The Supervisor 's Guidebook Plus Motivating Human Service Staff

Performance appraisal is an important issue in human resource management and has a significant effect in the performance of an organisation. It is the system of evaluating the performance of employees regarding the accomplishment of their responsibilities and determining their potential to grow and develop. Bias in the evaluation process can affect the accuracy and appropriateness of the performance appraisal. Bias is a serious issue because it affects the ability to make appropriate decisions about the promotion of employees. A performance appraisal system that works to the disadvantage of members of a group can also pose legal issues.

Performance appraisals, performance reviews and/or appraisal forms are a part of the performance management process. In general, performance appraisals are not favored. People in organizations would prefer not to be advised they did not do tell this year compared to the previous years. Managers would prefer not to put themselves in a scenario that could possibly turn into an argument from an employee about a performance appraisal that was not that great. If the ultimate goal of a performance appraisal is employee development and organizational improvement, we have to consider moving to effective performance management system to avoid any conflicts. The successes of performance management strategies sound favorable to many, however, there are managers and supervisors that make decisions that affect the moral and performance of the employees. Moral can become the heart of an employee’s motivation to succeed and be happy at work.

Performance Evaluations are a headache to many managers in the employment community. They can make it difficult to have a great workplace connection. In addition, they make it hard to accomplish goal performances. The performance evaluation system is a dislike process by em-ployees and their supervisors. According to Chan & Yung (2002), “The performance evaluation is quite subjective since it relies on the individual judgements of supervisors who have different per-ceptions of the process performance” (p. 237).

An appraisal is one of the most commonly used methods of formal assessment and is used to evaluate and assess the performance of an employee against agreed targets and objectives, with the aim of improving employee performance. Where an employee has been able to achieve their targets, the appraisal can be used to recognise successes. This often helps to increase an employee’s confidence and motivation and can lead to better organisational performance. Many organisations will use the outcomes of an appraisal to identify potential candidates for promotions or even an increase in pay. At the same time, an appraisal meeting may include discussions on underperformance, identifying why this has occurred and how this can be avoided in the future.

A performance appraisal helps with developing information on an employee, which will help determine if the objectives that were set forth have been met, and what needs to be improved to help with the success of the company. This evaluation happens once a year to help the employer determine whether or not an employee is a great asset for the company. Performance appraisal is very important for staff motivation, communicating, and an individual’s contribution towards the company success. Each performance appraisal must be accurate, and thought through to ensure that appraisals is effective, and to help

Performance appraisals are an important tool for both employee and employers and if there is not a high level of equity involved in the appraisals, they can also be meaningless and ineffective to the employer and the employee. It is very important that employees feel they are receiving a reasonable and fair outcome according

Formal assessments are then followed up and reviewed allowing progress to be evaluated. When formally assessing performance, this is done through annual appraisals, monthly/quarterly goals, audits etc. The outcomes are quantitative results/data which supports conclusions and are easily read. Informal assessments are more casual and are more difficult to measure as they can be through word of mouth, observations, peer and self evaluation and are not recorded and checked. When informally assessing performance we may look more at frequent reactions to how daily tasks are handled or through informal discussions. The

159). The evaluation process provides employees the opportunity to give a self-appraisal. Through these appraisals, an employee could justify a salary increase. It is also the time to discuss future plans, goals, aspirations, and career growth. Together with Laura, an employee would decide on goals and objectives for the next review period (Southwell, 2015, Unit 4). In the article “A Discourse Analytical Perspective on the Professionalization of the Performance Appraisal Interview,” the authors discuss how performance appraisal interviews between managers and their employees can resemble a therapy or counseling session (Van De Mieroop & Vrolix, 2014, p. 160). “Performance appraisal, in general, and performance appraisal interviews, in particular, were once rather basic communication processes, but nowadays institutions and organizations increasingly invest resources in them and this results in a growing professionalization of this genre” (Van De Mieroop & Vrolix, 2014, p.

Performance reviews also offer management the opportunity to recognize and address gaps in training, leading to development or procurement of those skills. Additionally, the review process offers employees feedback on how their performance can be improved, such as starting or stopping certain behaviors (Duggan, N.d.). Lastly, regularly scheduled performance reviews serve as a forcing function to make sure that tough feedback is delivered, rather than swept under the rug (Goler, Gale, & Grant,

As stated by Peter F. Drucker, “Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant.” Performance management is essential to achieving an organization 's mission statement and business goals, and also in attracting, retaining, and motivating qualified employees. There are many benefits and reasons why an organization should execute a performance management system. Performance appraisals establish the basis for qualifying, recognizing, and rewarding employee contributions. In this paper, I will discuss what performance management is, the problems with the current performance management system at my organization, how other organizations have succeeded in their performance management system and how I would advise management at my current organization to improve our performance management system.

Seiden, S., & Sowa, J. E. (2011). Performance Management and Appraisal in Human Service Organizations: Management and Staff Perspectives. Public Personnel Management, 40(3), 251-264.

Although Performance Management evolved from performance appraisals few decades ago, most literature still intensely focuses on performance appraisals when addressing performance management.

Performance reviews are designed to both evaluate general performance and measure progress around specific goals. Both negative and positive aspects are incorporated in these reviews as they should serve as a point of reference to both look back in evaluation and ahead in anticipation. Pulling back from daily demands in order to assess and review employee performance allows managers to focus their attention on specific departments and clarify what is high priority to their company. Performance reviews also act as an opportunity to acknowledge working staff and identify professional development which will further support the staff members’ career growth. Reviews are seen as a powerful tool that can be tied to a company’s overall success;

“Performance appraisals can enhance employee performance as well as advance the mission and goals of an organization. There are many advantages of performance appraisals if they are applied fairly, consistently and objectively. Performance appraisals not applied fairly can be counterproductive and even destructive to

Performance appraisal process if made clear and transparent can help a lot to avert low morale in employees. Fair, trustworthy, and transparent processes for performances management and resource allocation help to meet people’s drive to defend.