Performance Appraisals Within Most Organizations, Performance Measurement

Performance Appraisals

Within most organizations, performance measurement is the process in which an organization establishes certain parameters regarding the level of expectations and output with internal staff, external vendors, systems, product quality, and overall ROI. The fundamental purpose of such measurements should be directly related to both improving business and be able to directly evaluate how resources (human or otherwise) are performing. To do so, and to provide outcome that is directly related to the stated aims of the organization, performance measures are integral to the success of any organization. Studies have shown that people improve in all sorts of ways when measurement is used -- in learning, their performance, etc. As long as measurement is tied to something specific (e.g. decision making, program effectiveness, setting goals and objectives, recognizing performance, control and allocation of resources, etc.) (Spitzer, 2007).

However, performance measurement is never an end in and of itself. But if that is the case, why then is so much money spent yearly on texts and seminars on evaluating and performance measures, reformulating expectations, and confounding the human resource end of the issue. Essentially, the primary reasons are that there are so many different paradigms that need appropriate measurement that a "one size fits all" proposal makes no sense for the average person (Behn, 2003, 586-7).

For most businesses, there should be a way to measure job performance of an individual in terms of quality, quantity, cost benefit, time, and efficiency. A performance appraisal is just such a tool, and as such, should be seen as part of a guide in improving skills, elucidating potential weaknesses, and as a dialog for discussion and growth for both the employee and manager. In theory, a performance appraisal is an ongoing process of analysis and synthesis. It should take into account an employee's successes, failure, strengths, and weaknesses -- and also become a training too for promotion or future needs and training. It should not be a surprise attack, a series of derogatory statements about "what should have been done," or a snapshot of only one project or one series of events. Rather, a good performance appraisal takes many things into account and is a conglomeration of input from a variety of sources designed to improve performance (Patterson, 1987).

A performance appraisal is a review and discussion of an employee's performance of particular duties -- their job description. Typically the appraisal not only measures skill, but allows for comments on the employee's abilities on the core values of the organization (teamwork, communication, adherence to procedures, etc.). Appraisals are valuable for a number of reasons. They help supervisors get a better understanding of the employee's abilities and, if done correctly, are a tool of communication between supervisor and employee with the overriding goal to improve that employee's job performance and satisfaction. Performance dimensions are a definition of an observable behavior that the supervisor uses to determine if the particular function is being performed adequately.

Within the overall template of the organization, there should be a number of common dimensions that every employee is expected to adhere -- communication, reliability, teamwork, cooperation, acumen for one's function, etc. However, since there are often specialized jobs within an organization (e.g. technical skills, managerial skills, higher level analysis skills, etc.), by necessity there will be some jobs that are evaluated differently. Note, it is the functional area or position that will be evaluated with specific dimensions, not the individual. Just because individuals have different skill sets, learning modes, and personality types does not mean they would be evaluated individually -- that would be biased and give favoritism to some. Instead, if it is the job function that is specified, then the rubric becomes observable behavior of that individual in a specific function. Common rating methods include, but are not limited to: graphic scales, essays, and management by objectives (Culbert, 2009). Graphic sales are rubrics that assign numerical values to certain criteria. Essays are statements by management about the employee's strengths and weaknesses. Management by objectives is really process management in which longer term goals are set, collaboratively, that align the employee's performance with the company. All of these are really two-sided approaches, snapshots, and with varying degrees, qualitative in judgment and quantitative in scale (Employee Performance, 2009).