
Peer nomination – Nominate those group members high on specific dimension
Peer ratings – Each member rates all others according to a set of performance dimensions
Peer ranking – Ranks others from best to worst on all dimensions
Usually high degree of inter-rater reliability

21. SELF- & PEER APPRAISAL 360-Degree Feedback:
Using multiple assessors - Co-workers, superiors & subordinates
Usually based on 2 key assumptions:
Possible discrepancy between views about yourself and how others perceive you
Enhanced self-awareness is key to max performance
Supervisor
Peers
Peers
SELF
Subordinates

22. APPRAISAL FEEDBACK
The feedback interview typically has two main objectives:
To review major job responsibilities and to gauge how well the employees has met them.
For future planning, or to identify goals which the employee will try to meet before the next review (both employee and supervisor should be involved)
2 Factors influencing feedback:
Credibility – Can my supervisor legitimately evaluate performance?
Power – Can my supervisor control valued rewards?
Feedback has two properties:
Information - Feedback can tell the employee how to perform better
Motivation - Increases his/her desire to perform well

23. … APPRAISAL FEEDBACK How can performance appraisal be
conducted in a more “humane” way? (20)
1. Preparation
2. Evaluation of own performance by the employee (see CD)
3. Introductory discussion (warm up)
4. Study the job description
5. Gathering of information from the employee
6. Establish goals
7. Evaluate performance; not other personal characteristics
8. Effective listening skills.
9. Build on the person’s strengths
10. Provide continual feedback

24. QUESTIONS???