I "Performonce appraisal is on organizationd system comprising deliberate processes for determining staff accomplishments to imptove staff effectiveness".

INTRODUCTION

Tbo bbtory of paf- sppreisal b.quitt brief. Its roots m the early twentieth

ccn~ury cm be traced ta Taylor's pioneering Time aud Uotion etudiea. But this is not

vay bclpful, for the same may be said about almost wayhhg in the fieid of nsadan

human resoutcea managaneat As a distinct and fonnal m a n a g m pFoeedure usad in

the evaluation of worL pafbrmmce, a p p i d appraisal dat#r the time of the Sacond World

War - not more than 60 ymnr ago. Yet in a broader s e w , the practice of appraisal is a

very aacicnt at fo the scale of things historical, it might well Say claim to being the

world's sexmd oldest profession'.

Appaisai, it seems, is both inevitable and universat. In the absence of a atefully

st~cturod system of appraisal, pbople will tend to judge the work performance of others,

including subordinates, naturally, informally and arbitrarily. The human inclination to

judge can create serious motiv~ional, ethical and legal problems in the workplace.

Without a structured appraisal system, there is little chance of ensuring that the

judgemends made will be lawful, fair, defeasible and accumte. Peatiormaocc appraid

systems began as simple methods of income justification. That iq appr;usai was used &

decide whether or not the galary or wage of an individual employee was justitid

C)vu the past three decades, pcrfom~ance appraisal has bean one of the m a t

heavily researrhed topic areas in the fields of Industrial-Orgmkational+ Psychology and

Human Resource Management The interat in perfo~ance appraisal is understandaMe

in as much as wgmhtions appraise employee pafmnance for a variety of purposes. For

instance, pcrfomsace appraisals are used for pmonnel decisions (eg.. pmmtions, pay

increases, identiCying employees for remedial hainin& etc.), employee fixdback and

development sad personnel research (eg., selection test validation studies). Hical ly ,

performance appraisal m a w h has t d performance measurement as a 'psycho&c

problem', whcmby'the goal bas been to improve the psychometric quality of performance

' B~IW, W. L, SUISICY, L. M. (1990). ~ a f ~ r m m c e appraisal effeaivaness. ~n K.R. ~tnpby. & F.E. Sat] (Ed*), Ryohology in organizations: lntegnting sduw and practice. Hillsble, NJ.: Whm.

Patormancc appaisd is perccivod to be a critical human rsso~rce menagcment

h t i a a in most organizations. Rcrvarch estimates that om 90% of dl iarge private

sactor organizations in India anpby some fann of systcrmnic anployff: appraisal end

review. At the same time, the number of public sector orgenizlllim employing the

formal apprplsal p-ocesli conlinua to ste+ily increase.

lo mat yean widcspresd attention has bacn paid to the mlc of the formtlj

apprusal process because of the bdief that an effectively daignal wd ~mplemeatcd

appaiaul system can p v w k tbe anploya, the msnsga, and th oqmization with a host

of positive M t s . The titaahvc oa paform~ce appraisal gataally mncludea that the

appraisal process can':

Rovlck managers with a useful communication tool for employee goal setting

xmd perfoimance planning;

Increase employee motivation end productrvity;

w Fscifitgte discussiions concerning anployce growth and development;

w Rovide a solid bagis for wage and salary admini-n; and

' Pram, LL., & Porta. L.W. (19116): Etnployee rapmon to formal petformma appxind Fadbrok. J o d of Applied Psychology, 71, pp 21 1-218.

' &nrmtin, HJ. md &ay, R.W. (1984): Perfammcc Appr8id: A m w i n g Humm &havim It Wwk, MA: KW , Boston. pp 34-35.

Perfimnancc splrnieJ aepllcr syabd@c evaluation of the pemdity and

perf- of each anplop by his nqravieor or ~ n n e odser paum t&d in tbs

techniqua of d t ratins It amploys various rating techniques for eomplrring individual

employca in a work group, in tams of paraaal qualities or ddicicacia a d thc

requimncntr of their nspective jobs. Accordtng to Dale Yoder, "Perfonneace appraisal

~ncludes all fonnal pduna used to evaluate pemondities end ambibutbw d

potentials of group n x d m h i p in a working'organization. It is a continuous process to

secure information n e c e s ~ ~ y for making comct and objective k i s i i on anployees4."

Performance appmid IS a formal programme in an organizatioq wluch is

concerned nol only wtth the mtnbuhon of the rnembm who fonn pnrt of tba

organrmtmn, but also auns at spotting the pdenhal also. The sahtkctory pafinmaax is

only a of the system as a whole and the marraganent needs more informdion than

m m performance mtmgs of the mdmdmta. There are no two opinions about tba

naess~ty of performance appmsal that can meet t h e requuements of the managmeat

to ach~cve the orpwattonal am.

In simple terminology, performance appraisal is the qxtmatic cvaluatiw of the

indvidual witb regpoct to his performance on the job and his poteatial for dcvdoprnmt.

Perfomam appraisal is concerned with determining the di f fmes amoag the

employees worlriag in the organization. Usually, the individual's immediate superior in

the organization and whose performance s lwiewed in turn by his &or in tbe

organatation and whose performance is reviewed in turn by his superior who does tbe

evaluation.

Thw his superim also rate everyone in the orgmization. P e r f i app.atsal

employs rating techniques for comparing individual employees in the work group, m

terms of pasonal qualities or deficiencies and the req-ts of their m v e j&.

' Arm- Michcr.l(2MX)): Pufonruaa M.n.gana1: Key Smtass and PraUicrl (hkkh~, Pam Mca, pp 1%-157.

b The FndiW d highly systmak -t of mpioyaa charactuistica,

anployhe cmtnbutioos. or both, and

This, pufomuwe Ippri9.l is known by Q&rrnc ~ m e s such rn 'evaluation of

anpioyea' or 'evalubm ofpafonnorce' or 'mcasroing of excdknce', arc. ?he fma

name of this o 'mant n$ng". Maic rating can also be called 'employ# mbng'. Oiitel

~ e s t a ~ dcfimKs 'perfornurace q p m d as an ordcrty, symnaw sad carafully c o m d d

nulyw ad mdu8tidn of pason's scmca W btth on an obmrvaon over a

anmdedk panod of trme ad on a Bady of ava~laMe ob~~&vc records of performance

of twhavbw.

Performance appraisal is also said to & a method of evaluating the attitudes of

&)*a. relating to the orgsnizstional maintaume and goals. Rdev~mce and the

dginbiiity of rdc bchavhr of evay role oecupt in mlaSiDn to the organization is

ass*ped chmugb rating by the laupcriot who p c w s m the oppornuuty to wotch'or

obsavcacbdy supavisetbefamer. Yaawthavimisthatlberctual mtarruremart

of employ# at t i fda is M c i a l , for, it couM throw sanc light on wbac would be the

as wdl as futurt ~~ of amployag.

&Ita k. D*y7 described pafonnancc apprslsel as the pivot around which entire

p e r ~ ~ A system molvcs a hyphen that jo~ns various episodic career events, ctc., and a

buckle tha fastus maa to tbc service or the ogsruzation. According to Lawrence L.

B. Flippo(l982): P d Mmrgawot, McGnw-Hill Inc. Tokyc. pp 193-194.

' (iital Lcrrcr, R. (1976): W Evay S n p h m S h e 4 Know?, McOm-Hil l Co., Tokyo, ppl86-87.

? W K. Dcy (1980): 'Pufommce Appaul Mmpnmt tbo Mwat Mindal Dimoodau', in Navin Chrndn labi 4 V, (3. Knrry (ed). R e u h a g in Mmqmmt, A. W. Wheel81 & Company Pvl. Ltd, All.h.bd. pp.497498.

S t s i m n e d z ' ~ ~ ~ p r p o # ~ ~ a y r d c l a d g d a p p n r i s r l ~ i s t o ~ h o w m

indivickul'r mt&tjob e~abibutian mcasunq.up in CO- with the of

parfomtraoa capcrctad of him. Sucb an accurate a v a l a of each msn'r perfamaace is

ussful to nmagmmt in tfnra ways.

It anableg mmgemart to lrap track of a man's paf-,

r It~esmaguidetodctdnewhollretheprwnisinganploysaraodwh,~

the mnrginal porfomus; and

0 It also meti as a guide to determine how much an employee should be paid and

whether or no( he deserves to be promoted.

Performanct Spprailsal is armply an ananpt to think clearly about each person's

p P r l m and future prospects against the background of his tani work situation.

Describing the bent aspect of the indivtdual's work and suggesting possible ereas for

improvement in perfomanceQ. Joseph Farnu~m'~ stated that the ppose of epplaisal is

to meawre and evaluate as fairly as p i b l e the various muits brought about, by the

employees' ~ndivldual conmbutlon. The problem then becomes proper -on of

he ways in whrch the employe can contribute to improved d t p . A proper weighing of

the potaotial value of mplrunum contribution m each area and a means for making fair

appraisal of the extent to which the employees a p p m h the maximum possible

contribution.

' ~teinm*t. L. (1969): Man@ng the Managerid Llnsatisfactory Paformance, Addison We& Publishing co., London, pp 34-35. . ' May Field, H. (1964): 'hfmca of Psrsonnd Appniul' in Paul Pigor, Chule~, A. Myas and F. T. Mdm (Lid). Manqpmm~ of Human Rcrourcas - R d i in Personnel Adminisaotim, Mc-GRw-ffill. New York, pp 3W-305

'"~oraph Funulm (1971): H.nd Book of P e ~ n n a l Adminisfdon. McOnw-Hill Co., New Yo& pp 3940.

M ~ r p p r a c s J U ~ w ( b d n , d i ~ ~ r m o m g d n , a a p b y a c s i n

terms of their pafamawe. But job c v h t i o n ia the a d p i 6 of varioPrr jabs to

L n o w t k ~ w h t c b t h e h e p d ~ o f ~ u j o b s n u k e o n

aMage empbycos. It doa, mt take in@ arcGmt the individual sbiliticar or

pafannapre of the cnrployces conccmd

The pcnpose of pafammce appraisal or mail rating is to qpniappraisc the

p a f h m c e of individuals for "taking decisions like iacrcrw in pay, rransfu,

promotion, dc. But the pupme of job c v W i o n is very limited, ie., LO ddcnnine

the worth of the job on the basis of danaads d e by it on average workcrs.

Paf-c spp.isal nrar the pafomwcc of jobholder and not che job. As a

maria of fkt, it meawncg Ihe worth of employees to the organization. But job

c v a h r r t i o a ~ e s t h e j o b s i n ~ ~ i n o r d e r t o & m i m : t h e i r w a r l h r a l

fix the wage or salary level bi will be fair aad equitable.

The m 1 t s of paformanee apprarsal me used far taking irnpntml penwnnel

decisions such as training transfa. m i o n dc. But job evaluation is used a

basis of wage structure in the organidon.

Howeva, the following table also indicates the d i f f m e between the

perforuumce appnrisPl and job evahuttion.

xation of wages for various jobs.

1.2 Wbrt ir the Purpose of a Performance Appraisal?

A pafornuurce appraisal, or service rating, is a written evaluation of the

perfnm~ance of an employee wer a specified time period (few months to one yeer).

P e r f m c t appraisals arc designed to provide employees witb knowledge of their

performance over a period of time; to identify shpngths and/or areas of concern iqm

employee's job pafonnance; and to provide an oppMtunity for an employee and hisfha

supervisor to meet and clarify about the job expectations.

xalmgartmrprloatk,ovrk.ldk#pacaarir~~Qftk,parfonnmes

~withoaaldoyca.Tbspafcnnncecrppnidint~ldwxrkl*eplacaia

p i u l t . H p i o v f i h r u t a p p o r t u D i t y f a ~ t o ~ v o ~ t i v c ~ t o s s q p k r y a a

w&rtpsrl;wmaccbrsb8cn~~,adtodiscusproMsm~withempl0ywrr

wbast~br r rbaanupto tbcmark .A '10811 (b l l lgood 'por f~ r l rpn iu lb

a o l ~ m m d o f i t a a d ~ l l O t b C U S t l f b ~ a p r n i t i v e t O d t o o o n a c l r p a i f i c

vidrtsbasaFruleoalaetdQl~sd~tThascBbauMkrdprltwi~actbCr~thcy

occur by mearms of pmgmdve disciplina ( d l t o g . w m swponsion, &.I. It is

mqrcndmtbtstllpcavlsoasmwt r a ~ y # ' s ~ s ) ofwaslness. cwnad hun or

barcg.rdms~~ysto~thepsaMaaandgivemaaphyocachsncetoimpwc

before is~ruag a 'kras rhan good' p d m m c e appnusal". Filing out rbt m a g form

should k the cuhniMtion of a pmccs~ thst has boen onp~ng for several month, and thc

finai outcame should come a9 no mrp& to the cmployce.

h me two typcs of ob~cctives of performance appraisal. vk. administrative

ObJeftrvcg 8nd df-*=t obJaclrvar'2.

Rumdvas Tbis is pabaps h e mosi inportglt administrative use of

perf- appad. It is to the common intaait of both tbe rnenagcmenl and

~~ to promote employees into p o e i h t s whac they can most effectively utilize

thir abilities. It is m ~ g r m e n t to pmmote anployecs into positions whcn they

uumot pafm effectively at th: ttme in question. A propaly developed and

adrmolstaed puform~nce qpmsd system caa rud to chmnunc whaha tndiv~duals

nboukl k umsidaraj for pmmotlclaa The systucn must rated for the prsent job d hi

" hn, C. (IPPT): How Do Public M.nagen Mmw? Bumuartic ~ o d d n t a . Orpiu~iaul Cul~ue, rd tbc Paanid fa Rdm, Jloacy-Bur Pubiirhsn. Sa Fnadroo, pp 125.1 26.

'I Camd C. 0994): OIpizllwnJ Cmmunif.lion: T o w d tbe Twenty-tint Century. H w n Bmce CoMcpa Wirhdn. Fon Wonh. pp 98-99.

w.r;l: h ~ - ~gsnizstiw,ybenaacesearybumd~Mlioustyperof

pasoMal lctiaar wcb a6 bansfas, layoffs, demotions d dkhges. in wrw cas9,

such a c t b calld for bscause of unsatisfactory p&onnmmce while in other cases it

mayb&#I t o r d u e t o ~ c c o a d i t i o n e ~ ~ ~ w h i c h t h e ~ h a s n o c o n h P i

due to c h g a a in produdion pa~.xss. Such axions can be justified if tby arc based aa

wf-appnuslll.

Wage a d Salary Admidudon: In some cases, the wage increases are based on

thepafonnaacc appraisal reports.

T w M q u d ~ p m e n t ~ . A n qmpriate system or peafomance apprsisai urn

be helpful in identifying lhe areas of skills or knowledge in which certain employeeg are

not uplo par. Thus pointing out general training deficiencies that presumably should be

comted by additional Iraining, discussions, or counselling. Performance appraisal can

also help in spotting, the talented employees. train and develop them to ereate an

inventory OF executive skills. It can also provide the areas what the

mployedexecutivcs could be further tmined and positioned to meet the organisation

growing needs.

Pemnnd Ruearch: Performance appraisal hdps in research in the field of

paswnel managemat. Various lheotjes in human relationships an the outcome of

efforts to find out the cause and effect dationship between the persormel and their

paf-7

133 Self Improvement

The performance appraisals being out the deficiencies and shoraomings of the

employacs. A diskusion between the boss and the subodhte conducted in a spirit of

coopaation d mutual umierstanding gives the cham;e to employee to have an insight on

the performance in the general set up of the orgpnization. The way discusiom are

conducted gives chance to the employees to take suitable steps to improw their

Pcrfonararxq.lpnissl~bdputollpalautrpasan'sabilitytomm

o q p h h pdcm, d d u my of sdving if tm~b his id- into y : h

incorpxcrce ocw mfonaation sip it arises ead carry hif plans to meet the bc adrasults. It

higbligbtr a sort of total msaclgaial sctlon in mtnst to thmp we cummmily fnctor out

concqrtuei d t i c s - things such as the planniag f . t i a loadarthip ability. or financial

knowledge. 7he manager's will oAen improve by this emphasis on the whole mrraagcrial

j o b . T h e ~ p a ~ ~ L s t h e ~ t o l o d r r l t h e m ; a n f a f ~ s u c c t r s s ,

wc lhe mwmgaf's pcrm&ty.

fhc irqwmt rerscrns or benefits, which justify the existme of ti system of

performance appnisat in an entaprise", arc as esundcr:

A good system of paformaace sppraisal hdpar the stperviaor to evdurte Ihe

perfanumcc of hrs employees sydmaidly and pariodically. It also Wps him to

assign tbmt work to indivkkds f a which they arc best suited;

Perfixmawe m n g helps in guiding end c d o n of employeee. The wrpavisor

may we tbe mlts of rating for the purpose of constructively guiding anplopcs

tn the dficicat performance of work;

The ability of UIC staff i s r c c o p M ad m be dquately rrwatderl by giving

thnnspccialincnmenls;

" CCraroll. labr W. (1994E Rasrrrh Dwiw - purJMw & @mtiutiw Appror$co, Syl,Publicrtion* New DcY, pp 120-122.

. S ~ ~ w i t h p ~ ~ @ e v ~ o f d a v e l o p ~ ~ t B s employees ~II tboy are mvinesd of b,impllttial banis of cvauatkm. The mcds

of merit raring arc available in pamariart f m to protect mmagmmt again#t

subsequent charges of discrimination wbich might be Ievekd by the trade Mian

Isndrrs.

P a f m apprsisal can be used as a basis of eouad pcmomel policies in

relation to transfm and promotions. If the performance of an employees is better

tbsn othas. he cm be recoin& ibr promotion, but if a pason is not doing

wdl on a job, be may be tmstiared to some dber jdr;

Pafonnsace appraisal p rov ik an incentive to the e m p l o p to beCter theis

paformima in a bid to impmve their rating over others, and

* Rating can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of hilining programmes. Mait

rating reveals weaknesses of employees and the training programmes can be

modified accordingly.

However, performance appraisal has a beneficial effect on both the pgsws doing

the appmisal and being appraised. The appraisal begms prominently to the attention of

s u p a v h or exacutivcs the importance of knowing their s u b o r d ~ as human

resourcar. The necessity of performance appraisal leads the appraiser to a thoughtfu)

analysis of p q l e rated and tends to make him more alive to opportunities and

responsibilities in developing the subordinates.

Thus, the objective of appraisal is to derive the point to the appraisee without

inviting his resentment of drawing back into the shell or taking defensive attitude. Idea is

to give him an insight and that too in a way he takes suitable steps to impmve upon his

performance by a constructive motivation. To this extenl, appraisee is helped. He would

feel himself as a part of the organization and would put in his best.

Filgt,tbEyWsinbsaurccofbaitsaqurl iblobc&.The~ibmay

diffu due to diffcmm: in jab rcquimta. stiltidical mplin?mcmo and opinion

of thc management. For example, mopmatian m y not be c o n s i d d at all

necawy be che rmmsgement. Ihcn, it is dificxalt dm to reliably rate xuch &tors

ascmpaatian:

Secood. tbcy differ with nspcct to the cowrep tha~ is b m g rated, eg.

Exaulives, salesmah factory worlrm:

Third, variations may be c d due to the d c g m of ptectlon anmptcd in the

Nahrstion; and

E i d t y , tbcy may differ with respect to nududs uscd to obtain waightage for the

varials baits.

As far as poasibk mait rating should br bsPed on objective factors: irshould be a

conb'auous poccss anl made at regular intavals. Any gocwl methods of merit rating

shculd asaesr the following personsl qualities of the nnpfoye*e

Knowledge of work;

puslily and quantity ofoutplt;

PcrJonal qualities like dqmdaLnlity, adplobllity, initiative, etc.; d

Spccid qualities like confidence, 1-ip, etc,

Traditional m c b d a am vsry old tcchdiqm of pafonna~re elrpraisel. n ~ e y an

b a d on bait-&@tad appraisal. E v W m of employas is done on tfu! W of

~ o f ~ t n i b a 0 r q u s l i t i g w r h s 4 ~ j l l d ~ v d l i t y , i n i W v e ,

dqmbbility, hdmhip, loyalty, pumdity, knowledge of job, etc. nLae m sevat

traditional mdhods of lpp.sislt as d i below":

U n d a ~ t h c a p p r a i s e r i s r e q u i t e d t o m i k h h i a ~ m a b o u t t h e

pason being appraised in the unstnceturcd way. However, in some -om,

unnmenln mpind to be groupad under specific headings such as quality of job

perfomma masons for specific job b v i o u r , pasodity traits, and development

needs. This system is highly subjective and has got its merit in its simplicity and is still in

use especially in the small fimrs.

Raniring is a simple pocess of placing employes in a rank d g to their job

perfonx~encc It permits comparison of all employees in any single rating group

regardless of the type of wok. All workas are judged on the same factors and they am

rated on the overall basis with ref- to their job perfmanee inaead of individual

assessment ofbaits. In this way thebest is placed first in the rank and the poorest

occupies the la rank. Subjectivity of the appraiser may enter into his judgement%

Asking the appoaiset to rank employees on certain desirable traits can reduce the

subjectiveness in this method The other difficulty with this method is that it dws not

indicate the delyec of diffkmce between the fH and the second mea, and so on.

Paired wmpvrWn is an h p w m e n l avrr slrrrplc roll-: Unda this, evay

employee in a job family is cordpared with every other empioyee to detemhe who is the

better worker. The rater is providing with a little booklet containing two names on each

r(n-1) pqp. hmptibly. tbe wmbQ of d ordar wauM & -, h n ir the total 2

Intbisw&y,ewayemployaaisoanprrcdwiththcewyawrY~inthc

same jab armly. The psirsd campPaiooa gives r mora d a b l a nfine with (be or&r of

mlrJd i snrasodabo ,w~Lhis sya tcmiswwolcd iaut to~due . I t curaot

bc d for periodic eqloyca' mgs. m it Qas not makc evrlurtion. my tmprovemart

m tbe employees tbat mght have made ova a paMd of ame.

Some apgnusas suffa h a cmun~nt amr, r.e., Uwsy atha rata all worlccrs aa

cx~~IIeat , avaagc or poor. They fpll to rvohtptc tbc poor, avapilc: or excclleat amployaw

c l d y . The forcad dutnknron system IS devlscd to force appnuscr to tit the

anployas b a g sppfarscd mto peddcrmtncd niap of scale. It bas an advantage over

tht plued comparison spun tn that two or mom cmpluyces can be g ~ v e n equal ramp.

%s system 1s based on thc prmmptton that cmpioyas can be ~IVKIUJ into five points

SC$c ofou1s1.Mlll)g above awrage, avwgc, k l o w avcmgc and poor. lo t h s system. thc

uppeak is aaked to clrsorbutc tht anployas ~nto t b calcpnes ln wrch a way thru

obad 10% of tbe men arc m p u p outstding, 2Wi above avenge, 40% avaagc. 20%

bdaw avaagc and 10% poor.

Thus, thir method elimiaator the mom fix subjective judgement on the pert of

supwim. Besides this. h e ssygtan is easy to mdmtd and admiisla. The objective

of this cecbnigut is to sprad out ratings in (he fomr of a rmxmal distribution, which i s

opan to criticism. Many times, this categorimtian is not found in wark gmups

perticuldy w h a tbc site of the group is wmpsrativcly smaller, h a matter of fact,

f o r d distributioa of r a n b p is festsbk for a1Pge group.

Uader thir mdbod rcaks an cstablishai fa a numk of specific kton d

qualities. Five delp#s an established for each factor and general Wtions appear at

paint8 k g thr: rrk. U d l y , the nta is supplied wih a printed f i oae faa dch

p g s ~ n ~ b a n l s d . T h s d ~ ~ f f a c t o n ~ b e m e a n u # l o n t h . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

an impartwt pint lrndor thir ryrtan. T h q &of two hlpc9:

Charactaistics, such as initiative and dependability; and

Contributions, such sll quantity d quality of w o k

Though cntntIn a m of job pafonnance cannot be objectively measured, it is likely that

graphic scale will continue to use a mixture df both chamcterisric and contributions.

Qraptuc scales imp= a heavy burden upon the supervisor. He must report and

evaluate that pufbnnancc of these subordinates on scales involving as many as five

dcgncs on perhapa ten different factors. The main drawbacks of this system is that the

mter my be biased however, one means of ensuring that the rater has based his scoring

upon substantial evidence is to leave space on the fonn after each factor and rcquirt him

to explain the reason for his rating. In effect, he is asked to give example of the ratae's

hehaviour that j-fies the assigned ratlngiS. In practice, rating tends to cluster on the

h~gh side under this system.

The graphic rating method is easy to understand and easy to use. It p m i t s the

statistical tabulation of scores in terms of measures of central tendency, skewness and

dispersion. It permits a d y comparison of scores among employees. The scores

presumably reveal the mait of value of every individa. Thus, this mabod has catain

serious drawbacks also. Thae is an implication that a high score on one factor can

compensate for a low sron on another. This may be counta-bahced by high scores for

attendance, attitude, cooperativeness, etc. O h , the ratings twd to clusta on the high

side under this system. A supervisor may tend to rate his men high so that they may

receive high share of pay raises in some cases. Table-1.2 represents the graphic rating

sheet in the organization.

Tbis mabod rlro c m i s t a of two uchnlqws, viz, wei&t~tal cbsclr List, Md f&

*.

Signature of UIC Rata

W~ckkd:Urd'UBdaf&bmcthod~~sriowrtnkmeab9rspreprsn#1insucha

ms~wrdudthsydarcribs~typasadlqv&ofbehavioraforapatitnlrr~.~

atata#d b attnchd with a scak Ut the time of rating tho smpbyas, ths

supcnvira~oo~radcha:bdUlestataague.AAa~wdgMsofveluararrr ~hcdtothsiadividuJtraib,tbe~guptothielevelirgathaedanthendiagrhrd

Then I e weigh& am avmgd md anployee is evaluated, The pasrms thoroughly

acquainted with job sad perfat at preparing and weighing statements should prepan the

waghtod check liat. When this pmea is oyer, wing s placed on separate cards. TtEgl

rate18 who actually absarve the accomplishment of the work sost these cards. They work

from poor to excellent. Weights are then assigned to the statements in accodmce with

the way are ranked by the raters.

Under this method, the supavisws are not allowed to give vague imp~gsions as a

bas~s for rating. Th~s would compel the supervisor to think in terms of very specific kinds

of behaviour. This mcthod involves a lengthy procedure of evaluating employees. It

q u i r e 9 catain qualifications to be met on the pari of the supenbr r@g the job he

IS ass~gacd to look after. Moteover, this method 1s a relatively costlier affair. It puts more

strain an the financial resources of the orgmzation pdcularly in tams of pssolmd

developnental time.

F u d Clioicr: This mdbod is used pdcularly with the objective of avoiding scope for

p e r d prejudices. Unda this method, the rater is forced to choose between descriptive

statements of seemingly equal worth describing the person in question. Statements are

chosen for a both the sides (favourable as well as unfavourable). For instame, the

following two pairs of statement may be given to the rater end the may be asked to select

one statement horn each pair that is rqmimted by supervisor.

G i w cleat instructions to his suboniinate;

Can be depended upon to complete any yJo wiped;

Malta promisw that he knows he canaot Leap them; and

Shows favoritism to some unployees.

! h m d y , tb: pocakm: law,hrcd is va)r lmgthy d h c e mors time-

cuwnaiag:

Thirdly, it is d i W t f a a supemisor to discuss rating with surubontilrates because

t h c p a ~ o n n c ) l ~ t ~ c o r r s t h e i t a n s .

A entical tncident meuu a signifirrat act by an anployde exceeding or failing,

my of tk rrquirrmoats of his job. It rqmmts an a c e p t i d behaviour of an anploya

sowotkasfor~nstarce-

Resistal the impbematation of C-C;

&came upset ova work; refused to hdp a fellow wwLa,

Suggutal an impmramnt in the work m,

Triad to gd a fdlow worker to accept thc ma~gffncot decision; and

This method lequires every supavisor to record dl significant incidents in each

employee's behaviour rhat mdicst; effective or successful 'action and those which

indicate M e c t i v e or poor behaviour. Thew arc rcconbd in a specially designad

network that was or chamctaisticl, llnda which various bebavbm can be

raorded. Examples of such types of nquinmcntir for woilrcra m judgment, l&ng

ability. uad @adability rcc~cy of work, raspotlribility d i&ah. D a i l ~ r s o o r d h r O o E t k t r e ~ 6 c a n o t o b e ~ t i n l ~ o a b s w i s e , f h c ~

mayfoqc4thsincMcatrwithhirnrbordinrtsr.

Thw under tbe critical incident mdhod tbc supervisor is supped to rethin fiom

passing ovasall judgomcnts md concentrate on discussing facts as he saes them.

T h d c a l l y , this sbuki pnwide a sound an objective basis for spp.aisel of an employk

perfommcc Strictly speaking. the critical i a c i method is not a rating method, ss it

requrrw the supaviaor to pay close attention io what an employee is doing. This method

JUFFCW hm the flaw that wlstanding incident happens so hquently that individual's

appraisal may Not be v a y markedly difference between any two time piods. It has been

obmved UIlit of the time the anpioyccs have neither positive nor negative

~ncrdents. If the critical event does nat happen, it will be diffiarlt to rate an eaployee.

M m v e r , it may be diffcult for a supervisor to decide what the critic. or

exceptional incident is. Here again the human bias may appear in recording the critical

~ncident. To rectify this defect, Gerald Whitlock designed a specimen checklist that

consists of a number of behaviour incidents that are coosidered to be the examples of

uncomdy , ineffective or effective job behaviour. The usual pmcdure in cawhwhg

the specimen checklist is to collect behaviour incidents from certain experts in this area

The number of such performance behaviours ranges from 80 to 150 incidents, equally

divided betwan effective and ineffective specimens. A few typical incidents for the

appraisal of anployem in p h a s e department are listed in the following c k k l i i

Under this method, an expert from tbe p a s o d deptuhnent intewiews the

supervisors. Ttre expert qwtions the supemisor to obtain d the patinent infondon on

each employee and takes notes in his notebook. Thenfore, thae is no rating form with

factors or &pea, but overall ratings are obtained. The w d b are usually clarsified

into thne categories es outstanding, satisfactory and d s f - . .The intmicwer,

questions the suparvimr abut the requinment of each job in his unit end ebwt the

perfonname of each man in his job. He probes to find out not oaly how a man is

T I n K + , t b e ~ o f f i d d m t i s w m a h o d ~ o l l t h c m m p d s n o a o f t b t

int-. If L knows his job, br can W b u n e eigai f idy to rcunta rppnsals.

FiaM nriaw & ndievlblr the supsvigas of the tdious writing work of ffiiag in

apprusll fonm li also enaufia a greater l i k e i ~ that tbc mpmhaa will givc

~admtiontothcrpprdiuhbaruscthc~deprstmentlargclyoonmls~

process Supafieid judgment can be dimimcd if 1&r qgaiscr investigates i n w l y .

nK general criticism of hadltjd pafwmeoce qmisal system is hat they m

t o o s u b j & l v e i a ~ a s t b e y ~ ~ m p a s o n n l j u d ~ t o f I h e r a t a . T h e

pa9oanl Judgemcat is d w a p subjcctai to persod biw or prcjudioas as well as pressure

fams calah otbcr areas. The sppaiser may not be sble to judge the cmpeteaa of the

employem kcaure of lack of training. Because of the judgmentrl role of the supervisors

under the traditional system, perfonasnce ratings arc f i icqudy subject to a number of

anwsedwektDessesfbP1arediscusscd~

H&Emw:~stypcofaroroccunwhmtbentadlowswueclpsctofaman's

c b t a or perfbrmancc to lnfiuencc his e o t k evaluation. It is the tcodency of

many raters to let the wtmg they assign to one characteristic. Many supavim

tend to ~ v c n an cmploya appmximatcly rhe ssme rating on dl factors. The arw

can be mgnised quite &Jy on fador scales. Thc rating scale tcchniquc of

performance appraisal is prrticularly -Me to the halo rmpaviaof judge all

of his subonlinatcs on a sin& feclaa trait befam going the next. In this manna, be cm coagida all of the men relative to a standad ot to each other on each mil.

~ ~ ~ & ~ : ~ a m r o a z t n w h e n t h e ~ i s h d o u W a k n t t t t r e

subordinates a has inadequate infomatiion abxlt hean or is giving less attention

m d s f l F o r l t o ~ r r t i n g ~ . ~ o f t b e s e ~ , u r u r l l y t h a n t a r r r s

~ l o ~ ~ 1 e a t t h s o u t a . a a d r o f ~ ~ . T h e ~ s t a l r a o w r t h r t h s b r r

toepprairohisrslboFdinaccsPtpsriodichals. ButifheisuofePnilierwith~rarr:

o f ~ s o k u d i n r L c l a ~ n o t h a v e s u f i i c i e n t t i m a t o d e v o t s t o t b c ~

pocsscl,henmyplay itsakbyndthacoademningm-g, Sohemayrate

them 'wanget. It is p i M e in this type of rating i.e., all avuage to be a true

rating. but its probebility is less than its huency .

LnJcncp ar -: Some supervisors have a tendcncy to be easy ratas d

atha have a tardency to be harsh in their ratings. Lenimt or easy ratas 888ign

cansiacntly higb values or scores to their subordinates and strict or harsh raters

give consistently low ratings. Both the trends can arise from varying standards of

performance among supavbrs and form diffaent interpretations of what they

obgecve in csnp1oy.e pcrfonnance.

Rccm khmrio~r Bias: O h some raters evaluate pwons on the basis of thcir

pafonnance in recmt fcw week, average constant behaviour is not checked.

k e employees being aware of this tmdency show better resuits when they fael

that they arr being observed and the report of their performance is to be compiled

won.

Mkdbwoua BkKs: In many cases, the rater may give higher ratin@ bacause

he &inks it would look bad for him if employees in the other deplmcats

received hi* pay increases than his p u p . S u p s o n will teod to rate their

subordinates near the middle of the spectrum (average) if their bosses put pressum

on them to wmt the worler's average rates or to get rid of tbe subordiaates.

Some supervisors show bias against members of the opposite sex or of d e r

caste, religion or nationality. They also give higher ratings to senior employees

because they are ad read; to admit that they have not improved unda bir

leadership. Many a times, a rater is influenced by oqguhtional poeitians and

may give higher ratings to those holding the higher positions.

Criticism has a negative &cct upon achievanau of pis ;

Cxiticlism imrerapa rntagonim aad dcCbmivsne9s which laad to inferior

pcdbmmw and

Raise bat Little effect, one way or Ihc 0 t h ~

h lhis study. (n appraisal inlaviews based on bditid tnasmmats war

d y a d Thoac stbadides wiUi above svasge criticism showed teas improvement in

d g tea to twelve w& Ian tbogc receiving less criticism. When the altaalive

behwiornal qrpMch was intmduced by the supervisors, diFTcmma in subordiac

napmrse pattan t m h c d unchanged. For the appraiscc of behsvioural supavisor, all

qmtcd rnm f d attitudes on such items .s amount af help received,

respeetabibty of their supavisq ability of the supavim to plah the betart to which

~ r b i l t i e s a m e p f i l i y # l r ~ o f ~ g o c r l s d v P h r e o f U l c ~ ~

m ~ T h r r t i s w b y i t ~ ~ c d :

Coaching be a day-today, not 8 a y w shvity;

Muhud god seaing not criticism improve8 performance; ud

Pdcip&ion by the employee in the gods setting proc- helps f n v d l e

rcarhs.

l'bc m a d is &haviournilly-Anchond Rating Scale that is based on rating the

bdlaviortr of the subonlinetes.

It was P&s h u c k ~ r ' ~ who propod goal-setting qpmwh to p e r f i

apprarsal, which hc called 'Manngcment by Objectives and Self Contml'. Douglas

M c . C b p r furtba strenghmed this approafh. He was eorremed with the fect that most

tradi~onnl appraisal systans involved ratings of haits and p e m d qualities that hc felt

were Lghly unreliable. Besides, the use of such trait ratings produced two main

difioulties:

The manager was unCOmforLsble about using them and resisted making

appraisals; and

It had a damaging effect on the motivation and development of the subordinate.

The MBO is the same as behavioural approach to subordinate appraisal, actually

cdlcd 'wok planning and mb-iew' in case of General Electric C q y , USA Under this

uppmach, an employee is not appraised by his f tmphble hai6 but by his pafarmana

wth respect to the agreed goals or objectives. Thus, the ssential fcatms of this

approach are mutual establishment of job goals. The application of goal setting approach

to paformma a p p W involves the folIowing steps:

" Falit. E., Ah-, L., Fitpcrld. L. & Partipew. A. (1996): The New Public Mmysmsat in Aoticn, O a f 4 Unimity Oxfa4 pp 115-1 16.

Hcsi tswithkissupaiar todistuaPthase~dptans,rd8Anr l~al is

w&ed out:

C h a k pointa arc established for rbe cvaluatioa of pqma, and thc ways of

mtanaimg prognsg are Jdactaf, and

0 'Ihe sup em^ iind the s u ~ n a t e mccl at thc end of Ihe pcriod to d~scuss the

rrsnrhs of the ~ubwchnate's &or(s to meet the targets mutually established.

X a r e , t b e M I W ~ i s W m e k z r t d t i m e b a w i ~ e c t i v a r E i w n t h e

empaate W to fbc opgstivt levd, This rppwcb can be applied with gnsl succxsa tf

tbe pafomumw gpaascrl prvgmmme consists of the fdkrwmg dune&:

Good job deseripcions arc available to help setting of goals for diffcmt pition;

Supaion have tnut in the sukmfiantcs to establish rcmomble goals; and

Tbat is emphasis or @!an wiving rather than criticism of the paformawe of

tbe subordinates.

Tbc MBO spproach his done away with the judgmcotal role of the superiors in

tbe appnripsl of thir subndinstcs. It had lcd to greats satisfaclion, gmgta ngnement,

m a comfbrt Pnd less tarsion and hostillfy betwan the &am sMi tbt manapncnt.

This approach 19 superior to the traditional q p a c h of performance appraisal. It

emphasizes W n g md development of iadi$.iburrls. It is problem-solving approach e

refba thgl tdls and 41s appach. This appac'h has dso got a built-in driw of sdf-

apprPisllbyth~narcabscauretheylarowUKirgdsandtbestaodudsbywhich

W pafonarnrc will be messurcd Tbe MBO qrproach &an hrn the following

iimi*

Thisrppwrchhnot~toedministsr.~Itdvescars~kthae,tboughtand

M ~ W belwan the euparior and the subordinate. If the span of Atpavirioa is

very large, i t will not be po~&bla for the supaior to have discussion with each Qd

evay s u M n a t c for Boning up mutually agned goals;

c It unpbmiscar d l i n g , training and developmmt. It is argued that cririd

cvaluation and modification to improve an incompatible. But, in pactice, it is not

possible to forego the critical aspect of pafommce appraisal; and

It is qpmpktc b r the appraisal of executives and supemby pasormd who can

undaatand it in a better way.'Operabve workers cannot mkmtad this approsch

and morcova, a vast majority of them do not want to take initiative in edting

their own goals.

BchrrloPrrlly Anchored Rating Scaler (BARS):

Tbe BARS arc designed to identify the critical areas of performancc for a job, and

10 describe the morc effective and less effective job behavim for getting rssults.

Pcrformsnce is evaluated by asking the rata to record specific observable bebsviours of

an employee and thcn to c o m p t these observations with BARS. As a dt, the

supervisor is in a position to compare the employee's achial behavim with the behavim

that has ban pnviously determined to be more or less effe~tive'~.

Thus, pnrponmts of BARS claim many advantage of this a p p d They argue

that such r system diffaentiaks among behavim, performance and d t s , a d

conscquattly, is able to provide a basis for setting developmental goals for the employee.

Because i t b jobspecific and identifies d#avebleand meiwtnI.de behavim, it is amore

reliable and valid metbod for performance appnusal. Empirical sbudics tp BARS have

I' lyeapr, S.S. & Lsppsr, M.R. (2002): ''Choke a d iis Coassgucncm: 011 the Cos6 and h f i a of Mf- d*amioltMa", in Teswr, A. (cd): Sslf rrnd Motidon: ErnerBing Psychologiul Puspa4i~s, AmaicP ~ ~ d q i c r l Aoociaa, W l r h i m DC. 58-59.

The third conmvasy invohrcd the issue of che inail effective way to anchor the

rating scales (numerical or behamaural). By anchoring tbe Jcsles bdmvH)UrBIIy,

the BARS rqrp.o~ch IS expected to poduce mom valid and rellllhle mulls by

naducing meawuemnl emm ( Ic~mcy, hak, effect conh91 ta\dancy, Md so on).

&fnt my pafimmmcc sppraisai prognmme is initial4 it is wcntial to

dctcnnine its dqcEtlvcs. The objective of h e appraisal proprune may be eirha to

q m k the actual pcrfbrmaoce of individuals on their present jobs a to dctcrmim the

potential of iadividuals ta do h i g h job or both. Samdimcq pcrfonnsace apprusal

posrsmma me associated with ~pccif~ objectives fikc training end dcvthprncnt

tmsfer and promotion increase in pay, etc.

For etfective retmg of anploye9, i t rr messmy to atablish s t a d d or

paf- aganat which their paformance rhwM be compared. However, m

apporch thel is m m prcfasMe is to establish, in writing, definite spendrmis of t

~ ~ ~ t ~ b a t t h e ~ ~ c a a r r a # r m r b l ~ b e c x p s c t ~ t o m a t . ~ o c h a m e i h b d

will mdrc it possiblc for both supervisor and his mbordinatc to reach agmmcnt on just

wlw is cxpeaed in tmns of pafanuance. h should be aotal tklrt performance suadards an relative to the grwp and the o r p i d o n . Not only am Ulc! ncub af areh organidon

Wbo la to do Apprdult

u~~,~~btbeimmtltiate~0~6ftbcmantobaappniscdHeis

f d l i a r with the rmpksya's work end is in contact with him and so he is cansldatd to

be able to appreioc him well. But tbae me &n Limitations of appaisai by onc pasoa

That is why some orpnkdolls by to obtain two or more ratings on each anployee. But

again the dimarlty may arise because the sacwd rater may not have the naxaay

contact with tho individual who is to be rated. The possibility is the cmstitutim of a

rating cummittee that my umsisbi of a number of supemism and specialists b

personnel deptmcnt and a rqmmtative of the worlrers. The committee will rate eacb

individual collectively'9. Some people feel that anployees should be allowed to rate

~hemselves. Whcn this is, done their immediate superiors may offer their ratings in

ccmjunction with d n g s .

Whosoeva the appraiser may be, the subjectivity invariably steps in. A well-

adjusted penron is legs subject to projecting himself into others than a poorly adjusted

person and, therefore, he is able to judge them bmer. it is often assumed that qualified

psychologists are more capable than laymen of making unbiased judgements since tbey

receive training in the dynamics of the personality and also in the correct manner of

making the judgement.

This diffas from organizations to oqpnkat io~~~ and with nirture of duties

performed. That are spot appraisals, monthly, quarterly, and half yearly or yearly

~ r a i s a l s . But most of the organization conducts yearly or half yeerly Bppraises or ratem

may crate a sarse of fear amongst the rata*i. Idea frequency is one that fits into the

I' Howlat, M. & R.rrwrb, M. (2003): Studying PuMic Policy - Policy Cydg and Policy Sub@am$ hford U n i d t y Pna, On- pp 69-70.

Tbirisimgat.ottsq,inpafirrmawlppniwlbdariptbcntiagfanutobc

~ i n ~ p r a e a a m s n # f o m r r s b w M b c d d t o p b f r a i t i ~ l a r c h ~ ~ ~ , ~ a d o s , ~ d 9 d a q # v h r a y . A U r a p u i r r a M a a n l e v d u u i o a f o n n .

Pofcnnvwlaformr,maybtdawufidralboleiDvd~oomprrrrliwMhngboddbcra

involving UK u q w i w m of each anployce's rturl pafamsnce with pr td&udd

s ~ 7 k : 6 n t ~ o f ~ i s ~ b w d u r t a a n p ~ p a f o ~ f ~

I b e p u p a ~ e d ~ g w a g c a d j ~ t s , Iayoffk,pmtions,&. and sQcandcatqo~~

offormskU8Cdto~~Ihepafamsncoofwoak~mlhur~tjaba.

The following am the requirements of a sound pafwmenct apprawJ p r v

of my organisaaioorO:

~ t b c s p p r S i s a l s ~ m ~ s c a n p l ~ e m p k , y r e s m r y ~ u n d a a t a a d i t f u U y

d rmry leak rt the plan with suspicion. The plan should not be very lime-

-8:

Tbcpafomurncerpplllsalsyslan~kpafarmwce-bgsal,~fonnand

nun-die, fair, jwt, and aplllabic. it should be easund that the appappraisas am

hone% r a h d and objective m thew approach, judgemeat sad behavioural

oncntcllros;

The ~ o y e o should be madt aware of the perfamtancc in tams of goals,

targets, bohaviour dc. expated of them. A paamrrl cqusticm benvecn the

. llppraioa ad the anpktyee h q to be developed to ac.trieve mutual undastandin&

of Ibe critaia of &dualion; '

Karl, DE. (m. Thc GI& Public Mmyawa Rovdution, Bmokhm IfirtlMia, Pnq Wuhiaston. DC, pp 16b169.

n#rppdrdplmlhouMElkcintoeccountthc~appPital~~pmailiagis

tSher unitd in the indunby 8, well as the latest thinkiug oa p a f m eppaisal.

It should fit in the shuchve and operations of the argrmizrrtion;

The top managanat must cnste clLnate of reliable app.eisal tluwgbcut the

organization. W-orientation. open commuaications, mutual tmt informsl

nlatianship etc. en the basic e l m t s of such climate,

The appraisal plm shouid be designed to achieve specific objectives. The

objectives of the appraisal pibgramme may be to evaluate cumnt paformmcc on

the job snd to determine the potcatid for higher jobs. In some cases, perfbPmana

appraisal i s linked with specific objectives like pay raise, training, promotion,

trsw;fw, etc. The number of factm to be considered and the date to be collected

sbould be tailor-made to achieve the objective of the appraisal;

The appfaisa~ s M d be selected and trained properly so that they have m

pmonal bias and possess the necessary capabilities for objective evaluation of

employees. In order to awrr objectivity in appmid, an individual may be rated

by mom persons independently, and

There sbould be provision of appeals against appraisals to ensun d d e n c e of

the anployea and tbeir associations or unions. The d t s of appraisal must be

discussed with the rates so that they may get an opportunity to express heir

feelings on W r progress reports.

1.8 Primary Considerations of an Appraisal Programme,

hat an fin fundemlntal considerations of any apprarsai pmenunma vk, the

raw, htoft 10 be rated, paidcity, appraisal inteaview and the mpomibidity of the

appraisa.

C k # o l b primary coapiderstiw o f a qprid ayaan ir who rbwM be the

nda.ThspiaPlryrrrpactis~supQiorrorpearotnrtrofdiartaror~committas

s h w l d m r k e I p p r i # l . ~ , i a m o a # o f t h c ~ t h o i m m o d i r t s & ~ ~

n t c t h a p o r f o w p c s o f b i s ~ . hiajust i6al fortboimmoldirta~or intcmws e4xlsmtiy with she b c m In pldce thtm apcrvisor lalings ue

mdaridapprovcdbyh~ghama~~gsment

In ordcr to bmg about a grolrn involvemerit tn @MI. the rating p a e m can

be wdulakm by a team of ratera Thc tcPm may cawst of members mpcmntmg

s u p a i u r s p e a ~ a s d ~ e ~ . l f t b c ~ c g m u w b h r ~ e g o n l y t h e w p c n o r r ~ t m e y n d b e

Ihffaent hoan clragca management (haKIa. The pppratssl by a team conswttng of d y

9ubodhtq mwba a conaiderpblle iipp11EPhoi1 of bchlnOural Ihrnncs" Accad~ng to

a ravearch f* peas caa arrwately &ct actual success of Lbc p d pcmcme1.

Catam o(ba m h e s , rrvzal that peer d n g s are silyrifrcantly higher on system

scales than umga r&gs of mar Jubonlinat*s. Supenoss tended to emphaFlze

intbative a d work lawrwlsdge, while pcas dcanai getting along with utbas to be mon

mpxtmtintbcovenllratu@.

This system is scmavbt similar to "stoup Wing' mentioned above, whaein

both the rppnisa d tbe appaisee sit toge(ha to evaluate jointly the perfonname of the

appnrisee by mtans of discusgion and nvicw of progns% of the work assigned to the

8pplusce. This method of evaluation is advocated in MBO, whaein both superior and

" Edwia 0. Flrppo (19761: Rimciple of Pcnocmd Muu)amoa, W w - H i l l KogakhuJlr Ltd. Tokyo, pp 75-76.

t d m d h h mt d y #t W jointly butd& a n a l p and mview paiodfGJfyth6

a s w m l , ~ o t ~ l c h (poalr.

SdI-Evdutka:

Ow of the bchavioural appmchca relating to qmisai is 'sdfcvaluatian'. This

a p p r d help in improving communication betwear &or and subordinate d

improves motivation as a nrmlt of gnater participatioa One great disadvantage of the

system amists in hinging about excessively. h~gh ratinp. But some expaieaca, pmve

ellacfly, foc instance, Citibank Senior Vice Pnsident felt that "it's amazing how boaart

people an, Lhey put things that are detnmcntal to their own progress and pmmotkmn2'.

A theorist on appraisal system can imagine is that of 'subordinates evauating the

perfornumar of thrir superiors'. This may be done by a group of wbodkks constilted

for the purpwc The limitation of this system is its 'remote practicability'. Managemrnts

express serious objections for a complete dcptwhw from the traditional system of

'supaior evaluation' to that of 'subordinate evaluation'. At the same time even

subordinates can neither acccpt nor appneciate the implications of the system fax they

tend to tnst 'evaluation' as something of managerial activity to be carried wt by

superiors alone. Heme a great deal of p~eparatory work shdd pncede the inhoductian

of this syrrtem in the fomo of developing awareness among the s u b o ~ sp to the

pqmscs and advanlegea of the system and to enhance their skills and capabitics

nmaYsary for effective appmd.

What to Rate:

Most of the yardsticks provided to measurr merit are focused on rmmud

production tatha tbpn on factors relating to performance. Ed& Lee M e , the

emincat psychologist and edwator obsmes, 'anything that exists can be m d ' .

Mmgaos need to know how to idcnfify and me- the differences in perFomrtmoc

I' hrbul E. Meyw (1974): Tbe Sciace of Tdling Exyutivss How they am Dam#?, Dscsmk, pp 15-16.

. ~ ~ a ; E r m r S w , I s n p 9 W W J O 1-* ~ O o ~ ~ f g p ~ ~ ~ a l l ~ ~ ~ ~

" % N W P ~ P H ) ~ ~ P W ~ ~ ~ q s - ~ ~ o q ~ w ~ o @ w . s l f i u a r l l ~ o ~

WY V'OJ u l f l l L 4 ~ ! 'lp9- ~ Q @ l f l l k n w r ~ PWw-plt)~~

~ P ~ ~ ~ ~ Y W P ~ ~ O - ' M W ~ - @ * O , ~ ~

= Xly, 69 ltlj 0 s a? ,SIW IBUOPtDd. 'qOr -* ~,PP!wY w F I W

W l ~ f W @ J J q o i ~ l j s j ~ ~ H @ ~ ~ F n p l l l a d f i , ~ P J ~ i j ~ ~ ! ~ ~ l J l F P d d l

q gr q9P ',I~*IUP Joj ~. ";).! -03 = SpllJIl! -J w aw =!nba s ! u -7 ?q q eprw 8!1!90 m-rod s,mw wlas p d pus a ~ m u o j d yllm fluop '0s w o W anuq mj alcpamw m-lod wQ@ yle doldar? I(J!~usp! a1 s! pFhWjdP amtuuopd jo sasdmd jag3 ayl JO wo

M l y , appraisals me coaductcd on& or twice a year. New employees la

r a t t d m o r s ~ y t b r n o k ~ . I n t h e c s s e o f ~ ~ g r , m t o b o t l l r d e

~ A c a i n o n t e O t o d d a r m i a c t h c i r ~ o n , o r c x ~ o a o f p r o b s t i o Q I t i s f r l t

desirable thrt an a a p l ~ y a be fated on the expiry of third month after being assigned a

j o b , a f t ~ t h e ~ ~ ~ n t h ~ j o b s a d f ~ r c ~ ~ s ~ ~ t h ~ . ~ ~

cnaMaatbeappruwrto~oleddequstetimcand~tiontotbcmkas~ofall

cmployaawilt aapfalldueoathesameday.

The question of whctha line or staff, which agmcy should be enbusted with the

task of eppraisal gains significance in organizational context. Usually, P e r s d

Deparbnent is mtwtcd w~th this task while, in d t y , the line agency posseam an

opporrunrty for an actual observation of the performance. Performance a p p d forms a

naessary part of managerial task of developing the human resources in the organidon.

Performance Appriusal fonns a nec*rsary part of managerial task of developing the

human m e s in the organtzation. Performance appmd is ultimately a tiae

responsibility lo be md with the assistance of the pnsonnel ndminiatrstor aad his d.

Moreover; a l m t all plaas will be worthies, if it lacks the support of tq

management. Particip&on for lim agmcy in evolving the v e s and in fixlsg the

targets on par with the staff is desirable to obtain nalistic appraisal reports at a leEa date

about the performance. A typwl qptisal prognmmc run by a P e r s o d in

coopaeZion with the line deparbnarts stipulates the following conditions as:

In the fonnulalion of policies and the purpose of tbe pedomum appraisal, the

Pasamel Dqmimrnt should consult and associate the Line d m - 0

During the course of dividing the policies into various propamma and

pccduna, dealing with puiodicity, fixation of appaim etc., both tbe

departments m st work in close coordidoa;

* o m u c k , y d s m h ~ i n J 1 i b u q r s o b , t k , ~ l a y d ~ a w n l l

dmiadftak#odcaaboloftbclrydamehouMbewitbthsPamawl

Daprlmmthrinataw,L~lryrtrtwilh~tbsAn#rbrlFonnrtotba

Yriau~qWcifyiaerbepaiodwithiawbichtbectulyfi l ldiaformrr

must k lcCuraaf Shailrrly, it may smd i m t ~ ~ t i 0 1 ~ end guiddinea to tba

App& f a m i c w should dtba be made to the Pasonnel or lo the

Lim Wxials qrpoinlntcd fw the purpose in ~ a ~ h dcpsotment .

1.9 Flvc wsp to t d if yaur Pcrformuan Appnful System h workbtg

& l o n g a s t h c n ~ ~ ~ a n p b y e a , t h a c w i l l b e p a f ~ e

appraisal systans. U d y we think of a fmnal p c d o r m ~ ~ e eppmsal sptun as bang a

fixture in tbe argPlintioa-wmcthg that connot be chaagcd sipficantly. Same

cmplops e m consida an smnrsl formal perfcmmx miew to be an cmployce 'nght'.

H m u , q a n h h n s rn which Ule annual pnformancc qrpaisal IS mon dreaded than

appreciated. Supavisan dmd the warlr involval and anploya~ drrad the

~ I b y f ~ l w h a t c o a ~ E d w i t h ~ R L i n g t h e s u p e r v i s o r c h o o s * l f w

than.

Qrgnnu;pslarswrm~vcdtobrveafonm$perf~ePppraisalsystanm

phw. The r r ~ s o a ~ f a a symm arc M o l d The primary pal 13 lo communicate

pafonogm tssua m a clear and poducbve manaa, rxmct problem, md thank

employea fbr a job welt drmc. A secoDdgy pal is to document p e r f i e ISSW for

f i ncfatnce. Aad kit, #fa pay-fix-prf- poaam IS in plsce, the pafonnance

appard pfmda tbe tbc for chrngea in conqnnsatioa.

~ ~ e r , p e r f ~ ~ ~ d o n o t a d d r r a s m y o f l b e s e

gods. llwy haw become papcr-moving pgmms that take o r p i a i d time but don't

1. ~ - y l J Q I l a n d L ~ ~ b y ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~

Paformylcc rppniuJl should not coDtain wpdps. They W d be a summery

o f c o m m s a d r l ~ ~ h v e r l r r e d y h e a n d ~ ~ t h c c v a h u t i o n p a o d

Unplmmt M(wibes indicate that suparieon cpr: not being candid or

communicsrive with gnployats. Runeink that mmmunicatioa is thc ovaall

gaal .&~tosotlaplaceh.ai l ; ingorothersyJtemrLhalfostaberta

cornmunicetion on performance issues.

2. Raduga by one sypcrvisor or drpPzdnav are uniform& cxadlart: Although it is

inappropriate to apply a 'MI m e ' to employees' performance, it is also

ina~pqmate to rate evetyone a1 the m e level, whatever thst might be. Thii type

of rating problem is an indicator that a supervisor is eitba unhaiaed or doesn't

have the time to identify performance plans.

3. Gmal employees don 'l nt& g n ~ l raditgs: h k around at the employees who

an the stlMlgest In the organization. These might be the people who have the best

ideas. thc best ability to motivate others, or the best work ethic. These are the

people who should be receiving the best ratings. If not, your performance

appraisal is not rewarding those ~t should be.

qppnaIrok One plrpose of performance reviews is to provide documentatim for

the organization in case a dismissal is necessary. Wben the pea6omance appraisal

doesn't suppar! a later daision, it can make it more difficult for the employer to

defend its actions. In some cases, an organization may waat to Limit a s t p e w i d s

" Jonn M. RauMLtolp is r h- rwn1r001 profasiwal in RJ & L's Colando Spriag oftic0 wbue sb. works with rna~yl in the tirm's onplopeat law p d c e area, providing hwnm nsourcas rasisance to clianh. With mom Lhia 25 ycur of cnpaiam, she provides human mourw advice to clianm in r wide variay of n&r, inclding policy dewlopmaat, handbook M g n , eompmutim philosophy, md pnfinmoae mmgmant usiacrw ad miaing.

W is dwap wise to aq, back fram your performwcc appraisal sygm d

examine its o v d gorlk Is i t the W s for a pay-for-pdonnawc system or is it a

cmmmicatioa tool? How much tlme does the average supavisor have to invest in the

s y s t e m ? H a w m r r c b t i W : d w m c y d o a r I b t ~ ~ c t o i n v ~ i a r h e a y s t c m ?

A l l o f r b Q P e ~ m i g h t k d y a r t a t h c c a a c l u s i a a ~ y o u r d y s t a n n a a l s a n

overhaarl. Rananba thut f d sysums nbould confribua to pmducbvtry. If your

system is nat doing so, dm't hesitate to we it as 'unsatisfactory' and dcsign a new me.

1.10 k e n StppM Things EMPLOYEES Do to Screw up Performmce

Ga#rlly, w h palarmrace eppnrwl go- awry, the p r m ~ ~ y cswc has l~ttle to

Q w i t h ~ y c c s . Fortbcmosl,psrSmpbyeesUrlrctbarcucsfrommsaaganentd

buam maatmu. H m m , orko imhvidurl anployces puccive the pocess in negative

~ n y a tbcycraaeotca damrgc evca tbebastof qpmsll panaa . In thmcaotcxt,

~ o b a t & r d " b a c u g g a t a i x v e n s t u p i d t h i a ~ n n p k r y e a d o b s c r r w ~ p a f ~ e

&bpU 7Mq #I: P W g on dtc Foms: P a r f ~ appraisal isn't &out

tbe fkms (although often managen ad HR baa it as such). Tbe ulthak pupose of

p a f o l m f m c e q r p r a u a l u t o a l b w ~ y # r n d ~ t o i m p r o v c ~ ~ l y M d

fonrm~vekniar~,jobrruccaarhdthaworda,makewayoa~b~.Fomdon't

S r p U ~ i W T r N ~ ~ & d i : R e g e t i o g f a p c r f x m a m e p p a i r r a l b o a p r

thermpbybcGdcus#1tbakayirrue-paBDtmanccimprov~~ent,adtoaamiathiror

ha paformmoc in a mora objective way (sac defensivsates below). Unfolhmatdy,

employrar walk into the epproisal meeting not having UIwgbt about the review penad

and so= uaprrrprvrd topraseat their points of view. B e i n g ~ mrans, being8

reactive participaot a bang a passive patkipant. Neithg is going to help manager or

~mploya. Emplayeta can pqnwe by raviewing their worlr beforrhand, identifying any

barriers they faced in doing tbeir jobs, and n-familiarizing themselves with their job

descriptions, job rrsponsibilitierp, and my job performance expectations set with the

mltnagm.

Shrpil Tkhg #3: Dcfmsiwmm: We t a d to take our jobs seriously and pararoaaliy,

m h n g i t mixe difficult to bear o w ' comeah about our work, particularly wtaen they

arc critical. E v a oorurbuctive criticism is often hard to hear. If employees enta into the

discwon with an atti* of 'defending', then it's almost impossible to create dre

dialogue naeaury for performance improvement. That doesn't mean employees can't

present lheir own opinioas and paceptim, but it does mean that they should be

presented in a calm, f1y:rusl manner, rather than a dcfewiye, andiod way. Of colurse, if

manegag arc inept in the appmsal pnxess it makes it vay difficult to avoid this

defensiven*ur.

~ T l U n g M : N a t C ~ ~ D v r i n g ~ Y c o r : E m p l o y c t ~ n c a d t o h o o w h o w

Lhey &mg annmd Ute yeat, not just at a p p d time. Genaally it is e y

tnaagmmt's neponslbility to ensure that thae arr no surprises at eppraisal time. OAan

maasgas discuss both positives aad negatives of employee pfahmmce thrw@ut the

year, but Chis is unfmamatdy, not a uriivasal practice. It's in the employ#s' intaasEB to

opcaup~onaboutpaformanceQringtheyau;evar.iftbemanagadoasnot

i n i t i a t e i ~ T h e ~ a n p l o y a e ~ b w W h e r r t h t y ~ a S ~ ~ t h c y ~ ~ ~

(or keep doing), the soowr problems can be fixed. In fact m y p f o b l ~ l l ~ can be

J b g J I ~ ~ : M t ~ ~ u t J B w a r k l k , ~ a r d a i f ~ w a s

pafccZ~.buyran"lSamsoammunicrtaa~~aiadonSomedaa'tm

~ d ~ o a t , A ( ~ ~ w o a ' t b s d a r l b o u t t b a i r ~ '

~ o r c a r a P a e a h a w h r t r ~ i s ~ ~ T h r t c o u M b e b d u r a e t h e

wn" tar him/baself, a smply ~m't good d uxplwuq, Howsvor, u n h

&yagclrslfywbea~~o'tsurrrbattIBe~urgacxpl~thaym't

Lnawwbrr:lbeywsdtocbtounpwcrbarrfuhrte~obpaaf'lt'r~mportratto

kave tba gprual m d q hrnng r good lrndsnluwhng of what's kea md. If durt's not

pwm~Wcla~canoocw.Ratbemoctlng,ordarmthtrorddthot'sm

apprqnate,

WTkGgIYa'AlkAg0110.SJWSMg: Pcrformanwqpssusalsuwlrbegtwheaboth

porrticiprnts im active. nnd npeJsing their positions and &as. Some anployces m

m e doing that, snd whik rmraagas, should be mating a climalc what

emplojecs are comforlable. somc managas mn't good al it. Performance q p m d h

is ao acdd tim fa mphyas to make su$gamons about things that awrld be

~ta~tpar l<arrmncc,Pkrutbowtomwrebarr iasto jobsucccss,andways

to l lmrreprodudiv i ty .Rananba. Iso~~con' t resdminds.Tkknar

mimgua will worir 4 t h ~ y a s ta bdp U#m Q I&ir job mm &cctively, but tbey

an"l know bow lbey cea bdp unksrr anpioyaa provide (haa with goad factual

id- or. even better, concrcfe idclrs.

,SVqrM IMag #I: Focusing on & d s d as a W q 4 Gdag Mon M w :

Unfahmstdy, rmny agsnizsaws be t!mp&y# pay to appid d t s , whicb puls

~ y s ~ d m ~ ~ g a o n ~ t t c & . E a t p l o y e e s ~ n ~ h ~ t d t a f o n r s t o o

mucb on the mawy mqamt, rJtharsb drat focus is catainly uwhtd&Ic. It's alao

~ w b e a ~ i a ~ ~ a M b a o m a h a r i t a x l u , m a a l r h o r t c a n i a g s

amirlplra. But rl'rdldumb. If W y s a r ' amin p u bsqiuaaerrmuch ofan

i n a e r r s c o u t a ~ ~ & ~ , ~ t h a ~ t r y t o ~ ~ r r ~ l n r p o n r i ~ ~

The rmjor mpodbilitim for wtting performance q p m d toae and climate rsrst

w r t h ~ ~ d K h ~ n a o u r c g ~ m ~ ~ o q r e v a , . v ~ w h m m a n a g n s e n d

human rrsources do their jobs well, employees who come to the p m a with a negative

or dcfunsive approach on not likely to gau! from the pocesa or to prwper over the kmg

period. The constant lrcy is for employees to participate- actively and d v e i y , but to

koop a problem-solving rninrhset and keep foc;sed on how thingti can be improved in the

f u m . No mona who initiates I< performance appraisal is about positive open

communicelion bdwear anployce and manager.

Perfomwe Appraisal is pmbably d in theory, but it presents a number of

problems in actual practice. Apal from its merits, the concept of perfonnance appraisal

has I& limitations. To quote for example, foremen are only human and they are not

cxmpt fmm committing mrs in their judgments. The rating fonn does not m a s a d y

mean the same lo all foremen. Sometimes an employee may be rated low because he is a

poor perfmcr, some ti- he may be rated low became his supervisor just does not give

any htgh m g s . According to Kellog, 'The appraisal of one human being by another is

not scientific but subjective and that the process involves mw important ethical

questions. There are a greet n u m k of sholtcomings ttuit g d l y come in the way of

accurate rating. The list of sbo~tcomings which are quite common and more frequeot

~nclude pasonal bias, vindictivaress, incompetence, umdqua~y of time for apprcllsal.

infrequency. one-aidehs, inumpatibtlity of ratings among ratas, incompatibility

between the appwa and appraisees past ncord, regency effect and halo.

hotha limitation evidenced in practice is that perform- appraisels ere so

oRm made, morded, filled and forgotten. The personnel decisions that are made at a

later date may not have any n f m e to the records. Often employes are rated Iowa

than they deserve. A few factors responsible for this effect arc:

Ail tbc lunitltiom lisled above am aot indiapcllsrble. By taking a e c ~ a ~ l y

p r rau t iom,s~meof tbancaobFe j imULdOdwhikc~~caa tnmin imizad .

~indl(n fdltbat m y ofthe Lirni~ionsofrbe ~ppraraal syjccmscanbc ovorc~nc by

cffaaivdy commlrnicrbing titc appraisal rcptxts to Lbe employee. thc following

labla-1.3 indicateP n sb f l in emphasis relating to tbe several rspects of Performarre

Appusal.

Faady Robsn. E. (1967): Th P d Mm md His lob, Tmpomd1 SaY uwl Co. Pvt. Ltd. Boaby, ppzn-Zs8.

F l i l p ~ o ~ o p i a s r t s l t t n d i t h n r a l r y r t e m m ~ a r ~ ~ t h s ~ 1 . m d d n s r m d ~

p h to cmmotuly complicated fonxd-cboicc aad bchaviomdy

MEW ICB)Q. The: popuim graphic d ' c with its hay definitions will bavc to be

b o l d in aome marmer to k n a ~ e objectivity. e.a, provide aa example of W i

to justify ratinp on a h faclor. The key to tbe proc& is the rater, and considaaMe

attention should be Ipvm to Ihe avoidance of halo, leniency, harshness d ccntnrl

tmdarcyaronr.

MaMganent by objectives is a philo$lphy of -emeat thal incorporates a

differently Micolcd appraisal procaur. Central to MBO is joint and mrdual estabtishment

of end nwlts for individual key pasomi. Equally essential is periodic joint appaiszll

when sssaunents are made concerning degrees of accomplishment. When opnhtional

activities arc closely interlocking it is recommended that team or group goal

establishment pacede the identification of individual responsibilities and goats.

Howeva, the above theomtical discussion on performance appraisal leads to the

examination of apprslsal procedures in the selected sample of the present study. The

knowtcdp about the current t h d c a l status of performance appraisal enables the

researcher to make a real~stic and useful assessment of the stage and status of appraisal

proccdufcs in the sample.

*' Edwia. 8. F l i p (1982): P-msl Mur-at, M&W- ill, Tokyo. pp 223-224. 8s

4 I 3 80 /+G6