Assignment Cover Sheet

Student Name: Mr. Asibul Hasan

Student Number: 743374
Course: Diploma in HR management
Assignment No: 03

Appraisal:
An appraisal is an assessment or judgment of people’s characteristics and/or performances. In
business, this is usually referred to as performance appraisal. Based on the evaluation of the work
and the employee’s character, the ‘worth’ of the employee can be identified. Anything positive and
negative, i.e., their strengths and weaknesses, can be evaluated. This is useful not only for
management but also for the individual employees because it gives them an idea of their position
within the organization.

Outline the goals of an effective performance appraisal:

Performance appraisals are an essential component of organizational and employee evaluations.
They are not simply a checklist of dos and don’ts. From the company’s perspective, these appraisals
identify where productive and efficient work is being done, and whether the work helps to meet
objectives, both of the organization and of individual departments. Each employee must ensure that
his or her performance supports their supervisor’s performance objectives. This should then continue
upwards through all levels of the company, the ultimate level being the achievement of the corporate
strategic goals.
Clear communication of work expectations is necessary to ensure that employees are able to perform
their functions properly. If employees know exactly what is expected of them and have clear direction,
they are better able to cope with stress. Correctly designed performance appraisals also assist in
employees’ personal development.
In order to design effective performance appraisals, four criteria need to be implemented:
a) Employees must be involved in the evaluation and development process.
b) Supervisors need to perform appraisals with a constructive and helpful attitude.
c) Realistic goals must be mutually set.
d) Supervisors must have clear knowledge and understanding of the employee’s job and
performance.

The steps involved in the appraisal process:

The six steps of the performance appraisal process

 Establish performance standards
 Communicate performance standards
 Measure actual performance
 Compare actual performance to performance standards
 Discuss the results and give feedback
 Decide on a follow-up plan

The appraisal process goes like this:

1) Appraisal starts by setting performance standards. These should have developed from job analysis and
job description. The standards for performance must be clear and objective enough to be understood and
measured. Standards are sometimes written as phrases like “full day’s work” or “a good job.” These are
quite vague and don’t really express anything specific. The expectations managers have of their
subordinates in terms of work performance must be detailed and clear in their minds to enable managers,
at some later date, to communicate these expectations to their employees and assess their performances
against these already established standards.
2) The expectations should be communicated clearly after the performance standards are established.
The employees can’t simply guess what is expected of them but, unfortunately, many jobs have
ambiguous (unclear) performance standards. The problem becomes worse if the standards are not
communicated to the employees. Communication, however, is a two-way process. A manager simply
transferring information to subordinates is not necessarily communication. The information conveyed must
be received and understood as well. To ensure this, it is necessary to have feedback. This will clearly
indicate whether the information from manager to employee has been received and understood.
3) The third step in an appraisal process is the measurement of performance. One must obtain
information about a particular performance to determine its exact nature. It is important to know what you
are measuring and how you are going to measure it. There are four main sources of information that
managers use to measure performance: observation, statistical reports, verbal reports, and written reports.
A combination of all of these sources will produce a more accurate measure. Rather than how something
is measured, it is what is measured that is really important. If the wrong criteria are chosen as a measure,
serious dysfunctional consequences could result. The criteria that are used to measure must represent
performance, as mentioned in the first two steps of the appraisal process.
4) The fourth step is to compare performance with standards. This step is necessary to identify any
deviations between the standard performance and the actual performance of the employee. Presenting an
accurate appraisal and persuading the employee to accept the appraisal in a positive manner can be a
challenge for a manager. This is extremely important because if the appraisal is viewed in a negative way
the employee’s self-esteem may suffer a blow and his/her future performance may be impacted. This is
why it is critical to ensure that both positive and negative feedback is delivered in a constructive way.
Motivation will then usually remain at a good level.
5) Finally, organizations must have a process of corrective action whenever needed. This can be done in
two ways: a) immediate action that deals with the symptoms and immediate problems; b) identifying the
causes. In the latter step, the issues or problems identified are adjusted permanently. Immediate action
seeks to make corrections straightaway to pit productivity back on track. Identification of the causes, which
is a more basic action, must be undertaken to discover how and why performance digressed in the first
place and what can be done to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The benefits of an appraisal programme:

The benefits of performance appraisal can be classified in three ways: for the organization, for the
appraiser, for the person being appraised.

1) For the Organization:

a) Improved organizational performance because the organization’s objectives and values have been
effectively communicated. More cohesiveness, loyalty, and improved relationships between management
and staff will also ensue.
b) Employees perform tasks better and more efficiently.
c) Identification and ideas for improvement.
d) Long-term expectations can be developed.
e) Identification of training and development needs.
f) Creation of a culture that seeks to continually improve and succeed.
g) Identification of employees with potential and career development plans made for future staff
requirements.

2) For the appraiser:

a) Development of an overview of individual jobs and departments.
b) Ability to come up with ideas for improvement.
c) The linking of team and individual goals and targets to departmental and organizational goals.
d) The clarification of management’s expectations of teams and individuals. e) Re-prioritizing targets.
f) A chance to form a more productive relationship with staff and to attain mutual trust and understanding.

3) For the person being appraised:

a) Improved motivation.
b) Improved job satisfaction.
c) A boosted feeling of personal value.

(A) Critical Incident Method:

With this method, the manager, or person assessing, focuses on critical or key employee behaviors that
will decide whether the job is being done effectively or not. The assessor will note what the employee does
that is especially effective or ineffective. In this way, the behavior itself is actually reviewed, rather than
obscure personality traits; this is more valid because it is more specifically related to the job. If the
assessor concludes that the employee is ‘aggressive’ or ‘relaxed’, for example, this does not express how
the job is actually being done.
The focus should be on behaviors which are critical to working effectively and judging performance. Citing
many different behavior patterns displayed by the employee is helpful because it enables the employee to
be shown which of his/her behaviors are desirable and which need improvement. There are, however,
some negative aspects of this:
a) Supervisors tend to be reluctant to write reports daily or even weekly for every one of their subordinates
because it is time-consuming and burdensome for them.
b) Critical incidents are not easy to measure; hence, the comparing and ranking of subordinates is difficult.

(B) Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scales:

These scales are a mix of major elements from the critical incident and graphic rating scale methods. The
assessor must rate the employees based on certain points along a continuum. The points are examples of
employees’ behavior on the given job rather than general descriptions or traits. Behaviorally-anchored
rating scales identify certain observable and measurable types of job behavior. Examples of job-related
behaviors and performance aspects can be identified by asking participants to give clear examples of
effective and ineffective behavior regarding each performance aspect.
The behavioral examples are then interpreted into appropriate performance dimensions. Those that are
put into the dimension for which they were generated are retained. The last group of behavior examples
are then put into a numerical scale to a level of performance that each is seen to represent. The examples
that are viewed as having a high agreement on performance effectiveness by the assessor are kept and
used as anchors on the performance dimension.
The above results are a behavioral description of how the employee anticipates, plans, performs, resolves
immediate problems, carries out orders, and manages emergency situations.
This method has several advantages, such as the following:
a) It tends to reduce rating errors.
b) It assesses behavior rather than traits.
c) It makes it clear to the employee and the assessor which behaviors show good performance and which
show bad performance.

Case Study:

As per the above question,

The company needs to follow certain points for reviving back their position and getting the best output
from performance management-
 It is very necessary for the company to choose the best, most skilled, experienced, and
knowledgeable manager for the company.
 The organization must keep certain training sessions and appraisal sessions so as to motivate
the staff to perform more effectively.
 It is very important for the company to keenly observe the competitor's move so that it became
easy for the company to set its objectives accordingly.
 If the company wants to gain a competitive advantage and increase sales, it is very necessary
for the company to provide the customers with the best quality and satisfaction so as to gain
customer retention and a good market image.
 A proper flow of communication must be practiced in the organization so that there are no
disputes and misunderstandings between employees and managers, and all the activities,
tasks, and objectives can be achieved smoothly.
 The most important part is that the company needs to set a proper schedule of working and set
targets which make it easy to move according to the targets, time span, and other aspects of
management.

Student Statement:

By submitting this assignment, I confirm that this is my own work.

 Student Signature: Asibul Hasan Date: 20-05-24

For Tutor / Assessor Use Only

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