What are the two sides of appraisal?
- Evaluative / Judgemental
- Developmental
What is an evaluative/judgemental appraisal?
- Often in the form of the annual performance review with a familiar model of grading: A through F, a quartile, a ranking of 1 to 5. It allows for comparisons, and it is usually related to pay, rewards and promotion.
- Making a judgement about the employee which follows from historical analysis of the performance against objectives
- Some organizations include other evaluations to create what they call 360-degree feedback in which the sales rep gets feedback from people over, under, and next to him or her as well as from clients.
- The primary goal of the performance review where evaluative feedback is given is to make sure the person being evaluated clearly understands (not necessarily agrees with) what the grade/rating/picture is.
What is a developmental appraisal?
- It looks forward to what “we” (coach and person being coached) can do to improve and create a better picture for the future.
- Answers the questions, “What can we do better to meet/exceed plan?” or “How can we fix …?”
- These developmental questions are not asked only once or twice a year, but daily. The time for developmental feedback is always — in a coaching session or in a corridor.
- Development happens with developmental coaching. Moreover, empowerment happens with developmental coaching, not evaluative. Developmental feedback empowers because it helps people identify obstacles they face and reinforces their role in removing the obstacles each day. Developmental coaching helps people live and thrive in a Stretch Zone.
The balance between evaluative and developmental feedback
The evaluative session and the developmental session are different, it is important to separate them. However, the two are clearly linked.
- The evaluation (grades) should be used as a platform for development: The grade is X and the action plan is Y. The grade is the evaluative piece, and the action plan is the developmental one.
- Performance review feedback can be emotionally charged because it often is tied to pay and involves assessment. People often get disappointed or upset during a “negative” performance review and are relieved or elated during a positive one. Neither range of emotions is helpful to a developmental session. Since evaluation feedback can overwhelm the developmental part, it is better to separate the two kinds of feedback into different sessions. However, if a person is open to it, the evaluative feedback session can end with a bridge to a developmental session right there and then or, if not, with a plan for a developmental meeting a few days later.
- Without ongoing developmental coaching, performance reviews are traumatic — filled with surprises, disagreements, and/or bad feelings. Developmental feedback can change this. Because it is ongoing, the developmental approach takes the sting, anguish, aggravation, and, most importantly, the surprise out of a performance evaluation by making it a summary of what has been communicated all along. Most importantly, developmental coaching sessions make the evaluative feedback more positive.
Whats is employee self-appraisal?
Employee self-appraisal, within a performance management or annual performance review system involves asking the employee to self-evaluate his or her job performance.
Typically, prior to meeting with an employee, the manager will ask the employee to complete an evaluation form on his or her own, to be used as a basis for discussion during the annual performance review meeting. Then at the meeting, the manager and employee discuss the self-appraisal results, and negotiate final evaluations based on both the manager’s perceptions and those of the employee.
It’s rare that self-appraisal or self evaluation results are used without discussion and negotiation and they should not be.
Actual self evaluations as part of performance management can take the form of evaluating progress towards pre-defined annual objectives and performance standards, involve the employee in rating him or her self using the same rating form the manager uses, or even involve self-ranking.
What are the positive aspects of self-appraisal?
- Employee involvement
- Tool to find out whether people know themselves (self-awareness) and learn
- More satisfaction with appraisal
- Catalyst for discussion (more opportunities for corrections)
- More likely to accept criticism
- Basis for discussion and action which can improve the quality of the appraisal discussion because individuals feel actively involved in the process
- Encourages them to work through the points identified above in advance.
What are the negative aspects of self appraisal?
- Leniency (clemency) error, bias and poor validity. Validity is higher when person is told that it will be validated against others’ opinions
- Potential for conflict and disagreement
- Increased expectations
What are the different sources of feedback?
- Self-appraisal (180°) - less judgmental feedback
- Downward (90°) and upward feedback - works in particular type of organisations and cultures
- Peer feedback – ‘paradox of roles’
- 360-degree feedback – individual receiving feedback from anyone he/she comes to contact in organisation
- 540-degree feedback process goes beyond organization and includes customers/clients and suppliers
What is the competency approach ?
- A broad concept that encompass demonstrable performance outputs as well as behaviour inputs:
– A mix of behaviour, attitudes and actions
– Behaviours (and, where appropriate, technical attributes) that individuals must have, or must acquire, to perform effectively at work
– Personal attributes and inputs of the individual
Examples: communication skills, people management, team skills, customer service skills, results-orientation, problem-solving, leadership
What are the strengths of the competency approach?
- Employees have a well-defined set of behaviours required in their work and are clear about how they are expected to perform their jobs.
- The appraisal and recruitment systems are fairer and more open.
- Recruiters are able to assess transferable skills and identify required behaviours regardless of career background.
- Processes are measurable and standardised across organisational and geographical boundaries.
Weaknesses of competency-based approach:
- Poorly-developed
- Difficult to understand
- Complex to implement
- Focus on the past and therefore cannot keep up to date with rapidly-changing environments
- Create clones, as everyone is expected to behave in the same way
- Fail to deliver on anticipated improvements in performance
- Are not user-friendly
What is BARS ?
Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales.
It was developed by Smith and Kendall to provide a better method of rating employees. It differs from “standard” rating scales in one central respect, in that it focuses on behaviors that are determined to be important for completing a job task or doing the job properly, rather than looking at more general employee characteristics (e.g. personality, vague work habits).
So, rather than having a rating item that says: Answers phone promptly and courteously, a BARS approach may break down that task into behaviors: For example:
- Answers phone within five rings.
- Greets caller with “Hello, This is the Dinkle Company, how may I help you?”
Notice how the BARS items are describe the important BEHAVIORS. Once those behaviors are identified for a particularly job, or employee, the items can be used to base a numerical or performance label on, let’s say a five point, or seven point scale, from innefective to effective.
Facilitates a fairly objective rating of behaviour
What are the positive aspects of BARS?
- Behaviorally based. The BARS system is totally focused on employee performance. Ideally, it removes all uncertainty regarding the meaning of each numerical rating.
- Easy to use. The clear behavioral indicators make the process easier for the manager to carry out and the employee to accept.
- Equitable. With its heavy emphasis on behavior, the evaluation process comes across as fair.
- Fully individualized. From the standpoint of consistency within a company, BARS is designed and applied individually and uniquely for every position.
- Action-oriented. With an understanding of the specific performance expectations and standards of excellence, employees can much more easily take steps to improve their performance, and they’re more likely to do so as a result.
What are the negative aspects of BARS?
- The process of creating and implementing BARS is time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. Each BARS form must be created from scratch for every position in the company.
- Sometimes the listed behaviors still don’t include certain actions required of the employee, so managers can have difficulty as signing a rating.
- High maintenance. Jobs change over time, which means that BARS requires a high degree of monitoring and maintenance.
- Demanding of managers. In order to successfully conduct BARS evaluations, managers need detailed information regarding the actions of their employees. Gathering such data can be quite time-consuming, and many managers end up letting this slide.
What is MBO?
Management By Objectives
(Also known as management by results (MBR))
Results-driven process that aims to define objectives within an organisation so that behaviours can be aligned with the achievement of these objectives.
The theory underlying MBO is that people are more motivated and productive when they clearly understand their roles and responsibilities.
MBO is a collaborative approach as both managers and employees are given objectives through collective discussion, and both have their behaviour and actions judged against the set objectives. Meeting objectives is often incentivised, often through incentive pay or indirect compensation.
What are the positive aspects of MBO?
- Superior communication due to a common understanding of objectives,
- Improve employee motivation
- Increased managerial ability to link employee actions with the overall goals of the organisation.
What are the negative aspects of MBO?
- Short-sightedness, where the company’s resources are mobilised solely towards achieving goals, to the expense of other needs.
- Overemphasises results and can stifle leadership, because managers are focused on reaching goals.
What is the 360 degrees-feedback?
Feedback from anyone coming into contact with the employee within the organization (peers, subordinates, superiors…)
Subordinates feedback
An upward-appraisal process or feedback survey is among the most significant and yet controversial features of a “full circle” performance evaluation program.
Both managers being appraised and their own superiors agree that subordinates have a unique, often essential, perspective. The subordinate ratings provide particularly valuable data on performance elements concerning managerial and supervisory behaviours.
However, there is usually great reluctance, even fear, concerning implementation of this rating dimension. On balance, the contributions can outweigh the concerns if the precautions are addressed.
What are the advantages of subordinates feedback?
- Frequent contact; see different behaviours than supervisors and peers
- Assess interpersonal skills (i.e. leadership, communication, delegation) more fairly than task oriented behaviours
- Give supervisors a more comprehensive picture of employee issues and needs
- Employees feel they have a greater voice in organizational decisionmaking and, in fact, they do.
- Combining subordinate ratings, like peer ratings, can provide the advantage of creating a composite appraisal from the averaged ratings of several subordinates. This averaging adds validity and reliability to the feedback because the aberrant ratings get averaged out and/or the high and low ratings are dropped from the summary calculations.
What are the disadvantages/precautions to address of subordinates feedback?
- Fear of retaliation from manager
- Should have ‘Cannot rate’ option
- Should be anonymous (or subordinates will not participate or give gratuitous/dishonest reviews)
- If less than 4 subordinates, the ratings (even though they are averaged) should not be
given to the supervisor
- Managerial authority is undermined
- High level, longer-tenured managers are not open to subordinate feedback
- They can feel threatened
- Managers focus too much on pleasing subordinates
- Only subordinates with a sufficient length of assignment under the manager (at least 1 year is the most common standard) should be included in the pool of assessors. Subordinates currently involved in a disciplinary action or a formal performance improvement period should be excluded from the rating group
- Managers can argue that subordinates have no idea of the extent of difficulty of their job
Advantages of peer feedback:
- More stable and reliable than other types of ratings
- Peer ratings have proven to be excellent predictors of future performance. Therefore, they are particularly useful as input for employee development
- Peer influence through peer approval and peer pressure is often more effective than the traditional emphasis to please the boss. Employees report resentment when they believe that their extra efforts are required to “make the boss look good” as opposed to meeting the unit’s goals
- The increased use of self-directed teams makes the contribution of peer evaluations the central input to the formal appraisal because by definition the supervisor is not directly involved in the day-to-day activities of the team.
- The addition of peer feedback can help move the supervisor into a coaching role rather than a purely judging role
Disadvantages of peer feedback:
- Fear of retaliation
- Create tension among peers: competition, rather than cooperation
- Role conflict: judge versus friend!
- It is essential that the peer evaluators be very familiar with the team member’s tasks and responsibilities. In cross-functional teams, this knowledge requirement may be a problem. In these situations, the greatest contribution the peers can make pertains to the behaviors and effort (input) the employee invests in the team process
- The use of peer evaluations can be very time consuming. When used in performance ratings, the data would have to be collected several times a year in order to include the results in progress
reviews.
What are the best practices for 360° feedback?
Private, confidential and anonymous!
- Raters co-operate better if results are used only for development but not for compensation /promotion
- Attempts to train raters reduce bias but decrease overall accuracy of ratings
- When ratings are anonymous ratings go down
- When ratings are shared scores go up
- Fear of retribution
- Ratings coalitions
