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11.2 Appraisal Methods

Learning objective.

• Be able to describe the various appraisal methods.

It probably goes without saying that different industries and jobs need different kinds of appraisal methods. For our purposes, we will discuss some of the main ways to assess performance in a performance evaluation form. Of course, these will change based upon the job specifications for each position within the company. In addition to industry-specific and job-specific methods, many organizations will use these methods in combination, as opposed to just one method. There are three main methods of determining performance. The first is the trait method , in which managers look at an employee’s specific traits in relation to the job, such as friendliness to the customer. The behavioral method looks at individual actions within a specific job. Comparative methods compare one employee with other employees. Results methods are focused on employee accomplishments, such as whether or not employees met a quota.

Within the categories of performance appraisals, there are two main aspects to appraisal methods. First, the criteria are the aspects the employee is actually being evaluated on, which should be tied directly to the employee᾿s job description. Second, the rating is the type of scale that will be used to rate each criterion in a performance evaluation: for example, scales of 1–5, essay ratings, or yes/no ratings. Tied to the rating and criteria is the weighting each item will be given. For example, if “communication” and “interaction with client” are two criteria, the interaction with the client may be weighted more than communication, depending on the job type. We will discuss the types of criteria and rating methods next.

Graphic Rating Scale

The graphic rating scale , a behavioral method, is perhaps the most popular choice for performance evaluations. This type of evaluation lists traits required for the job and asks the source to rate the individual on each attribute. A discrete scale is one that shows a number of different points. The ratings can include a scale of 1–10; excellent, average, or poor; or meets, exceeds, or doesn’t meet expectations, for example. A continuous scale shows a scale and the manager puts a mark on the continuum scale that best represents the employee’s performance. For example:

The disadvantage of this type of scale is the subjectivity that can occur. This type of scale focuses on behavioral traits and is not specific enough to some jobs. Development of specific criteria can save an organization in legal costs. For example, in Thomas v. IBM , IBM was able to successfully defend accusations of age discrimination because of the objective criteria the employee (Thomas) had been rated on.

Many organizations use a graphic rating scale in conjunction with other appraisal methods to further solidify the tool’s validity. For example, some organizations use a mixed standard scale , which is similar to a graphic rating scale. This scale includes a series of mixed statements representing excellent, average, and poor performance, and the manager is asked to rate a “+” (performance is better than stated), “0” (performance is at stated level), or “−” (performance is below stated level). Mixed standard statements might include the following:

• The employee gets along with most coworkers and has had only a few interpersonal issues.
• This employee takes initiative.
• The employee consistently turns in below-average work.
• The employee always meets established deadlines.

An example of a graphic rating scale is shown in Figure 11.1 “Example of Graphic Rating Scale” .

Essay Appraisal

In an essay appraisal , the source answers a series of questions about the employee’s performance in essay form. This can be a trait method and/or a behavioral method, depending on how the manager writes the essay. These statements may include strengths and weaknesses about the employee or statements about past performance. They can also include specific examples of past performance. The disadvantage of this type of method (when not combined with other rating systems) is that the manager’s writing ability can contribute to the effectiveness of the evaluation. Also, managers may write less or more, which means less consistency between performance appraisals by various managers.

Checklist Scale

A checklist method for performance evaluations lessens the subjectivity, although subjectivity will still be present in this type of rating system. With a checklist scale , a series of questions is asked and the manager simply responds yes or no to the questions, which can fall into either the behavioral or the trait method, or both. Another variation to this scale is a check mark in the criteria the employee meets, and a blank in the areas the employee does not meet. The challenge with this format is that it doesn’t allow more detailed answers and analysis of the performance criteria, unless combined with another method, such as essay ratings. A sample of a checklist scale is provided in Figure 11.3 “Example of Checklist Scale” .

Figure 11.1 Example of Graphic Rating Scale

Figure 11.2 Example of Essay Rating

Figure 11.3 Example of Checklist Scale

Critical Incident Appraisals

This method of appraisal, while more time-consuming for the manager, can be effective at providing specific examples of behavior. With a critical incident appraisal , the manager records examples of the employee’s effective and ineffective behavior during the time period between evaluations, which is in the behavioral category. When it is time for the employee to be reviewed, the manager will pull out this file and formally record the incidents that occurred over the time period. The disadvantage of this method is the tendency to record only negative incidents instead of postive ones. However, this method can work well if the manager has the proper training to record incidents (perhaps by keeping a weekly diary) in a fair manner. This approach can also work well when specific jobs vary greatly from week to week, unlike, for example, a factory worker who routinely performs the same weekly tasks.

Work Standards Approach

For certain jobs in which productivity is most important, a work standards approach could be the more effective way of evaluating employees. With this results-focused approach, a minimum level is set and the employee’s performance evaluation is based on this level. For example, if a sales person does not meet a quota of $1 million, this would be recorded as nonperforming. The downside is that this method does not allow for reasonable deviations. For example, if the quota isn’t made, perhaps the employee just had a bad month but normally performs well. This approach works best in long-term situations, in which a reasonable measure of performance can be over a certain period of time. This method is also used in manufacuring situations where production is extremely important. For example, in an automotive assembly line, the focus is on how many cars are built in a specified period, and therefore, employee performance is measured this way, too. Since this approach is centered on production, it doesn’t allow for rating of other factors, such as ability to work on a team or communication skills, which can be an important part of the job, too.

Ranking Methods

In a ranking method system (also called stack ranking), employees in a particular department are ranked based on their value to the manager or supervisor. This system is a comparative method for performance evaluations.The manager will have a list of all employees and will first choose the most valuable employee and put that name at the top. Then he or she will choose the least valuable employee and put that name at the bottom of the list. With the remaining employees, this process would be repeated. Obviously, there is room for bias with this method, and it may not work well in a larger organization, where managers may not interact with each employee on a day-to-day basis.

To make this type of evaluation most valuable (and legal), each supervisor should use the same criteria to rank each individual. Otherwise, if criteria are not clearly developed, validity and halo effects could be present. The Roper v. Exxon Corp case illustrates the need for clear guidelines when using a ranking system. At Exxon, the legal department attorneys were annually evaluated and then ranked based on input from attorneys, supervisors, and clients. Based on the feedback, each attorney for Exxon was ranked based on their relative contribution and performance. Each attorney was given a group percentile rank (i.e., 99 percent was the best-performing attorney). When Roper was in the bottom 10 percent for three years and was informed of his separation with the company, he filed an age discrimination lawsuit. The courts found no correlation between age and the lowest-ranking individuals, and because Exxon had a set of established ranking criteria, they won the case (Grote, 2005).

Another consideration is the effect on employee morale should the rankings be made public. If they are not made public, morale issues may still exist, as the perception might be that management has “secret” documents.

Fortune 500 Focus

Critics have long said that a forced ranking system can be detrimental to morale; it focuses too much on individual performance as opposed to team performance. Some say a forced ranking system promotes too much competition in the workplace. However, many Fortune 500 companies use this system and have found it works for their culture. General Electric (GE) used perhaps one of the most well-known forced ranking systems. In this system, every year managers placed their employees into one of three categories: “A” employees are the top 20 percent, “B” employees are the middle 70 percent, and “C” performers are the bottom 10 percent. In GE’s system, the bottom 10 percent are usually either let go or put on a performance plan. The top 20 percent are given more responsibility and perhaps even promoted. However, even GE has reinvented this stringent forced ranking system. In 2006, it changed the system to remove references to the 20/70/10 split, and GE now presents the curve as a guideline. This gives more freedom for managers to distribute employees in a less stringent manner 1 .

The advantages of a forced ranking system include that it creates a high-performance work culture and establishes well-defined consequences for not meeting performance standards. In recent research, a forced ranking system seems to correlate well with return on investment to shareholders. For example, the study (Sprenkel, 2011) shows that companies who use individual criteria (as opposed to overall performance) to measure performance outperform those who measure performance based on overall company success. To make a ranking system work, it is key to ensure managers have a firm grasp on the criteria on which employees will be ranked. Companies using forced rankings without set criteria open themselves to lawsuits, because it would appear the rankings happen based on favoritism rather than quantifiable performance data. For example, Ford in the past used forced ranking systems but eliminated the system after settling class action lawsuits that claimed discrimination (Lowery, 2011). Conoco also has settled lawsuits over its forced ranking systems, as domestic employees claimed the system favored foreign workers (Lowery, 2011). To avoid these issues, the best way to develop and maintain a forced ranking system is to provide each employee with specific and measurable objectives, and also provide management training so the system is executed in a fair, quantifiable manner.

In a forced distribution system, like the one used by GE, employees are ranked in groups based on high performers, average performers, and nonperformers. The trouble with this system is that it does not consider that all employees could be in the top two categories, high or average performers, and requires that some employees be put in the nonperforming category.

In a paired comparison system, the manager must compare every employee with every other employee within the department or work group. Each employee is compared with another, and out of the two, the higher performer is given a score of 1. Once all the pairs are compared, the scores are added. This method takes a lot of time and, again, must have specific criteria attached to it when comparing employees.

Human Resource Recall

How can you make sure the performance appraisal ties into a specific job description?

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management by objectives (MBOs) is a concept developed by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management (Drucker, 2006). This method is results oriented and similar to the work standards approach, with a few differences. First, the manager and employee sit down together and develop objectives for the time period. Then when it is time for the performance evaluation, the manager and employee sit down to review the goals that were set and determine whether they were met. The advantage of this is the open communication between the manager and the employee. The employee also has “buy-in” since he or she helped set the goals, and the evaluation can be used as a method for further skill development. This method is best applied for positions that are not routine and require a higher level of thinking to perform the job. To be efficient at MBOs, the managers and employee should be able to write strong objectives. To write objectives, they should be SMART (Doran, 1981):

• Specific. There should be one key result for each MBO. What is the result that should be achieved?
• Measurable. At the end of the time period, it should be clear if the goal was met or not. Usually a number can be attached to an objective to make it measurable, for example “sell $1,000,000 of new business in the third quarter.”
• Attainable. The objective should not be impossible to attain. It should be challenging, but not impossible.
• Result oriented. The objective should be tied to the company’s mission and values. Once the objective is made, it should make a difference in the organization as a whole.
• Time limited. The objective should have a reasonable time to be accomplished, but not too much time.

Setting MBOs with Employees

(click to see video)

An example of how to work with an employee to set MBOs.

To make MBOs an effective performance evaluation tool, it is a good idea to train managers and determine which job positions could benefit most from this type of method. You may find that for some more routine positions, such as administrative assistants, another method could work better.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

A BARS method first determines the main performance dimensions of the job, for example, interpersonal relationships. Then the tool utilizes narrative information, such as from a critical incidents file, and assigns quantified ranks to each expected behavior. In this system, there is a specific narrative outlining what exemplifies a “good” and “poor” behavior for each category. The advantage of this type of system is that it focuses on the desired behaviors that are important to complete a task or perform a specific job. This method combines a graphic rating scale with a critical incidents system. The US Army Research Institute (Phillips, et. al., 2006) developed a BARS scale to measure the abilities of tactical thinking skills for combat leaders. Figure 11.4 “Example of BARS” provides an example of how the Army measures these skills.

Figure 11.4 Example of BARS

Figure 11.5 More Examples of Performance Appraisal Types

How Would You Handle This?

Playing Favorites

You were just promoted to manager of a high-end retail store. As you are sorting through your responsibilities, you receive an e-mail from HR outlining the process for performance evaluations. You are also notified that you must give two performance evaluations within the next two weeks. This concerns you, because you don’t know any of the employees and their abilities yet. You aren’t sure if you should base their performance on what you see in a short time period or if you should ask other employees for their thoughts on their peers’ performance. As you go through the files on the computer, you find a critical incident file left from the previous manager, and you think this might help. As you look through it, it is obvious the past manager had “favorite” employees and you aren’t sure if you should base the evaluations on this information. How would you handle this?

Table 11.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Performance Appraisal Method

Key Takeaways

• When developing performance appraisal criteria, it is important to remember the criteria should be job specific and industry specific.
• The performance appraisal criteria should be based on the job specifications of each specific job. General performance criteria are not an effective way to evaluate an employee.
• The rating is the scale that will be used to evaluate each criteria item. There are a number of different rating methods, including scales of 1–5, yes or no questions, and essay.
• In a graphic rating performance evaluation, employees are rated on certain desirable attributes. A variety of rating scales can be used with this method. The disadvantage is possible subjectivity.
• An essay performance evaluation will ask the manager to provide commentary on specific aspects of the employee’s job performance.
• A checklist utilizes a yes or no rating selection, and the criteria are focused on components of the employee’s job.
• Some managers keep a critical incidents file . These incidents serve as specific examples to be written about in a performance appraisal. The downside is the tendency to record only negative incidents and the time it can take to record this.
• The work standards performance appraisal approach looks at minimum standards of productivity and rates the employee performance based on minimum expectations. This method is often used for sales forces or manufacturing settings where productivity is an important aspect.
• In a ranking performance evaluation system, the manager ranks each employee from most valuable to least valuable. This can create morale issues within the workplace.
• An MBO or management by objectives system is where the manager and employee sit down together, determine objectives, then after a period of time, the manager assesses whether those objectives have been met. This can create great development opportunities for the employee and a good working relationship between the employee and manager.
• An MBO’s objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time limited.
• A BARS approach uses a rating scale but provides specific narratives on what constitutes good or poor performance.

Review each of the appraisal methods and discuss which one you might use for the following types of jobs, and discuss your choices.

• Administrative Assistant
• Chief Executive Officer
• Human Resource Manager
• Retail Store Assistant Manager

1 “The Struggle to Measure Performance,” BusinessWeek , January 9, 2006, accessed August 15, 2011, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_02/b3966060.htm .

Doran, G. T., “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives,” Management Review 70, no. 11 (1981): 35.

Drucker, P., The Practice of Management (New York: Harper, 2006).

Grote, R., Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2005).

Lowery, M., “Forcing the Issue,” Human Resource Executive Online , n.d., accessed August 15, 2011, http://www.hrexecutive.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=4222111&query=ranks .

Phillips, J., Jennifer Shafter, Karol Ross, Donald Cox, and Scott Shadrick, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales for the Assessment of Tactical Thinking Mental Models (Research Report 1854), June 2006, US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, accessed August 15, 2011, http://www.hqda.army.mil/ari/pdf/RR1854.pdf .

Sprenkel, L., “Forced Ranking: A Good Thing for Business?” Workforce Management, n.d., accessed August 15, 2011, http://homepages.uwp.edu/crooker/790-iep-pm/Articles/meth-fd-workforce.pdf .

Human Resource Management Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

8 performance appraisal methods you should be aware of

Performance Reviews

Performance appraisals form an essential part of the HR department as they provide important and useful information for the assessment of employee’s performance, skill, knowledge, and overall ability. These appraisals are not only used to eliminate behavior and productivity issues, but also to motivate employees to contribute more. There are many modern performance appraisal methods that organisations can implement depending on their preference: most have their specific advantages as well as limitations. Let us have a look at some of them in more detail.

What are the different performance appraisal methods?

Graphic Rating scale:

A graphic rating scale lists the traits each employee should have and rates workers on a numbered scale for each trait. The scores are meant to separate employees into tiers of performers, which can play a role in determining promotions and salary adjustments.  The method is easy to understand and quite user friendly. It allows behaviors to be quantified making appraisal systems much easier.

What are the methods of performance evaluation in Graphic rating scale?

However, the scale has disadvantages that make it difficult to use as an effective management tool. Even with intense training, some modern performance appraisal methods will be too strict. Some will be too lenient, and others may find it hard to screen out their personal agendas. Although it is good at identifying the best and poorest of employees, it does not help while differentiating between the average employees.

Analyse performance of employees working on Project A from April to June 2017

Essay Performance Appraisal method:

Essay Appraisal is a traditional form of Appraisal also known as “Free Form method.” It involves a description of the employee’s performance by his superior which needs to be based on facts and often includes examples to support the information. Under this method, the rater is asked to express the strengths and weaknesses of the employee’s performance.

What are the techniques of performance appraisal in the Essay Performance Appraisal method?

This technique is normally used with a combination of the graphic rating scale in one of the modern methods variants, because the rater or feedback giver can present the scale in more detail by also giving an explanation for his rating. While preparing the essay on the employee, the rater also needs to consider specific job knowledge, understanding of the company’s policies and objectives, relations with peers, ability to plan and organize, attitude and perception of employees in general.

The Essay performance appraisal methods are non-quantitative and highly subjective. While it provides a good deal of information about the employee, it takes a lot of time of the appraiser which is not always feasible.

Checklist Scale performance appraisal method:

Under this method, a checklist of statements of traits of the employee in the form of Yes or No based questions is prepared. If the person giving the feedback believes strongly that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he checks the item; otherwise, he leaves the item blank. Here the rater only does the reporting or checking and the HR department does the actual evaluation after observing details over a period of time – and it does not allow detailed analysis of the overall performance.

Critical Incidents method:

In this method, managers prepare lists of statements of very effective and ineffective behavior of an employee. These critical incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behavior of employees on the job. The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers behavior.

What is a performance appraisal in Critical Incidents method

At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the evaluation of the workers’ performance. It provides an objective basis for feedback and conducts a thorough discussion of an employee’s performance appraisal process – hence also known as cost accounting method.

Although this method avoids recency bias , there is a tendency for manager and employee both to focus more on the negative incidents than otherwise.

Work Standards performance appraisal method:

In this technique, management establishes the goals openly and sets targets against realistic output standards. These standards are incorporated into the organizational performance appraisal system . Thus each employee has a clear understanding of their duties and knows well what is expected of them. Performance appraisal and interview comments are related to these duties. This makes the appraisal process objective and more accurate. It works best in long-term situations for human resources teams, as it considers performances during that duration and eliminates time consuming processes.

However, it is difficult to compare individual ratings because standards for work may differ from job to job and from employee to employee. It does not allow for reasonable deviations.

Ranking Appraisal:

Here the manager compares an employee to other similar employees, rather than to a standard measurement predefined for employee productivity. The employees are ranked from the highest to the lowest or from the best to the worst. The problem here is that it does not tell how much better or worse one is than another. Also it cannot be used for a large number of employees, or feedback.

Attention to detail

Management by objectives (MBO) methods of performance review are results-oriented. That is, they seek to measure employee performance by examining the extent to which predetermined work objectives have been met. Usually the objectives are established jointly by the supervisor and subordinate. Once an objective is agreed, the employee is usually expected to self-audit; that is, to identify the skills needed to achieve the objective. Typically they do not rely on others to locate and specify their strengths and weaknesses. They are expected to monitor their own development and progress, and drive their future performance. The MBO method of performance review concentrates on actual outcomes.

What makes MBOs efficient is the ability to set SMART Goals i.e. set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-bound.

The problem of judgmental performance evaluation inherent in the traditional methods of employee performance appraisal process led to some organisations to go for objective evaluation by developing a technique known as “Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)” around the 1960s. This performance appraisal method is considered better than the traditional ones because it provides advantages like a more accurate gauge, clearer standards, 360 degree feedback, and consistency in evaluation.

The BARS method is designed to bring the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative data to the employee appraisal process. It compares an individual employee’s performance against specific examples of behaviour that are anchored to numerical ratings.

Although even this method has its limitations as it is often accused of being subject to unreliability and leniency error.

Performance appraisal process is already being considered a necessary evil . Thus companies need to be careful while selecting out of these appraisal methods and accept feedback on improving the process. The method should be able to provide value to the company starting from the review period as well as the employees and managers.

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The Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

by Danielle Smyth

Published on 9 Aug 2019

The question of how to effectively gauge an employee’s performance on the job has been answered many times in many different ways, but there’s certainly no one agreed-upon method recommended by the human resources industry. Most experts agree that performance management is a critical part of having a successful business in today’s world and that effectively managing, developing and evaluating employees leads to a more efficient workforce and better company culture.

However, it’s deciding how to implement it within a certain company structure that can be challenging, and implementation is key to keeping the process effective rather than disruptive. The essay method of performance appraisal can be a great choice due to its thorough, thoughtful and unobtrusive nature.

Secrets to Effective Performance Appraisals

The truth is that effective performance appraisals take time. They take up the manager’s time, the employee’s time and the time of human resources, and they can potentially take up the time of teammates and co-workers who are asked about projects and collaboration.

For them to mean something, the process needs to be taken seriously, but that always must be balanced against the forward motion of the company and the day-to-day workloads of the employees in question.

Methods of Performance Appraisal

There are a number of methods used in today’s industries to evaluate employees. All of them require some sort of performance standard to be set at first and then an evaluation over a set period of time against that standard.

Some methods of review can be more effective than others, but some also require more dedicated time and thought from the manager or other evaluator. Some of the more common methods include the checklist method, the comparison or forced distribution method and the essay method.

Checklist Method of Performance Appraisal

With the checklist method, an employee is judged against a list of criteria. The criteria have been developed for the level or job of the employee, and usually all employees at similar levels are evaluated against it.

• Yes/no checklists simply ask the evaluator to determine whether the employee exhibits the behavior defined in each criterion: for example, “comes to work on time,” “frequently contributes to group discussions” or “meets daily safety requirements.” It’s important to make sure that all criteria are phrased so that a "yes" is the desired answer because it can be very easy to confuse an evaluation when this isn’t the case. This provides a very simple and straightforward way of judging performance but won’t get into much nuance of individual strengths and weaknesses and may not do much to differentiate one employee from another.
• Leveled checklists ask the evaluator to rate the employee on some sort of scale for each criterion. This could be a scale from one to five where five is optimal, or it could be a verbal scale with levels like “needs improvement,” “meets expectations” and “exceeds expectations.” Criteria might be “completes work within the timeline,” “collaborates with other departments” or “shows technical expertise.” These scaled ratings provide more nuance into each individual employee and should help highlight strengths as well as areas for improvement, but they require the manager to take more time to understand the performance within the department.

Comparison or Forced Distribution Methods

Comparison or forced distribution methods rate employees comparatively and against each other. This can be done in cases where an organization is rather flat, and it makes sense to compare a collection of employees together. The downside is that it can create a false sense of competition within employee groups or can result in bad attitudes.

• Paired evaluations give the evaluator a set of employee comparisons and asks him to choose who is the better employee. This is normally done within a department. For example, a department of four employees would end up with six pairs for comparison, and the evaluator (or team) would then select the best employee within each pair. For larger departments, this can be time consuming for the evaluators.
• Rankings simply ask the evaluator to rank employees from best to worst. This method is fully based on the perception of the evaluator and is not entirely popular because it is not systematic and can be easily affected by undiscovered bias on the part of the evaluator. It is, however, relatively easy to do for any manager who knows the team well.
• Forced distribution methods focus on the fact that most evaluators tend to rate their employees well. It requires the evaluators to meet a set distribution within their evaluations such that each evaluation finds poor performers as well as excellent ones. While this can be a way to identify areas for improvement, it can also be read as having to meet a quota with ratings, which can lead to dissent.

Essay Evaluation Method

The essay method is a fairly straightforward approach in which the manager or evaluator writes a descriptive essay about each employee. The essay would cover the employees' achievements throughout the evaluation period as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The essay format gives the evaluators the flexibility to focus on whatever they personally find important about the individual’s performance.

However, the essay method can be time consuming for the manager, and it requires a certain level of writing skill for the evaluation to be meaningful. It also is unlikely to be systematic, which can make it difficult to compare evaluations from person to person.

Performance Appraisal Essays

The performance evaluation essay is maybe the most interesting of the methods, as it allows a manager to genuinely express thoughts about the employee in question rather than having to work with a template or list of criteria or comparisons.

There are advantages to this, mainly in allowing the appraisers to focus on what they feel is important for each individual whom they are evaluating. The downside of this apparent freedom is because the entire essay is subjective based on the evaluator’s approach, it becomes difficult to obtain any big-picture conclusions about the department, and it can be difficult to compare employees within a certain group.

The key to a successful performance appraisal essay is the writing skills of the person assembling it . Her attention to basic essay structure and her descriptions of the behaviors on which she focuses will determine whether the right message will get across during the evaluation, both to the employee and to the team of other managers and human resources employees who may be involved with ratings, promotions and improvement plans. Some attention to basic essay-writing principles should help the evaluator construct an essay that will be meaningful to all parties involved.

" id="basic-essay-writing " class="title"> Basic Essay Writing

The following are essential to the writing of an effective performance appraisal essay:

• Preparation: For any essay, the first step is to gather information about the topic at hand. In this case, the manager should take the time to review past performance, current expectations and future needs for each employee whom he intends to evaluate. Review the employee’s achievements this year and examine reports and project records to get a full picture of performance.
• Evaluation: Once the information is at hand, it’s important to spend time connecting the dots to figure out what story the essay needs to tell about the employee’s performance. Identify any changes in the employee’s performance over the evaluation period and establish a list containing the behaviors that have been commendable and in which areas the employee could use improvement.
• Creation: Construct the essay in a manner that suits the manager’s writing style. Be sure to use professional, fair language and describe in words the successes and challenges of the employee’s work over this time period. 

Writing the Essay

The essay should open with an introduction summarizing the work completed by the employee during the evaluation period. Be sure to note key projects and pay attention to ongoing work as well as completed jobs. This is the time to discuss what the employee has done and recognize his overall contribution to the business. For example:

Jon successfully supported the infrastructure team, the McAce project and the office renovations project with technical drawings and materials lists as requested. He personally was able to complete the ventilation upgrade project, which ran over schedule but came in under budget. He submitted all monthly reports on time and took a training course this year to improve his skills at AutoCAD.

Highlight Employee Successes

The next portion of the essay should highlight some real successes for the employee. Mention his strengths and any areas where he has shown visible improvement over past performance. In this portion, focus less on what was done and more on how it was done. To continue the example:

Jon’s skill at estimation has improved greatly over the past year, with only one of his personal projects running over budget (as compared to at least 50 percent the previous year). This makes it much easier for the department to manage our overall budget appropriately and is greatly appreciated. Jon has been described as “friendly” and “personable” by his teammates, who have no problem approaching him when they need a drawing or have a question. He also had huge success with his contributions to the McAce project, which would have fallen behind schedule without his work.

Outline Areas for Improvement

After calling out successes, take some time to consider areas in which the employee needs improvement. For employees currently meeting all expectations, consider their future career path: Are there areas they need to develop in order to move into a new position? For employees whose performance may not be up to par, try to address it fairly and be straightforward and logical.

A number of Jon’s projects ran over schedule this year. It appears that Jon’s technical understanding of the work at hand could perhaps use some development. One such corrective action might be making sure to check with operators and maintenance personnel before launching a new project concept to make sure the problem at hand is actually being solved. Also, while Jon’s open personality makes him approachable, it can also lead to Jon taking extra-long breaks for conversation throughout the day, which can disturb some employees from their work.

Note that the criticisms are couched calmly in specific language that isn’t accusatory or angry and that the behaviors described correlate to an undesirable outcome. In some cases, a corrective action should be suggested. In other cases, it’s best to wait until the final step and develop a path forward with the employee in question.

" id="create-a-forward-plan " class="title"> Create a Forward Plan

The essay should end with a forward plan for the employee, involving any additional training or development she may need to meet current expectations as well as some sort of idea of the next step in her career.

The final step in the performance assessment essay is, of course, reviewing the essay with each employee. It’s best to give the employee a chance to read the evaluation and then open the floor to any questions the employee might have about what’s been written.

If an employee wants to challenge an assertion, she can be encouraged to write a short essay in return discussing why she might disagree with the essay. It’s important to discuss the successes and give recognition where it’s due as well as the challenges in order to ensure the employee understands.

The Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

Unleashing the Power of Narrative: A Comprehensive Guide to the Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

In today's dynamic work environment, performance appraisals play a crucial role in driving employee engagement, development, and overall organizational success.  choosing the right appraisal method is essential to ensure insightful feedback, clear goal setting, and a productive dialogue between managers and employees..

This guide delves into the Essay Method of Performance Appraisal, a narrative-based approach that offers a flexible and in-depth way to evaluate employee performance. We'll explore its core principles, advantages and disadvantages, best practices for implementation, and how it compares to other popular appraisal techniques.

Understanding the Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

Definition and core principles.

The Essay Method, also known as the Free-Form Method, is a qualitative performance appraisal approach where the manager writes a narrative description of the employee's performance during the review period. This description typically focuses on the employee's strengths, weaknesses, achievements, contributions, and areas for improvement. Unlike structured methods with predetermined rating scales, the Essay Method allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of an employee's performance.

Here are the core principles of the Essay Method:

• Focus on narrative: The appraisal is written as a story that details the employee's performance journey.
• Emphasis on specific examples: Concrete examples of behaviors, actions, and results support the evaluation of strengths and weaknesses.
• Holistic perspective: The essay considers not just job duties but also the employee's overall contribution to the team and organization.
• Development-oriented: The appraisal should identify areas for improvement and provide actionable plans for growth.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Essay Method

The Essay Method offers several advantages:

• Flexibility: It adapts to any role and allows for a tailored evaluation based on specific job requirements.
• Richness of detail: Managers can delve deeper into specific achievements, challenges, and areas for development.
• Open communication: The narrative format encourages a more open and conversational dialogue between managers and employees.
• Focus on potential: The essay can explore the employee's developmental potential and future aspirations.

However, the Essay Method also has some disadvantages:

• Subjectivity: Evaluations can be subjective and prone to bias if not conducted carefully.
• Time-consuming: Writing a well-crafted essay appraisal can be time-consuming for both managers and employees.
• Lack of standardization: Without clear guidelines, essays might lack consistency across the organization.
• Potential for bias: Unconscious biases can influence the way managers write the essay, impacting its fairness.

When to Use the Essay Method

The Essay Method is well-suited for situations where:

• A holistic evaluation is needed: The appraisal needs to consider not just job duties but also the employee's broader contribution to the team and organization.
• Development is a key focus: The emphasis is on identifying areas for growth and providing a clear roadmap for improvement.
• Roles are complex and multifaceted: The job description is nuanced and requires a more detailed evaluation than a simple rating scale can provide.
• Open communication is desired: The organization prioritizes fostering an environment of open communication and feedback.

Crafting Effective Essay Appraisals

Setting clear expectations and goals.

The foundation of a successful essay appraisal lies in establishing clear expectations and goals at the beginning of the review period. This can be achieved through:

• Performance agreements: Develop a formal document outlining key performance indicators (KPIs), objectives, and expected behaviors for the employee throughout the review period. This agreement serves as a reference point for the essay appraisal, ensuring alignment between expectations and performance evaluation.
• Regular check-ins: Schedule regular one-on-one meetings throughout the review period to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide ongoing feedback. These check-ins provide valuable insights and specific examples that can be woven into the essay appraisal later.

Structuring the Essay Narrative

‍ The structure of your essay appraisal should be clear and easy to follow. Here's a recommended approach:

‍ Introduction:

Briefly introduce the employee and the review period.

‍ Strengths and Achievements:

• Highlight the employee's key strengths and achievements during the review period.
• Use specific examples to showcase how their skills and actions contributed to positive outcomes.
• Quantify achievements whenever possible (e.g., "increased sales by 15%").

Areas for Development:

• Identify areas where the employee can improve.
• Focus on specific behaviors, not personality traits.
• Offer constructive feedback and suggestions for development, outlining potential training opportunities or resources.

Contributions and Teamwork:

• Discuss the employee's contributions to the team and overall organizational goals.
• Describe how they collaborated effectively with colleagues and fostered a positive work environment.
• If applicable, highlight instances where the employee demonstrated leadership or initiative.

Overall Performance:

• Provide a concise summary of the employee's overall performance based on the previous sections.
• Tie back to the established performance agreements or goals set at the beginning of the review period.

Development Plan:

• In collaboration with the employee, outline a clear and actionable development plan for the next review period.
• Specify concrete goals, learning objectives, and resources (e.g., attending workshops, mentoring programs) to support professional growth.

Conclusion:

• Briefly summarize the key takeaways from the appraisal.
• Reiterate the employee's value to the team and organization.
• Express positive support for their continued development and future success.

Focusing on Specifics and Behaviors

‍ The strength of your essay appraisal lies in its ability to move beyond generalities and focus on specific details.  Here's how:

• Example-driven evaluation: Support your evaluation of strengths and weaknesses with concrete examples of the employee's behaviors, actions, and results.
• Quantify whenever possible: When describing achievements, use quantifiable data to illustrate the impact of the employee's work.
• Focus on observable behaviors: Describe the employee's actions and how they played out in specific situations, rather than subjective interpretations of their personality.

Integrating Strengths and Weaknesses

‍ An effective essay appraisal seamlessly integrates the employee's strengths and weaknesses.

• Leveraging strengths: Highlight how the employee's strengths can be applied to address their areas for development.
• Development through strengths: Frame development plans around building on existing strengths to overcome weaknesses.
• Holistic view: Presenting a balanced picture of strengths and weaknesses allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the employee's performance.

Providing Actionable Development Plans

‍ The essay appraisal should not simply identify areas for improvement; it should also provide a clear roadmap for the employee's development.

• SMART goals: Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals for improvement.
• Collaborative planning: Work with the employee to develop the development plan, ensuring their buy-in and commitment to achieving the goals.
• Resource identification: Identify specific resources like training programs, mentoring opportunities, or online courses that can support the employee's development journey.

Remember, a well-crafted development plan fosters a sense of ownership and empowers the employee to take charge of their professional growth.

15 Types of Performance Appraisals

There's nothing more fundamental to the success of an organization than employee performance. Maybe that’s why there’s a seemingly endless number of performance appraisal processes for evaluating, measuring, driving, and developing employee performance.

Because there are so many options, choosing the right performance appraisal approach for your organization can be daunting. 

What are the types of performance appraisal?

The PerformYard software platform has helped thousands of organizations run hundreds of performance management processes. In this article, we'll review 14 of the most common performance evaluation methods ranging from traditional methods of appraisals like competency assessments to more extreme appraisal techniques like human resource accounting. We’ll also share when it is most effective and appropriate to use each approach. 

When building out a complete performance management system, organizations will often choose to combine a few of the following appraisals. Be sure to think about what outcomes are most important to your organization when considering the following examples.

PerformYard makes it easy to run any type of performance appraisal process. Learn More

1. Check-Ins

Performance check-ins are often confused with other types of performance reviews, but they’re not exactly the same thing. Performance check-ins happen more often, they are more informal, and they give managers the opportunity to build rapport and find out what employees are working on between cycles.

Check-ins can have set agendas or be completely open-ended. Most often, employees and managers will discuss progress towards company goals, overall performance since the last check-in, and the employee’s aspirations.

The primary role of check-ins is to create a consistent time and space for discussions about long-term performance. Managers should consistently take notes after check-ins throughout the year. Then when employee reviews come around, managers can use notes from check-ins to evaluate the employee’s performance and guide the conversation. 

Documenting the check-in is vital to the success of the performance review. PerformYard's software can remind you about check-ins and store the goal updates and discussion points. The image below shows how check-in data is stored in PerformYard where it can be referenced in quarterly or annual reviews.

When to Use Check-Ins

Check-ins are less complex than many types of performance appraisals, but more frequent. They usually take place between more intensive appraisal processes to spread out performance discussions throughout the year without overburdening employees and the organization. 

2. 360 Feedback

360 feedback involves getting broad feedback from an employee’s coworkers. This can mean peer reviews, self-reviews, manager-reviews, secondary manager reviews, or upward reviews. PerformYard gathers 360 review responses and stores them in the employee's review dashboard for easy access, as seen in the image below.

The idea is to increase the sources of feedback in order to get a more accurate and holistic view of employee performance. 360 feedback will often be open-ended or thematic with the employee’s manager reviewing and aggregating the feedback into a single more cohesive picture of performance.

When to Use 360 Feedback

360 feedback is a great option for when employees regularly work collaboratively on different teams. 

When an employee’s primary role is working with others outside the view of their manager, 360 reviews can bring up feedback that might not otherwise be raised. Peers are often hesitant to give negative feedback outside of a formal context, but 360 reviews provide that context.

360 reviews can be a great source of feedback, but they also require a lot of coordination. The administration of 360 feedback can be a burden on both managers and employees, so it’s important to have a process in place for every stage of the 360 process.

Another key to successful 360 reviews is to train everybody in the organization to deliver effective feedback. When employees don’t have experience giving feedback, what they share may be more destructive than constructive. Giving effective feedback is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced.

Related: The Pros and Cons of 360 Reviews

3. Narrative Appraisals or Essay Appraisals

As its name suggests, the narrative performance appraisal (or essay appraisal) is created when a manager writes a freeform essay about an employee’s performance over a specific review period. 

Essay appraisals allow reviewers to discuss anything they feel is pertinent to the employee without being locked into certain questions. 

In a perfect world, this approach would allow managers to focus on exactly what an employee needs to hear and provide the most relevant feedback. But in reality, managers don’t always express themselves clearly. Essay appraisals can leave employees feeling confused on where they stand. 

The narrative appraisal is also customized to each employee, which makes it nearly impossible to make comparisons across employees. Essay appraisals are often paired with another appraisal method, such as graphic scale rating, to draw more accurate conclusions. 

When to Use Narrative or Essay Appraisals

Essay appraisals are best for employees with loosely defined jobs or who do very individualized creative work. If it's hard to quantify the inputs and outputs of employees’ work or you feel like every employee would need their own custom appraisal questions in order to get relevant feedback, the narrative appraisal could be right for you.

But a word of caution: essay appraisals can quickly get off the rails and become unnecessarily complex. Setting a standard for the style and length of essay appraisals can help keep reviewers on track.  

4. Competency Assessment

Competency assessments measure an employee’s capabilities against their critical job skills. These assessments show the gaps between where an employee needs to be and where they are now.

Competency assessments often flow naturally into a concrete learning plan focused on the competencies with gaps. 

This type of appraisal can be conducted in a variety of ways: through observation, interviews, or forms. The key is to choose the right competencies for every role at your organization.

When to Use Competency Assessments

Competency assessments are great for jobs where success is dependent on well-understood skills. It usually helps to have many employees in a similar role so that you can begin to understand the competencies that matter through experience. 

Focusing on a specific set of competencies can lead you down the road of only recognizing employees who succeed in one specific type of way. Employees who drive great outcomes but do so in unexpected ways may find it difficult to progress when they are evaluated on competencies, rather than outcomes.

To combat this issue, Western National Insurance Group paired competency assessments with open-ended questions , such as:

• What is the employee doing well?
• What are some of their notable accomplishments?
• What do they still need to work on?
• What stretch goals are they working on to improve?

They then track responses to both competency assessments and open-ended questions using performance management software.

5. Project-Based Reviews

Project-based reviews are unique in that they focus on the most recent work an employee has completed. These reviews include questions that are directly related to an employee’s contribution to a project. 

Feedback cycles can be quicker with project-based reviews, as projects often cycle more frequently than traditional review cycles. Because of the frequency, it’s important to have a system that helps project-based reviews run smoothly.  

When project-based reviews are used, employees have the opportunity to receive and internalize feedback before getting into the next project where they can then demonstrate any improvements.

When to Use Project-Based Reviews

Project-based reviews are best for companies that work on distinct projects one at a time (or almost one at a time). These reviews work best when these projects last from a few weeks to a few months. Typical examples are accounting audit teams, consulting teams, and some types of law firms. 

Project-based reviews are especially useful when organizations are bringing together new groups of employees for each project.

6. Stack Ranking Appraisals

Stack rankings and forced distributions are a controversial method of performance appraisals that rely on ranking employees against each other.

Sometimes this is a top to bottom list, and sometimes it’s sorting employees into buckets of high-performing, low-performing, and the middle with quotas for each. 

Rankings force managers to differentiate between employees to find out which ones actually have the highest performance. It also makes it very clear where employees stand in relation to their peers.

When used in combination with continuous feedback and tracked in a system like PerformYard , stack rankings can be a powerful tool to create a more productive workforce overall.

When to Use Ranking Appraisals

Ranking appraisals can work great for competitive environments like up-or-out consulting firms. In these situations, everybody knows they need to be a top performer to stay with the firm, so it’s healthier to make this process transparent and open.

Forced distributions can also be a useful approach in the short-term for organizations that have become stagnant and are being dragged down by low performers. Sometimes letting employees who have checked-out move on to a new job and bringing in fresh talent is the best decision for everybody involved. 

Rankings are not great for companies that are focused on innovation or creativity, as moments of creativity can be uneven and unpredictable. Pushing employees out after one underperforming year probably doesn’t make sense in that context. 

Stack ratings also aren’t great for organizations that need to be extremely collaborative, as they create tension and competitiveness between employees.

7. Grading/Rating Appraisals

In a grading/rating performance appraisal , managers use a numerical (1-5) or descriptive scale to record an employee’s performance in specific areas of their job. 

Because they are easy to fill out and create quantitative data, rating appraisals are very popular.

One of the keys to rating appraisals is making sure managers aren’t just doing the minimum amount of work necessary to get them done without having the difficult and important conversations needed to accompany these types of appraisals. 

Ratings send a very clear message of where an employee stands, but do a very poor job of telling an employee where they need to go. Companies may choose to combine ratings with qualitative comments and feedback to give employees a clear understanding of why they received the ratings they did. Ratings can be useful for seeing how employees stack up against each other. PerformYard's reporting software can show ratings with clear visuals, as in the below example.

When to Use Grading/Rating Appraisals

Rating scales work well at organizations that need to create more accountability because it’s impossible to spin a low rating. 

Ratings feedback is quantitative, but organizations can struggle to stay organized and manage the data. It’s important to have a system to manage all of the feedback received from rating appraisals so you can make full use of this approach.

If you’re wondering whether or not you should implement rating appraisals, remember that you'll need to do more than just tell employees they’re underperforming if you want them to step up their game. Analyzing performance data and helping employees understand where they can improve is key. 

8. Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (also known as BARS) uses behavior “statements” as a reference point for rankings. BARS measures employee performance against specific examples of behavior that are given a number ranking. See below for performance appraisal examples from the BARS system.

For example, a pizza place could use a Level 1 ranking to describe an employee who takes more than 10 minutes to make a pizza, while a Level 5 ranking would describe an employee who makes a pizza in under 5 minutes.

BARS is helpful because it combines qualitative and quantitative assessments. The behavioral definitions can also aid in eliminating ranking bias.

When to Use BARS

Because BARS creates the ability to design a unique performance management experience for every position within an organization, it’s typically best for organizations that have groups of positions or departments made up of similar types of jobs. 

BARS is also helpful for companies that struggle with bias challenges in their current performance management process. The emphasis on behavior produces objective ratings that are difficult to distort.

One of the biggest challenges of BARS is being able to articulate exactly what great performance looks like in advance. Using BARS may mean that you have people who live up to your expectations, but not people who surprise you and surpass your expectations in new ways.

9. External/Client Appraisals

External and client appraisals involve bringing in third parties from outside the company to help with performance reviews. 

For employees that primarily engage with customers or clients, this can be the most important source of feedback.

When to Use External/Client Appraisals

Client appraisals are great for service roles where an employee's primary job is to interact with customers. Gig-economy companies like Uber rely exclusively on client appraisals to manage their contract workforce.

Related: How Does Uber Do Performance Management?

External appraisals are also a good option for employees that work as closely with a client as they do with their coworker, like a consultant on site with a client for an extended period.

Keeping track of the process is one of the most challenging aspects of client appraisals. Managers and HR professionals have enough on their plate without emailing questions, sending reminders, and following up with clients to keep the process moving. 

If you’re considering client appraisals, make sure you have a process in place to keep track of all of the moving parts.

10. Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management by objectives (MBO) measure employee performance by how employees achieve specific objectives. These objectives are decided on with equal input from employees and managers. 

Effective objectives should align with organizational goals. Managers and employees should equally participate and communicate to ensure the objectives are met.

When to Use MBO

MBO can be an effective method for many organizations. This method isn’t difficult to implement and can truly suit the needs of most organizations without incurring major costs.

The most difficult part of MBO is the communication required. 

To set and achieve successful goals, a substantial amount of input and feedback is needed from both managers and employees. 

It’s helpful to have all of this feedback stored in one place for both parties to refer back to. This helps managers and employees easily track progress and see what’s needed to meet the objectives.

11. Checklist Appraisals

In checklist appraisals, managers are asked to answer “yes” or “no” to a series of questions or statements about an employee. These appraisals tend to be easy to complete and can help an employee know where they stand across a broad set of domains.

Google famously uses this approach to review their managers. Employees answer yes or no for a long list of actions Google believes good managers should be taking with their reports.

Related: What is Upward Feedback? Lessons from Google Manager Surveys

When to Use Checklist Appraisals

Because checklist appraisals are binary, they’re best used for traits where levels of gray are less important. Checklists are also great when you need to provide a lot of feedback in many areas but need to keep the appraisal easy to complete. 

A major con of checklist appraisals is that they don’t allow for explanations or detailed answers. This method is most effective when combined with a more detailed method, such as narrative appraisals. 

12. Critical Incident Appraisals

For critical incident appraisals, managers keep a log of specific examples of both negative and positive behavior exhibited by employees. The standard for behavior can be based on company values or an employee’s job description. 

After a period of time, managers and employees meet to discuss the log and evaluate performance. A continuous log makes sure that performance reviews focus equally on performance across the year and concrete moments, rather than general sentiments.

When to Use Critical Incident Appraisals

Critical incident appraisals are simply descriptions of events and that can make it hard to compare employees or make decisions based on them. 

They can also be overwhelming and hard to interpret. We recommend pairing critical incident appraisals with some sort of quantitative method.

13. Human Resource Accounting / Cost Accounting

Also called cost accounting, human resource accounting analyzes an employee’s performance through the monetary gains they bring to the organization vs. the cost to retain the employee. 

When to Use Human Resource Accounting

Human resource accounting is most useful when employee contributions and costs are measurable. This can happen in situations where executives are judged on their P&L, or for positions like sales where the ultimate measure of success is revenue generated.

Unfortunately, it’s extremely difficult to perfectly understand all of the costs and benefits an employee has on an organization. Human resource accounting also doesn’t account for technology, which can greatly reduce the overall costs in an organization by automating processes that were previously done by employees. 

14. Psychological Appraisals

Psychological appraisals are unique in that they consider an employee’s future performance, rather than focusing on their past. 

In this appraisal, psychologists look at the employee’s internal traits and qualities that could affect their performance in the future. 

The psychologists can look at specific scenarios when performing their appraisal to discover how an employee is likely to perform in similar scenarios in the future.

When to Use Psychological Appraisals

Psychological appraisals can help organizations see employees’ potential. They can be used in specific scenarios, such as determining which employees should be pushed toward leadership roles or managing reorganizations of the org chart.

While useful, psychological appraisals can be time-consuming and costly, especially for small organizations. They are also difficult for organizations to manually administer. There is also controversy over how well the psychological traits will actually predict future performance as people are not static.

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are focused on quantifiable measures to evaluate performance, which are designed to assess the company and team's performance. The goals are the “what” of performance; the results are the “hows.” This style is popular with tech companies because it’s an excellent way to manage growth through executing common goals.

When to Use OKRs

OKRs keep planning focused on impact, so this metric is best utilized at the team level. This method works on the inverse of micromanaging because it’s an effective mechanism for aligning top-down strategy with bottom-up, team-level commitments to support the processes involved. OKRs de-emphasize specific tasks and emphasize value. OKRs work best as a team-based goal rather than a particular methodology due to a shared objective and quantifiable metrics, which helps a team coordinate activity, align with stakeholders, and move with more than just immediate goals as a finish line.

Choosing an Approach and Next Steps

Hopefully you’ve been inspired by one or more of the types of appraisals we’ve outlined above. Which ones you choose to implement will all depend on the needs of your own organization. We have a number of other articles that can help you determine which is the best fit and how to implement it: 

• Choosing a Purpose for Performance Management
• Creating a Modern Performance Management Strategy
• How to Implement Performance Management

No matter what direction you take, it’s vitally important to get your process right. Most appraisals fail because employees resent how cumbersome and irrelevant they are. Choosing the right type of appraisal should make them more relevant, but you still need to make them more streamlined.

Look for ways to automate form assignments and generate real-time alerts for employees when they need to complete self or manager review forms. 

Simplify the sign-off flows so everyone knows when a form is ready for sign-off and can easily send forms back for changes.

Track cycle progress so you can quickly intervene when managers are falling behind; even better, automate reminders.

The more you can rely on a well-designed system to run your review process, the less you’ll force your managers to deal with the administrative minutia they resent.

Once you’ve nailed the approach and the process, you’ll be well on your way to effective performance appraisals.

See how organizations use PerformYard to streamline their processes. Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best form of performance appraisal.

The best performance appraisal is the one that serves your organization’s needs. If you’re just getting started, consider a narrative appraisal with a few simple rating questions that focus on overall performance.

What type of performance review provides the best feedback?

Checklist appraisals can provide a broad array of feedback quickly, however, for the best overall feedback, it’s hard to beat a well-written narrative review. Unfortunately, not all managers will take the time to write comprehensive and thoughtful narrative reviews.

What is the best way to evaluate employee performance?

If you’re looking to generate quantitative data on employee performance, consider using ratings appraisals that ask simple questions managers likely already have conviction around. Good questions include, “Is this employee ready for promotion?” and “How hard would you fight to keep this employee at our organization?”

What should I include in a performance evaluation?

One thing to include in every performance evaluation is space for context and ways for the employee to improve their performance going forward. It’s important that employees have enough information to understand their feedback and know what to do with it.

What is the most common performance appraisal method?

Formal check-ins, narrative appraisals, and competency assessments are the three most common appraisal methods used today.

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Understanding Performance Appraisal

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Employee appraisal; Performance assessment; Performance evaluation

Introduction

Human resources are a relevant productive factor within any organization, whether public or private (Boudreau and Ramstad 2007 ). That is why the improvement of employee’s performance is a crucial issue in management science. Performance appraisal (PA), the formal management system that provides for the evaluation of the quality of an individual’s performance in an organization, is a fundamental step along this path. In concrete terms, PA is the process by which an observer, often a supervisor, assesses an employee’s work performance (DeNisi et al. 1984 ), comparing current performance with explicit or implicit standards, and then providing feedback.

PA is a key tool used in public or private companies to measure employee performance and ensure proper and efficient personnel management. The first experiences of performance appraisal are very old and can be traced back to the Chinese Han dynasty...

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8.6 Performance Appraisal Methods

In this section, we will discuss some of the main methods used to assess performance. However, before discussing these methods, we must discuss how they approach the assessment of individual performance. Some methods focus on the employee’s specific traits in relation to the job. For these methods, the objective is to capture whether or not the employees possess the KSAO’s required for the job. An example would be to assess whether a salesperson is outgoing or whether the accounts payable clerks are conscientious and pay attention to detail.

Another way to approach the assessment of performance is to look at individual actions within a specific job. This focus on behaviour, for example, would try to measure whether the salesperson uses a certain protocol when approaching customers or whether the accounts payable clerk follows up on her phone calls. The focus is on ‘what employees actually do’ as opposed to ‘who the employee is’ (for the trait methods). Comparative methods compare one employee with other employees. Finally, results methods are focused on objective employee accomplishments. Note that many organizations will use these methods in combination.

Graphic Rating Scale

The graphic rating scale , a trait method, is perhaps the most popular choice for performance evaluations. This type of evaluation lists the traits required for the job and asks the source to rate the individual on each attribute such as dependability and creativity. For example, the ratings can include a scale of 1–10; excellent, average, or poor; or exceeds, meets, or does not meet expectations.

The disadvantage of this type of scale is that it is quite subjective. Thus, many organizations use a graphic rating scale in conjunction with other appraisal methods to further solidify the tool’s validity. For example, some organizations use a mixed standard scale, which is similar to a graphic rating scale. This scale includes a series of mixed statements representing excellent, average, and poor performance, and the manager is asked to rate a “+” (performance is better than stated), “0” (performance is at stated level), or “−” (performance is below stated level). Mixed standard statements might include the following:

• The employee gets along with most coworkers and has had only a few interpersonal issues.
• This employee takes initiative.
• The employee consistently turns in below-average work.
• The employee always meets established deadlines.

Essay Appraisal

In an essay appraisal , the evaluator answers a series of questions about the employee’s performance in essay form. This can be a trait method and/or a behavioural method, depending on how the manager writes the essay. These statements may include strengths and weaknesses about the employee or statements about past performance. They can also include specific examples of past performance. The disadvantage of this type of method (when not combined with other rating systems) is that the manager’s writing ability can contribute to the effectiveness of the evaluation. Also, managers may write less or more, which means less consistency between performance appraisals by various managers.

Checklist Scale

A checklist method for performance evaluations lessens the subjectivity, although subjectivity will still be present in this type of rating system. With a checklist scale, a series of questions are being asked and the manager simply responds yes or no to the questions, which can fall into either the behavioural or the trait method, or both. Another variation to this scale is a check mark in the criteria the employee meets and a blank in the areas the employee does not meet. The challenge with this format is that it does not allow for more detailed answers and analysis of the performance criteria unless combined with another method, such as essay ratings.

Critical Incident Appraisals

While Critical Incident Appraisals are more time-consuming to develop, they can be effective because they provide specific examples of behaviour to anchor the ratings. With a critical incident appraisal , the manager records examples of the employee’s effective and ineffective behaviour during the time period between evaluations, which is in the behavioural category. When it is time for the employee to be reviewed, the manager will pull out this file and formally record the incidents that occurred over the time period. The disadvantage of this method is the tendency to record only adverse incidents instead of positive ones. However, this method can work well if the manager has the proper training to record incidents (perhaps by keeping a weekly diary) in a fair manner. This approach can also work well when specific jobs vary greatly from week to week, unlike, for example, a factory worker who routinely performs the same weekly tasks.

Work Standards Approach

A work standards approach could be the more effective way of evaluating employees for certain specific jobs in which productivity is essential. With this results-focused approach, a minimum level is set and the employee’s performance evaluation is based on this level. For example, if a salesperson does not meet a quota of $1 million, this would be recorded as nonperforming. The downside is that this method does not allow for reasonable deviations. For example, if the quota is not met, perhaps the employee just had a bad month but normally performs well. This approach works best in long-term situations, in which a reasonable measure of performance can be over a certain period. For example, in an automotive assembly line, the focus is on how many cars are built in a specified period, and therefore, employee performance is measured this way. Since this approach is centred on production, it does not allow for rating of other factors, such as ability to work on a team or communication skills, which can be important parts of the job.

Ranking Methods

In a ranking method system  (also called relative method), employees in a particular department are ranked based on their performance. This system is a comparative method for performance evaluations. This method is stack ranking of employees based upon individual performance appraisal ratings (numeric or classification). A performance distribution chart is developed to show what percentage are rated as poor, marginal, meets, and exceeds with respect to performance. Senior management of larger organizations sometimes conduct this method of ranking to determine if a company wide action is warranted – to cull poor performers and/or increase emphasis on performance improvement plans.

“ 8.6 Performance Appraisal Methods ” from Human Resources Management – 3rd Edition by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Human Resources Management Copyright © 2023 by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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BUS603: Managing People

Employee Assessment

Appraisal methods, essay appraisal.

In an   essay appraisal , the source answers a series of questions about the employee's performance in essay form. This can be a trait method and/or a behavioral method, depending on how the manager writes the essay. These statements may include strengths and weaknesses about the employee or statements about past performance. They can also include specific examples of past performance. The disadvantage of this type of method (when not combined with other rating systems) is that the manager's writing ability can contribute to the effectiveness of the evaluation. Also, managers may write less or more, which means less consistency between performance appraisals by various managers.

8.2 Techniques of Performance Appraisal

• What practices are used in the performance appraisal process?

Organizations use numerous methods to evaluate personnel. We will summarize several popular techniques. Although countless variations on these themes can be found, the basic methods presented provide a good summary of the commonly available techniques. Following this review, we will consider the various strengths and weaknesses of each technique. Six techniques are reviewed here: (1) graphic rating scales, (2) critical incident technique, (3) behaviorally anchored rating scales, (4) behavioral observation scales, (5) management by objectives, and (6) assessment centers.

Graphic Rating Scales

Certainly, the most popular method of evaluation used in organizations today is the graphic rating scale . One study found that 57 percent of the organizations surveyed used rating scales, and another study found the figure to be 65 percent. 5 Although this method appears in many formats, the supervisor or rater is typically presented with a printed or online form that contains both the employee’s name and several evaluation dimensions (quantity of work, quality of work, knowledge of job, attendance). The rater is then asked to rate the employee by assigning a number or rating on each of the dimensions. An example of a graphic rating scale is shown in Table 8.1 .

By using this method, if we assume that evaluator biases can be minimized, it is possible to compare employees objectively. It is also possible to examine the relative strengths and weaknesses of a single employee by comparing scores on the various dimensions.

However, one of the most serious drawbacks of this technique is its openness to central tendency, strictness, and leniency errors. It is possible to rate almost everyone in the middle of the scale or, conversely, at one end of the scale. In order to control for this, some companies have assigned required percentage distributions to the various scale points. Supervisors may be allowed to rate only 10 percent of their people outstanding and are required to rate 10 percent unsatisfactory, perhaps assigning 20 percent, 40 percent, and 20 percent to the remaining middle categories. By doing this, a distribution is forced within each department. However, this procedure may penalize a group of truly outstanding performers or reward a group of poor ones.

Critical Incident Technique

With the critical incident technique of performance appraisal, supervisors record incidents, or examples, of each subordinate’s behavior that led to either unusual success or unusual failure on some aspect of the job. These incidents are recorded in a daily or weekly log under predesignated categories (planning, decision-making, interpersonal relations, report writing). The final performance rating consists of a series of descriptive paragraphs or notes about various aspects of an employee’s performance (see Table 8.2 ).

Job Knowledge —Technical and/or Specialized—possible considerations:

• shows exceptional knowledge in methods, materials, and techniques; applies in a resourceful and practical manner
• stays abreast of development(s) in field and applies to job
• “keeps up” on latest material in her special field
• participates in professional or technical organizations pertinent to her activities

Performance on Human Relations

Ability to Communicate —possible considerations:

• gives logical, clear-cut, understandable instructions on complex problems
• uses clear and direct language in written and oral reporting
• organizes presentations in logical order and in order of importance
• provides supervisor and subordinates with pertinent and adequate information
• tailors communications approach to group or individual
• keeps informed on how subordinates think and feel about things

Results Achieved through Others —possible considerations:

• develops enthusiasm in others that gets the job done
• has respect and confidence of others
• recognizes and credits skills of others
• coordinates well with other involved groups to get the job done

The critical incident method provides useful information for appraisal interviews, and managers and subordinates can discuss specific incidents. Good qualitative information is generated. However, because little quantitative data emerge, it is difficult to use this technique for promotion or salary decisions. The qualitative output here has led some companies to combine the critical incident technique with one of the quantitative techniques, such as the rating scale, to provide different kinds of feedback to the employees.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales

An appraisal system that has received increasing attention in recent years is the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS). This system requires considerable work prior to evaluation but, if the work is carefully done, can lead to highly accurate ratings with high inter-rater reliability. Specifically, the BARS technique begins by selecting a job that can be described in observable behaviors. Managers and personnel specialists then identify these behaviors as they relate to superior or inferior performance.

An example of this is shown in Exhibit 8.4 , where the BARS technique has been applied to the job of college professor. As shown, as one moves from extremely poor performance to extremely good performance, the performance descriptions, or behavioral anchors, increase. Oftentimes, six to ten scales are used to describe performance on the job. Exhibit 8.4 evaluates the professor’s organizational skills. Other scales could relate to the professor’s teaching effectiveness, knowledge of the material, availability to students, and fairness in grading. Once these scales are determined, the evaluator has only to check the category that describes what she observes on the job, and the employee’s rating is simultaneously determined. The BARS technique has several purported advantages. In particular, many of the sources of error discussed earlier (central tendency, leniency, halo) should be significantly reduced because raters are considering verbal descriptions of specific behaviors instead of general categories of behaviors, such as those used in graphic rating scales. In addition, the technique focuses on job-related behaviors and ignores less relevant issues such as the subordinate’s personality, race, or gender. This technique should also lead to employees being less defensive during performance appraisals, because the focus of the discussion would be actual measured behaviors, not the person. Finally, BARS can aid in employee training and development by identifying those domains needing most attention.

On the negative side, as noted above, considerable time and effort in designing the forms are required before the actual rating. Because a separate BARS is required for each distinct job, it is only cost-efficient for common jobs. Finally, because the technique relies on observable behaviors, it may have little applicability for such jobs in such areas as research science (and sometimes management), where much of the work is mental and relevant observable behaviors are difficult to obtain.

Behavioral Observation Scales

The behavioral observation scale (BOS) is similar to BARS in that both focus on identifying observable behaviors as they relate to performance. It is, however, less demanding of the evaluator. Typically, the evaluator is asked to rate each behavior on a scale from 1 to 5 to indicate the frequency with which the employee exhibits the behavior. Evaluation of an employee’s performance on a particular dimension is derived by summing the frequency ratings for the behaviors in each dimension.

For example, in Table 8.3 we can see an example of a form to evaluate a manager’s ability to overcome resistance to change. The rater simply has to circle the appropriate numbers describing observed behaviors and get a summary rating by adding the results. The BOS technique is easier to construct than the BARS and makes the evaluator’s job somewhat simpler. Even so, this is a relatively new technique that is only now receiving some support in industry.

Management by Objectives

A popular technique for evaluating employees who are involved in jobs that have clear quantitative output is management by objectives (MBO). Although the concept of MBO encompasses much more than just the appraisal process (incorporating an organization-wide motivation, performance, and control system), we will focus here on its narrower application to evaluating employee performance. MBO is closely related to the goal-setting theory of motivation.

Under MBO, individual employees work with their supervisor to establish goals and objectives for which they will be responsible during the coming year. These goals are stated in clear language and relate to tasks that are within the domain of the employee. An example of these goals for a sales representative is shown in Table 8.4 . Following a specified period of time, the employee’s performance is compared to the preset goals to determine the extent to which the goals have been met or exceeded.

Several advantages of MBO have been observed. These include the ability to do better planning; improved motivation, because of knowledge of results; fairer evaluations, done on the basis of results rather than personality; improved commitment through participation; and improved supervisory skills in such areas as listening, counseling, and evaluating. On the negative side, however, MBO has been criticized because it emphasizes quantitative goals at the expense of qualitative goals and often creates too much paperwork. It is difficult to compare performance levels among employees because most are responsible for different goals. Sometimes the implementation of MBO goals are autocratic and therefore ineffective or even counterproductive. As discussed in the study of motivation, goals must be accepted to be effective. Finally, in order to be successful, MBO implementation must have constant attention and support from top management; MBO does not run itself. In the absence of this support, the technique loses legitimacy and often falls into disrepair.

Assessment Centers

A relatively new method of evaluation is the assessment center . Assessment centers are unique among appraisal techniques in that they focus more on evaluating an employee’s long-range potential to an organization than on her performance over the past year. They are also unique in that they are used almost exclusively among managerial personnel.

An assessment center consists of a series of standardized evaluations of behavior based on multiple inputs. Over a two- or three-day period (away from the job), trained observers make judgments on managers’ behavior in response to specially developed exercises. These exercises may consist of in-basket exercises, role-playing, and case analyses, as well as personal interviews and psychological tests. An example of an assessment center program is shown in Table 8.5 .

On the basis of these exercises, the trained observers make judgments on employees’ potential for future managerial assignments in the organization. More specifically, information is obtained concerning employees’ interpersonal skills, communication ability, creativity, problem-solving skills, tolerance for stress and ambiguity, and planning ability. This technique has been used successfully by some of the largest corporations in the United States, including AT&T, IBM, and General Electric.

Results from a series of assessment center programs appear promising, and the technique is growing in popularity as a means of identifying future managerial potential. For example, Coca-Cola USA experimented with using assessment centers to select its managerial personnel. After a detailed study, the company found that those selected in this way were only one-third as likely to leave the company or be fired than those selected in the traditional way. Although the assessment center approach added about 6 percent to the cost of hiring, the lower turnover rate led to large overall savings. 6

Some problems with the technique have been noted. In particular, because of the highly stressful environment created in assessment centers, many otherwise good managers may simply not perform to their potential. Moreover, the results of a poor evaluation in an assessment center may be far-reaching; individuals may receive a “loser” image that will follow them for a long time. And, finally, there is some question concerning exactly how valid and reliable assessment centers really are in predicting future managerial success. 7 Despite these problems, assessment centers remain a popular vehicle in some companies for developing and appraising managerial potential.

Ethics in Practice

Tesla’s performance review.

At Tesla, the automotive giant, the standards are set extremely high for their employees. In 2017, Tesla conducted its annual performance reviews as it does each year. Due to the review process, the company sees both voluntary and involuntary departures. During the review process, the managers discuss “results that were achieved, as well as how those results were achieved” with their employees.* Tesla also has a performance recognition and compensation program that includes equity rewards as well as promotions in some cases, along with the constructive feedback.

The departure of employees during the review period is not unique to Tesla; however, in 2017 there was a large exodus of approximately 700 employees following their employee reviews. Elon Musk, who recently has stepped down from the role of chairman and has been under scrutiny for his behavior,* saw the media coverage of this news as “ridiculous.”

“You have two boxes of equal ability, and one’s much smaller, the big guy’s going to crush the little guy, obviously,” states Musk. “So, the little guy better have a heck of a lot more skill or he’s going to get clobbered. So that is why our standards are high . . . if they’re not high, we will die.”

Overall, approximately 17 percent of their employees were promoted, almost half in manufacturing. As Tesla continues to grow and develop new vehicles, it is consistently pushing the boundaries and pushing its employees to new limits. Performance reviews are of the highest importance for Tesla’s business to succeed; the company needs the best people with the best skills. It is constantly growing and attempting to “suck the labor pool dry” to fill positions at many of its locations and factories.

• What factors do you feel could have changed in Tesla’s approach to its performance reviews?
• How can a high-pressure environment affect an employee’s performance? What factors should be considered to combat these issues?

Sources: K. Korosec. “Tesla Fires Hundreds of Workers After Their Annual Performance Review.” Fortune , October 14, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/tesla-fires-employees/; D. Muoio. “Tesla fired 700 employees after performance reviews in the third quarter.” Business Insider , November 1, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fired-700-employees-performance-reviews-2017-11; J. Wattles. “Elon Musk agrees to pay $20 million and quit as Tesla chairman in deal with SEC.” Money , September 30, 2018, https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/29/technology/business/elon-musk-tesla-sec-settlement/index.html.

Comparison of Appraisal Techniques

It is important to consider which appraisal technique or set of techniques may be most appropriate for a given situation. Although there is no simple answer to this question, we can consider the various strengths and weaknesses of each technique. This is done in Table 8.6 . It is important to keep in mind that the appropriateness of a particular appraisal technique is in part a function of the purpose for the appraisal. For example, if the purpose of the appraisal is to identify high potential executives, then assessment centers are more appropriate than rating scales.

As would be expected, the easiest and least expensive techniques are also the least accurate. They are also the least useful for purposes of personnel decisions and employee development. Once again, it appears that managers and organizations get what they pay for. If performance appraisals represent an important aspect of organizational life, clearly the more sophisticated—and more time-consuming—techniques are preferable. If, on the other hand, it is necessary to evaluate employees quickly and with few resources, techniques such as the graphic rating scale may be more appropriate. Managers must make cost-benefit decisions about the price (in time and money) they are willing to pay for a quality performance appraisal system.

Concept Check

• What are the techniques and scales used in performance appraisals?
• What are MBOs, and how do they relate to performance appraisals?
• What are assessment centers?

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[20] Performance appraisal methods: Here’s how to pick the best one!

• Post author: Shayanne Hill
• Post published: April 6, 2022
• Post category: Growth / Human Resources / Performance management
• Reading time: 35 mins read

A performance appraisal cycle in any company can get tricky. There are so many different methods that can be used. Hence, as a team leader or startup founder, it is your responsibility to use the right performance appraisal methods for your employees. This will in turn ensure better performance management and overall higher productivity.

What can you expect from this blog?

I have collated an extensive list of appraisal methods just for you! I have also included the pros and cons for each of these. So now you won’t have to worry about another performance appraisal ever again.

Download an employee evaluation template for free by clicking here!

What is a performance appraisal.

• Why are performance appraisals important?
• Download an employee evaluation template for your business now!!!

Difference between performance appraisal and performance management

• Traditional versus modern methods of performance appraisal?
• Straight ranking method
• Free-form or essay method
• Rating scales
• Confidential Report
• Paired comparison method
• Forced distribution method
• Forced choice method
• Grading scale
• Checklist method
• Field review method
• Critical incident method
• MBO or Management by objectives
• 360-degree feedback method
• 720-degree feedback method
• Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)
• Assessment Centre method
• HR Cost accounting method

Self-Appraisals

• Psychological appraisals
• Common errors in Performance appraisal
• Choosing the right appraisal method for my business

So now on to the most basic question of all,

A performance appraisal is a systematic and timely process whereby the performance of an employee’s job is evaluated. It is also often referred to as a performance review, performance evaluation or employee appraisal.

Firstly, employers use performance appraisals to evaluate the performance of employees. Following that, the report generated after is used to help in employee development by recommending the next steps.

What is a performance appraisal method?

These methods are tools and techniques used to evaluate employee performance. Different organizations use different methods based on what they want to get out of these reviews.

Here, the person conducting the review and giving feedback is called the appraiser. On the other hand, the person receiving the feedback or appraisal is called the appraisee.

Why is a performance appraisal important?

There are many benefits that come out of employee reviews. Right from helping an employee and their manager understand where the employee is excelling or falling short in the work. Reviews also help plan strategies that will help develop the employee’s skill set post appraisal.

Employee reviews also help boost the morale of the employee because the reviews show them you care about the employees. It can further help align the goals and ambitions of the individual employee with that of the company.

Performance appraisals are a structured way of understanding which employees are meeting their goals based on key results achieved!

Download an employee evaluation questionnaire now!! For FREE!

This questionnaire is well researched. It covers various parameters such as 

• Employee’s soft skills
• Job-related knowledge
• Ability to apply knowledge to the job

You can also rate the employee’s overall performance in an aggregated, yet easy to calculate score and rank your employees accordingly.

Performance management for starters is an entire process, including all of the following,

• Planning – Setting goals for an employee
• Monitoring – Helping them achieve those goals through constant feedback and guidance
• Appraisal – Evaluating the work of the employee, which is a performance appraisal
• Feedback – Closing the loop with feedback (or as many people are now calling it feed-forward) on their performance
• Next steps – Planning for the next steps to ensure employee growth and development

Performance appraisal as you can see, on the other hand, is just one step in the entire performance management cycle. But this one step has a lot of importance, as it affects all of the other areas within performance management.

Traditional performance appraisal methods versus modern performance appraisal methods

According to Strauss and Sayles (George Strauss and Leanord Sayles, writers of the book ‘Behavioral Strategies for Managers), there are two major classifications of performance appraisal methods, They are,

• Traditional methods of performance appraisal
• Modern methods of performance appraisal

Strauss and Sayles say that the major difference between the two is that traditional methods give more importance to the personality traits of the employee, factors such as initiative, dependability, drive, creativity and so on. On the other hand, modern methods focus on the job.

This also means that modern methods place more importance on job achievements. Also, they are more objective in nature and often tend to be more worthwhile.

You could also check out our blog on “ OKR The Ultimate Guide: Learn how to create goals for your team ” to understand how to check better goals for your team 

Traditional performance appraisal methods

As we have seen previously there are 2 major classifications of appraisal methods. Here below is a list of traditional methods, and the pros and cons of each of them. Then will also help you choose which of these methods will be most useful in your organization.

Straight ranking method for performance appraisal

This method is as simple as the name suggests. The employer or manager basically ranks all the employees based on their performance and various other parameters. It is one of the oldest and simplest forms of employee review.

Employees are ranked from best to worst or highest or lowest on various factors. In this way, the employer understands which are the topmost-performing and lowest-performing employees in the team.

For example, if there are 5 members in the team (for simplicity- A, B, C, D & E). The employer will then assign ranks to each of them. Much like this, A-3, B-2, C-1, D-5, E-4 (1 being the best and 5 being the worst).

• Easy to use. Especially in smaller teams.
• The team lead understands who is better than who.
• Ranking helps identify the top performers in the group.
• This method does not explain how much an employee is better than another
• Not scalable. Because the bigger the team, the more challenging it is to rank.

Essay method for performance appraisal

The essay method is also known as the free-form method. Here, the manager or the appraiser writes an essay or statement about the employee. The major focus here is to write about the strengths and weaknesses of the employee on the job. The statement also focuses on the different steps that could be taken to rectify the drawbacks in the employee’s performance.

There are 2 ways in which this essay is written. On one hand, it could be single-handedly written and framed by the appraiser. On the other hand, the appraiser could work on it in collaboration with the employee in question.

As the name suggests, this method is fairly unstructured. As a result, the manager is free is talk about all the factors and concerns that need to be addressed in the employee evaluation. This is also extremely personal in nature, and if used in collaboration with other appraisal methods, it can prove to be very insightful.

The appraiser is not limited to a set of questions. He can also then assign varying weightage to different areas of importance and work as needed.

The test allows for a great deal of freedom of expression, in terms of being able to write about the employee’s job and achievements.

This method is not so easy to administer. This is because an administer of this method could find it extremely time-consuming and difficult.

The essay method is also extremely subjective in nature, and not very easy to compare across different employees. The result of this test is also often limited to the language skills and abilities of the appraiser.

Very often, the biggest advantage of this method- freedom of expression- becomes a challenge when the manager isn’t able to express him/herself very well.

Rating scales for performance appraisal

Rating scales as performance appraisal methods are quite commonly used among employers. It is required to rate employees on a particular scale based on various factors and traits.

Rating scales could either be numeric in nature (e.g. 1 to 5, where 5 is the best and 1 is the worst) or alphabetic in nature (a, b, c, d, e, where e= excellent, c=satisfactory and so on…).

Rating scales could also have narrative options to choose from (e.g. “acceptable behaviour”, “fails to complete tasks assigned in a given time” etc.)

Pros and cons:

A major advantage here is that appraisers can apply this method to any job role. However, each of the variants of the rating scale come with their own set of pros and cons.

Say, for example, a 3-level rating scale could be very simple to administer, but may not be complex enough to address the subtle nuances of complex jobs. On the other hand, even a 5-level scale may not be effective as very often, managers tend to have a tendency to choose the central option or drift upwards of the choices.

Confidential Report for performance appraisal

As the name suggests, this form of performance appraisal is highly confidential. The immediate supervisor of the employee is usually the one who writes the report. Many times, only this particular supervisor and upper-level management have access to this report. Yup, you read that right. Even the employee whom the report is about does not get access to this review.

The main focus is performance evaluation and not performance improvement. While private-sector organizations do not usually use this method, it is quite common in public companies and government organizations.

• It is a very detailed and qualitative assessment
• Useful to decision-makers, especially when it comes to providing transfers, salary hikes etc.
• Generally submitted only once a year, so not much load of work on the manager
• Since it’s submitted only once a year, there is no continuous evaluation of the employee, hence low scope for employee development
• Employees themselves don’t have access to the report and as a result, cannot take any corrective measures wherever required
• Highly subjective and open to biases

Paired comparison method as a performance appraisal method

In this form of appraisal, each employee in a team is compared to every single other employee in that team. Say, for example, the team is made up of A, B, C, D & E, then A is compared with B, C, D & E. The appraiser will then repeat the same thing for all the other employees.

Here, the number of times an employee fares better than other team members is noted down and eventually, ranks are given accordingly. 

The number of pairs formed can be calculated by n(n-1)/2. In the case of the above example, 5(5-1)/2=10 pairs will be formed.

• A better version of the straight ranking method we saw earlier in this blog
• All employees are compared based on similar parameters and hence relatively fair as a process
• Very time consuming
• This method is not scalable, as in larger organizations it might be impractical to compare so many employees with each other.

Forced distribution method for performance appraisal

We all know what a Normal distribution in statistics is (more famously known as the ‘Bell Curve’). Here, appraisers fit all their employees within a bell curve based on their performance on the job. Appraisers have been using this method widely used in large organizations since the 1990s. In this method is it believed that employee performance within a team or an organization conforms to a bell curve.

For example, it says that, roughly, 10% of your employees are really bad, 15% are satisfactory, 50% are average, 15% are good and 10% are excellent. In the most basic form of this method, managers fit employees into 5 categories, excellent, good, average, satisfactory and bad.

In this case, most employees get put into the average section. The excellent employees are rewarded, while the bad ones are put into performance improvement programs

• In the rating method, we had seen that most managers usually tend to give all employees average or above-average ratings. This method helps overcome that problem.
• This method reduces some scope for bias
• May encourage healthy competition among team members
• Helps pinpoint the extremely good employees and the ones that need serious help to buck up
• People often tend to question if the bell curve is an appropriate representation of human behaviour and the method is sometimes seen as outdated or old
• There is a lack of transparency in this method as only the appraiser knows why they slotted the employees the way they did

Forced choice method for performance appraisal

In comparison to the forced distribution method, this one is pretty simple to understand and execute. An employer is given is series of statements and they must mention if those statements are true or false for a given employee. Different statements may carry varying weightage. This would depend on the importance of that statement and the overall appraisal aim.

Examples of statements here could include, “The employee finishes all the tasks assigned on time” or “The employee often reaches the office late”

• Objective approach since options are true or false
• Save the time of the appraiser.
• Scalable since the answers are only true or false.
• Since evaluators aren’t aware of the weightage of each statement until the final result arrives, it is considered quite fair.
• The creation of set statements may be time-consuming, especially in larger companies that have many and varying job roles.

Performance appraisal using the Grading scale

In this method, the appraiser gives the employee a grade for each parameter. The grades often look like this

• Above average
• Below average
• Unsatisfactory

The evaluator judges the performance of the employee based on the job achievements across various factors and considerations.

• Very simple to administer
• Does not take up much time for the administer
• Paints a very clear picture of how the employee has performed over the said span of time
• Since this system does not require any reasoning for the choice of grade, the method can be considered to lack transparency

Checklist method as a performance appraisal method

This is an extremely simple appraisal method as it only requires the appraiser to tick mark statements that are applicable to a given employee. In a more recent version of this method, the makers of the test assign different weightage to each statement based on how important they are. Based on the answers and the weightage, a score a calculated and assigned to the employee.

• Extremely easy to administer.
• Saves a lot of time.
• Objective, since it only required a tick mark near each statement.
• Difficult to implement in big organizations that have many and varying roles.
• Selecting and not selecting a statement is very limiting as an appraisal method. The appraiser may need to club this method with another for better insights.
• Since the evaluator does not provide reasons, it is difficult to understand why he or she selected or didn’t select a particular statement.

Performance appraisal using the field review method

In this method, the appraisee does not receive an appraisal from their immediate supervisor or manager like in most cases. Instead, a member of the HR department or from the corporate team evaluates the employee.

The appraiser conducts interviews both with the appraisee as well as with their supervisor and also observes the employee as they work. This gives the appraiser an all-around qualitative yet objective view of the way the employee works.

• There isn’t much pressure on the appraisee, since their direct supervisor isn’t the evaluator.
• An outsider who doesn’t work continuously with the employee does not know how the employee works on a daily basis.
• An outsider is also not familiar with the employee’s day-to-day working conditions that would in turn drive his/her behaviour at work.
• Performance appraisal and management are important aspects of employee engagement and the essence of that is completely lost in this method of appraisal.

Critical incident method as a performance appraisal method

In this method, the appraiser asks the employee a set of questions pertaining to bast behaviours or incidents. The appraisee then describes the incident in great detail explaining all the factors that played a role in the unfolding of that incident.

The appraiser gathers information about various incidents that occurred while on the job -> Collects facts about these incidents -> Analyses the data collected -> Determine the underlying issues -> Reports the evaluation and presents potential solutions.

The focus here lies not just on the hard skills but also on the soft skills of the employee. It helps define the appraisee’s knowledge, skill-sets, attitude and many other attributes that drive their behaviour. The focus is also on the employee’s ability to perform in critical situations, either where they have done excellently well or fail to do so.

• Unlike other methods, this appraisal method focuses on rare, unusual events and how the employee performs in such scenarios.
• A cost-effective method.
• Does not restrict the appraiser or the appraisee to any framework.
• Takes into consideration the appraisee’s side of the incident.
• This method can be extremely subjective.
• Time-consuming for the evaluator and hence not a scalable option (in larger organizations).

Modern performance appraisal methods

So far we have looked at all the possible traditional appraisal methods you can use in your company. Now we shall see a list of modern methods along with the pros and cons of each of them.

MBO or Management by objectives for performance appraisal

Management by objectives, also very commonly called MBO, is an appraisal method where managers and subordinates usually sit together and come up with a set of goals and objectives. Once these goals are decided upon, the 2 have regular meetings and follow-ups to track progress.

This method is generally used in high performing teams, by the use to setting S.M.A.R.T. goal s for employees and ensuring the achievement of these goals. The focus during this process is on setting tangible goals that can be monitored.

See also our blog on goal setting by clicking here -> “Goal setting for startups and SMEs: Set goals in 7 steps”

• Since the manager and subordinate sit together to set goals, there is a mutual agreement on the workload and employees do not feel overburdened.
• Periodical follow-ups ensure continuous tracking and review of the work being done. Continuous feedback automatically results in higher efficiency.
• There is no ambiguity in terms of the work that has to be done and the feedback received.
• Employee participation in goal setting makes them feel motivated and also part of the larger organization.
• Goals can be aligned with employees’ career ambitions and hence allows employees to develop their career as well.
• Requires continuous involvement of top management and hence can be time-consuming for them.
• Limited application as goals once set may rarely be subject to any change, and also may not be suitable for all roles within an organization.

Performance appraisal using the 360-degree feedback method

The 360-degree feedback method of employee appraisal is becoming extremely popular within organizations. In this method, basically, the employee receives feedback or appraisal from all around i.e. 360-degrees.

What this essentially means, is that, every single area the employee interacts with, one person from that area provides feedback. Say, for example, a sales representative is up for appraisal. This person will get feedback from their immediate supervisor, a peer (another sales rep they work closely with), a couple of clients the sales rep has worked with and sometimes even a subordinate.

Exactly as the name suggests, the feedback mechanism is quite literally an all-around, 360-degree system.

You could also check out our blog “ How Balanced Scorecard [BSC] can unlock peak performance for you “

• Since the feedback is taken from so many people, it is extremely thorough.
• No chance of any bias or partiality.
• Different aspects of the employee’s work get reviews through this method.
• It can help improve productivity and work relationships.
• Increases transparency across the various departments within the organization.
• Subordinates or peers could resort to dishonest (tending towards only good) feedback in order to safeguard professional relationships.
• Extremely time-consuming process.

Performance appraisal using the 720-degree feedback method

This method is identical to the 360-degree feedback mechanism with one single exception. Here, the 360-degree feedback is done twice. The first time, the feedback is shared with the employee with the intention of developing a performance improvement plan for the appraisee.

The second time, the 360-degree review is done, the focus is on checking the success of the performance improvement plan and then better it if needed.

The pros and cons of the 720-degree review and similar to that of the 360-degree review method.

Performance appraisal method –  Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)

This performance appraisal method uses a more descriptive way to rate employees. Instead of simply putting out a statement and having the appraiser choose options like excellent, above average, average, below average and unsatisfactory, the options themselves are more informative.

• Since the options are so specific, there is almost no space for subjectivity here
• Results turn out to be very accurate.
• Saves time for the appraiser.
• Completely individualised. This means that every role will have statements specific to them.
• The last positive point mentioned can also prove to be the first problem because it becomes difficult to create the test for larger organizations that have many and varying roles.
• Managers tend to select average or above-average responses, so responses might not be 100% accurate.

Assessment Centre method for performance appraisal

The assessment centre method is also often used in various selection procedures to ensure that candidate is the right person for a job. This could be used in the case of inter-department transfers etc. Assessment centres combine a variety of different activities such as role-plays, interviews, group activities, presentations and so on to ensure an overall analysis of an employee.

A combination of the results of all the above-mentioned activities is used to get a very deep understanding of the employee and their development in the company.

• Very in-depth report.
• Accuracy levels are high because of the multiple and all-around reviews.
• This method is highly adaptable to various job profiles and roles.
• Creates high employee engagement and is completely different from regular monotonous appraisal methods.
• Extremely time-consuming.
• Can be an expensive affair, since it involves so many different activities for each employee.

Check out our salary increment breakup to understand how to divide salary increment across employees in a fair way!

Hr cost accounting method as a performance appraisal method.

Just as the name suggests- accounting- this method tracks employee performance from a monetary standpoint. How?

Calculate the cost of retaining the employee (more commonly known as the employee’s CTC or cost to company). Then compare this with the value generated by the employee in terms of the service provided and the work done. Do this by considering the improvement in revenue generated during the review period, sales deals closed by the employee, increase in subscriber count and so on (obviously these are more for marketing or sales employees).

This method is ideal for start-ups and small businesses, especially since one employee’s performance plays such a huge role in the growth (or lack thereof!) of the company.

• It is an accurate and objective method since it is quantitative and doesn’t take into consideration people’s opinions
• Helps determine the monetary value the employee adds to the company and hence helps make changes (if needed) to the employee’s salary package.
• An easy method to compare 2 or more employees based on monetary value-added.
• There are no specific guidelines to measure the value of human resources within an organization.
• Human Resources accounting is based on assumptions that may not always hold true. For example, you would assume that an employee will continue to work for you over a fixed period of time, which may or may not be true.

The name here itself is pretty self-explanatory. The employee writes their own review. So I’m going to jump straight to the pros and cons for this one!

• Ownership of the appraisal is placed on the employees, so they feel important. Maybe even motivated to do better.
• Managers will get insights into why an employee works the way they do. This may otherwise be rare in other forms of appraisals.
• Employees feel more engaged as this method calls for the employee to communicate more about their performance. This may help managers work better in coming up with performance improvement plans.
• Here, perceptions could be very skewed, because employees could end up being overly lenient or extremely hard on themselves. In both cases, the review is pointless. So, no objectivity.
• Resentment may arise if negative feedback is not taken well.

Performance appraisal using psychological appraisals

Psychological appraisals are generally more future-focused as opposed to reviewing the past performance of the employee. What I mean here is that psychological appraisal methods are used to understand the potential of employees, what they might be good at but their current job doesn’t showcase it.

These are a series of tests and interviews conducted by trained psychologists. They include in-depth interviews, tests, discussions and so on.

• Since these tests are conducted by psychologists, there is no scope for any bias to creep in.
• Information becomes available not just about the employee’s past job achievements, but also about their potential.
• Lack of trained professionals to conduct the tests and assessments.
• Results could get skewed because of nervous and anxious employees.

Common errors made during a performance appraisal cycle

There are many different performance appraisal methods as we have seen so far. But there are also many errors that are common to a lot of these methods.

Yeah, I know, to err is human! But as a small business owner, manager or team leader, you need to make sure you do your best for the sake of your employees and your company. And, being aware of these errors is the first step toward rectifying them.

So, here are some of the errors and biases you must be aware of during an employee review process.

Stereotyping

Stereotyping occurs when a bunch of concepts or ideas get attributed to a particular set of people over a period of time. These ideas then play a role and affect the way people behave towards these sets of people. Stereotypes could be based on race, gender, religion etc.

In the case of performance appraisals, the appraiser can very easily let such a bias come in the way of honest feedback.

Halo effect

When someone says halo, you automatically think of an angel, no? Pretty much in the same, the halo effect implies that your perception of a person always tends to be on the positive side.

Usually, this happens when an appraiser notices that an employee is doing very well in one aspect of their job, and generalises it to everything else they do. You think better of them than they actually are. This could translate into overly positive feedback and reviews. So, employees will never truly understand how they are performing.

Single deficiency focus

This is also often referred to as the “horns effect” exactly the opposite of the “halo effect”.

As the name very clearly says, here, the appraiser gets hung up on a single problem, error, deficiency on the appraisee and generalises that across all areas.

Distribution errors

While the halo effect and the single deficiency error talk specifically about biases that affect a single employees review, the distribution error affects the overall review of all the employees. Let’s see how distribution errors play a role in performance appraisals. The overall reviews get skewed in this way as shown in the graph.

There are 3 types of distribution errors as mentioned below:

Centrality errors: Here, all the reviews tend to be average. Most of the employees get average feedback. The problem here is that the poor performers get feedback better than they deserve, while top performers don’t get good enough reviews.

Leniency errors: Leniency errors refer to when a manager gives all the appraisees good or above-average reviews/appraisals.

Recency errors

This is a very common error made by managers and supervisors during performance appraisals. In this case, the appraiser’s reviews get affected based on any event that may have occurred in the recent past with the employee in question.

Say, for example, if an employee recently broke their own sales target which resulted in a very high number of new clients for the company, the appraiser will let that one incident impact the entire review, leading to an overall positive response. Whereas on the other hand, if the same employee were to get into an argument with another employee before the performance appraisal, then that would negatively affect the overall review.

Attribution error

Attribution is a process whereby, a manager tends to make assumptions about an employee’s motives. This leads to extremely subjective responses by the appraiser for the appraisee.

An example of this situation would be, if an employee gave a negative answer for something related to the job, the manager would assume that the employee has negative feelings towards his/her job.

Choosing the right performance appraisal methods for your small business

Different methods are targeted toward different results. How you select which appraisal method is best for your company depends totally on the kind of reviews you’re looking for and the end goal. Factors such as

• Number of employees to appraise
• The budget allocated for the task
• Time within which the review must happen
• Level of expertise of the person conducting the appraisal

Employee appraisal and employee performance management and key elements of employee engagement. So, selecting the right appraisal method also becomes very important.

Once you have selected the method or methods best suited to your company, you need to implement it well and ensure that a robust performance improvement plan follows the appraisal. But be sure to reward your top-performing employee too 😉

Performance appraisal Methods – FAQs

The most common methods of employee performance appraisal are

1. 360-degree feedback

2. Rating scales

3. Grading scales

4. MBOs i.e. Management by objectives

5. Self-Assessment

Click here to see the whole list of modern and traditional performance appraisal methods

Performance appraisal is basically when a manager or supervisor evaluates an employee’s performance on their job over a period of time. Appraisal methods can typically be classified into two categories- Traditional methods and Modern methods of performance appraisal.

Not to be considered as tax, legal, financial or HR advice. Regulations change over time so please consult a lawyer, accountant  or Labour Law  expert for specific guidance.

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What is Performance Appraisal? Methods, Process & Types

Quick Summary

• This article discusses “what is performance appraisal ” by evaluating employee performance through systematic reviews. It aids in identifying strengths and areas needing improvement while aligning individual goals with organisational objectives.
• The evolution of appraisal methods from basic ratings to broad techniques like 360-degree feedback reflects a shift towards more deeper employee assessments.
• The appraisal process involves setting standards, communicating expectations, measuring performance, comparing outcomes, providing feedback, and implementing corrective measures.

Table of Contents

What is performance appraisal? Performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of an employee’s work performance over a set period. It involves evaluating many aspects of an employee’s work and offering opinions and direct further growth. Employers and employees must benefit from this method. It helps identify strengths, areas for improvement, and chances for growth.

The power of performance appraisal to relate individual performance to corporate objectives makes it so important. It facilitates communication between staff and their superiors, supports personal and professional growth, and enhances productivity. By setting clear expectations and offering constructive feedback, they improve employee motivation and job satisfaction.

Performance appraisal methods have changed historically. They moved from basic, merit-based evaluations to increasingly complex ones. Early methods focused on simple ranking and rating scales. Traditional methods have evolved significantly, leading to a clear understanding of employee performance. Modern techniques such as behavioural evaluations and 360-degree feedback have contributed to this enhanced awareness.

This blog will cover many performance appraisal methods. These include traditional and modern techniques while covering the performance appraisal process and its objectives. It will cover different types of performance appraisal too. 

What is Performance Appraisal? 

A performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of an employee’s work over a specific time. It involves assessing many job performance criteria. These include a commitment to the organisation’s goals, efficiency, and work quality. The main purpose of performance appraisal is to encourage career growth . It also finds training needs and gives feedback.

Importance of Performance Appraisal

Organizational growth means boosting success by aligning everyone’s work with the company’s goals. Employee development focuses on helping staff grow professionally by spotting their strengths and areas for improvement. Motivation and involvement are about empowering employees by acknowledging their achievements and setting clear performance standards.

Examples of Performance Appraisals in Different Industries

In healthcare, medical staff are evaluated based on how well they care for patients and follow protocols. In education, teachers are reviewed by their peers, their ability to manage classrooms, and student performance. In sales, team members are assessed on achieving goals, receiving client feedback, and boosting sales. 

Organisations can ensure good performance at all levels. They can do this by using efficient performance appraisal methods. This will also ensure continual progress.

What is performance appraisal? Top Methods

Performance appraisal methods  are crucial for evaluating employee performance. These techniques of performance appraisal help businesses identify strengths, areas for improvement, and provide valuable feedback.  

Traditional Performance Appraisal Methods

Understanding various methods for evaluating employee performance can help managers provide constructive feedback and identify areas for improvement. Here, we explore three common methods:

Essay Method

Managers keep track of everything about a worker’s performance, including their potential, weaknesses, and strengths. This helps provide useful information about how a worker is doing and where they can improve. For example, a manager might say that a marketing executive did a great job running a campaign but struggled with time management.

Rating Scales

Workers get feedback based on different performance standards, rated from 1 to 5. This helps in giving a clear numerical evaluation of how they are doing in various areas. For example, employees can be rated on their cooperation, communication skills , and punctuality using this 1 to 5 scale. 

Ranking Method

Workers are rated from best to worst based on how well they perform. This helps to see who is doing great and who needs some improvement. For example, sales representatives are ranked by their annual sales totals.

Modern Performance Appraisal Techniques

360-degree feedback.

Feedback is gathered from various sources like peers, subordinates, and supervisors to get a complete picture of a worker’s performance. This helps in understanding how well someone is doing their job from different angles. For example, clients, team members, and higher management can all give their input. They often assess the manager’s communication and leadership skills .

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management and staff work together to set clear and measurable targets. We measure performance based on how well these goals are achieved. This ensures that individual goals align with the company’s objectives, promoting accountability. For example, we might assess a developer’s performance by aiming for a 20% reduction in coding errors within six months. This way, everyone knows what to aim for and is held accountable for their progress.

Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

This method mixes personal judgments with rating scales and uses clear examples of behaviors for each rating. It aims to make performance reviews more consistent and clear. For instance, a teamwork score of five might mean “works well with others to meet team goals,” while a score of one could mean “often avoids group tasks and duties.”

By using these performance appraisal methods, businesses can better evaluate and improve worker performance. This will lead to success and growth.

What is performance appraisal Process?

A thorough assessment of an employee’s performance is made certain by many essential processes in the performance appraisal process. The following is a thorough explanation:

Setting Performance Standards

Performance standards should be clear, achievable, and measurable, ensuring they align with the company’s goals. These standards serve as benchmarks to assess employee performance. For instance, a sales department might set targets for reaching a specific customer satisfaction score or achieving a certain sales goal. These guidelines help keep everyone focused and on track.

Communicating Expectations

Employees should clearly understand what is expected of them and how their performance will be measured. This can be achieved through regular meetings and written materials that outline these expectations. This way, staff know exactly what they need to do and how they will be evaluated. 

Measuring Actual Performance

Use various methods like reports, performance metrics, and observations to get information on how well your staff is doing. This phase involves gathering evidence of their performance against set standards. For example, you could track the number of sales a salesperson closes over a specific period.

Comparing Performance with Standards

Managers can look at the performance data to compare it with the expected standards. This helps them see if there are any differences between what was expected and what actually happened. Based on this comparison, they can decide if workers are meeting, exceeding, or falling short of their job requirements. 

Providing Feedback

Giving staff members constructive feedback is important. Compare their performance to standards. Feedback should be fair, specific, and aimed at helping them recognize their strengths and areas for improvement. For example, ask a worker how their time management has impacted their productivity.

Implementing Corrective Measures

To address any performance gaps, we can take several actions. We might need to change our goals, implement new work procedures, or provide additional training. The aim is to help our staff improve and ensure they meet the required standards.

Organisations can make sure of a fair and efficient performance appraisal process. They can do this by following these guidelines. The guidelines will improve employee performance and company success.

Objectives of Performance Appraisal

The objectives of performance appraisal are important. They help improve performance at both the individual and organisational levels. Assessments help coordinate employee performance with the organisation’s success. They do this by stating objectives and goals clearly.

• Improves Performance: Identifies areas for improvement and strengths.
• Training Targets: Determines Where Skills Are Gaps.
• Enables Development: Specifies objectives and offers helpful feedback.
• Informs Decisions: Guides decisions on payment, promotions, and possible layoffs.
• Aligns Strategy: Connects worker aspirations with corporate goals.
• Increases Effectiveness: Promotes ongoing development and efficiency.
• Facilitates Open Communication: Promotes conversation between employees and management.
• Motivates: Acknowledges achievements, encouraging improved performance.
• Encourages Careers: Guides both individual and professional growth.
• Creates Teams: Determines areas of cooperation and team strengths.

Importance and Benefits of Performance Appraisal

Organisations can find high-performing employees and those needing development. They do this using performance assessments. People work better when their goals match the company’s. This boosts results and drives growth.

Regular feedback from performance reviews raises employee morale. It helps them feel appreciated and understood. Acknowledging accomplishments and offering helpful feedback fosters development. It raises job satisfaction and retention by promoting personal and professional growth.

Case Studies Showing the Impact of Effective Performance Appraisals:

• Tech Company: Productivity increased by 20% once a structured appraisal system was put in place.
• Retail Chain: Turnover fell by 15% . This was due to personal development programs and regular reviews.

By using these practices, organisations can achieve better performance. They can also have higher employee satisfaction and reduced turnover.

Types of Performance Appraisal Forms

Evaluating work performance can be done in several ways to give clear and helpful feedback. Here are three effective methods: Narrative Forms, Graphic Rating Scales, and Checklists. 

Narrative Forms

Evaluations should include thorough reviews of a worker’s performance, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth. This allows for extensive, specific feedback, making it easier to understand how to improve and excel in their role.

Graphic Rating Scales

Using a rating system, like 1 to 5, to score different areas of work performance has its perks. It gives clear, measurable signs of how well someone is doing. Plus, it makes comparing and tracking progress over time much simpler.

Using performance criteria involves a list that checks if specific standards are met or not. This method is helpful for large or frequent reviews because it’s quick and easy to use, ensuring everything is consistent.

How to Choose the Right Form for Your Organisation

• Organisational Needs: Make sure the form you choose fits the objectives and job duties of the company. Rating scales and checklists work well for short, even assessments. But, narrative forms work best for complete feedback.
• Employee Role and Performance Aspects: Use a mix of forms. They are for roles that need feedback on many parts of the performance.
• Frequency of Appraisals: Use simpler forms. For example, use checklists and graphic rating scales. Use them for frequent appraisals to avoid fatigue.

Choosing the right appraisal form means balancing two things. These are accurate feedback and practical, consistent processes.

Performance Reviews: Driving Growth and Engagement

Understanding what is performance appraisal is crucial for any organisation aiming to achieve continuous improvement and growth. Performance reviews boost employee motivation and morale. They create a culture of feedback and growth. They also align individual goals with company objectives. Good appraisal systems find top performers. They also point out areas for improvement. And, they ensure that staff feels appreciated and understood.

Establishing a good performance review system can bring many benefits. These include higher output, less staff leaving, and better manager-employee communication. Organisations can foster growth by praising accomplishments. They can also offer helpful feedback.

Future technology and workplace shifts will likely change how we rate performance. New trends are reshaping appraisals. They include real-time feedback, AI evaluations, and a focus on employee growth. These changes put more weight on worker well-being and development. Organisations will be better able to adjust to the changing business environment. They will have long-term success if they stay ahead of these trends. They must also consistently improve their appraisal procedures.

Investing in good performance appraisal systems supports organisational growth. It also promotes a positive workplace culture.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the most common performance appraisal methods.

The most common ways to evaluate performance include self-assessment and 360-degree feedback. They also include behavioural observation scales (BOS), management by objectives (MBO), and graphic rating scales. To properly evaluate employee performance, these approaches differ in how much they emphasise behaviour, numbers, or both.

How does 360-degree feedback differ from traditional appraisal methods?

Traditional appraisal techniques just engage the direct supervisor. In contrast, 360-degree feedback asks for feedback from peers, subordinates, and supervisors. Sometimes, it also includes external stakeholders. This feedback is thorough. It offers a broader view of an employee’s performance. It promotes a more complete strategy for their development.

What objectives should a performance appraisal aim to achieve?

A performance appraisal should have many goals. These include giving tips for improvement. They also include finding areas needing training. They involve aligning personal objectives with company goals. They mean promoting manager-employee communication and giving rewards for performance.

Why is it important to have a performance appraisal process?

Evaluating employee performance fairly and transparently is ensured by a structured performance appraisal procedure. Performance reviews drive organisational success. They assess achievements and recognize strengths. They set goals and ensure individual work aligns with team objectives. This process helps teams grow and succeed together.

What types of forms are used in performance appraisals?

Performance appraisal forms vary greatly. But, they usually have sections for employee info and job duties. They also have sections for performance standards, like output, collaboration, quality, appraiser comments, ratings, and setting goals and making plans. These forms guarantee the evaluation process’s uniformity and documentation.

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13 Effective Performance Appraisal Methods: Boosting Employee Success and Growth

Introduction

Being a manager in any corporation comes with all sorts of responsibilities. You are in charge of leading your team to new heights and ensuring that all the requirements of the projects you’re in control of are being fulfilled. Additionally, you are also required to maintain harmony within your team and take care of employee grievances that might arise during their association with you. You are supposed to do all of this within constraints of time, technology, and budget. And, one of the many responsibilities of a manager is performance appraisal.

What is performance appraisal?

Performance appraisal serves as a structured and recurring practice aimed at evaluating an individual’s job performance in alignment with predefined job expectations. This comprehensive assessment involves a subjective evaluation of the employee’s strengths, weaknesses, overall value to the organization, and potential for future growth and development.

Performance appraisal is a review of the people who report to you. In large organizations, you can be in charge of anything between 2 and 20 people at a single point in time. Periodically, you are required to review their performance over a specific period, based on which they might be given salary hikes or performance-based incentives. When thought about in this way, performance appraisal sounds like a simple process. However, it is a way more complex process. When you carry out performance appraisals, you review the performance of humans. Every one of your employees has gone through different situations in the past. Maybe their performance doesn’t show on paper since they were unlucky and one of their major clients backed out at the last moment. Maybe they have been ill for a significant part of their employment. As a manager, you should account for all of these considerations when you review your employees. Traditionally, performance appraisals were carried out using a rank or point-based method. However, these methods do not entirely capture the intricacies of modern employment. This is the reason why modern methods of performance appraisal are slowly replacing every traditional method of performance appraisal.

Here are 13 traditional and modern performance appraisal methods:

• Rating Scales Method
• Essay Appraisal
• Ranking Method
• Paired Comparison
• Critical Incident Method
• Confidential Report System
• Checklist Method
• Field Review Method
• Management By Objectives
• Assessment Center
• 360 Degree Appraisal
• Cost Accounting Method
• Psychological Appraisals

1. Rating Scales Method

  The Rating Scale appraisal method is a traditional performance appraisal method that is extremely popular. It isn’t just a traditional method of performance appraisal of employees, but a very popular method of any type of performance appraisal.

• Every time you dial into a customer care hotline or take a cab ride, you are asked to rate the provided service. For employees, this method of performance appraisal is a little less one-dimensional but works on the same fundamental idea.
• The manager rates the employee based on several different criteria, such as dedication, punctuality, problem-solving ability, etc.
• The scale is generally from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Based on the manager’s rating and their relative weightage to the employee, decisions regarding the employee’s place in the company are taken.
• The most significant advantage of this method of performance appraisal is its simplicity. The manager needs to do nothing more than the just rate the employee on a set of parameters. There is generally little to no writing involved, and comments might be optional.
• However, this simplicity can also be the greatest drawback of this method of performance appraisal. Since ratings are generally unitary, the employee’s salient features and characteristics that are not covered by the survey might never come to the fore.

2. Essay Appraisal Method

This performance appraisal method is also known as free-form appraisal method. This is a traditional appraisal method in which your manager will compose an essay based on your performance in the previous year or quarter. Since this essay is free-form, the manager can include several different features of your work.

• However, most managers in a company will generally follow a particular format for this essay’s composition. The manager may talk about the amount of knowledge you have regarding the job’s core subjects and your understanding of your company’s process, policies, and objectives.
• They may also write about your relationship with your peers and seniors, alongside how professional you are. Your attitude toward the work that you are given will generally be covered, and the targets you achieved during the last quarter or year will be listed.
• A drawback of this method of performance appraisal is that it is very subjective. Managers who are not great writers may not be able to articulate their thoughts as well as they might want to. This could put the future of the employee at stake.

3. Ranking Method

The Ranking Appraisal performance method is very commonly used in medium and small-sized companies.

• In this method, managers will rank all the employees under them in order of their perceived performance. This method of performance appraisal is quantitative only to the extent that a rank is a number. No points are given to employees in this method.
• The ranking method is primarily a comparative method that can be useful if the company requires cost-cutting or gives out awards such as employee of the month, quarter, or year.
• However, the drawbacks of the ranking method are also evident. The greatest drawback is the relative nature of the performance appraisal. If all the employees under a particular manager have performed well, there might still be a few who have been ranked low.
• This can be addressed through comments, but it does expose a major flaw in the ranking method. It can also create an atmosphere of animosity among employees, with each trying to one-up the other. Such an atmosphere is unhealthy for any company and must be avoided at all costs.

4. Paired Comparison Method

The Paired Comparison technique is yet another appraisal method using which employees can be ranked by comparing them to one another. However, this method is significantly more complex and time-consuming.

• The primary feature of this type of performance appraisal method is that each employee is compared with every other employee by making pairs.
• This method works with the manager to determine whether every employee has performed better or worse than every other employee.
• Depending on the relative rankings of the employees of a team, a final ranking may be determined. This is done after much consideration and evaluation of which employee has done better than all other or most other employees.
• However, this method also suffers from the same drawbacks as the previous method described in this list. If all employees have done well, ranking an employee doesn’t bode well for the morale of the employee or the team. It also creates internal competition within teams.
• Also, most organizations are made of multiple teams and managers. Each manager can provide a ranking in the direct reports, but this will only create a set of rankings. It can be challenging for a company to make decisions based on different rankings given by different managers.

5. Critical Incident Method

In this method of performance appraisal, managers will log the critical incidents that a particular employee was involved in. Critical incidents don’t just have to mean negative incidents in which the employee’s performance was below par.

• Critical incidents do not happen regularly and might even require employees to think on their toes. There is no specific definition of critical incidents; rather, they depend on the manager’s thinking.
• During the course of a typical day, a manager might observe exceptional dedication or hard work from an employee. In such a case, the manager will note this down in a journal and provide a recollection of the event during the performance appraisal process .
• The critical incident method suffers from a host of different limitations. Among these, the most severe limitation is that regular work might not be rewarded. Suppose an employee has gone through a month or quarter without any critical event, but outputs have been constant. In that case, the manager might not necessarily have any critical events to talk about in the appraisal. This is the reason that this method of performance appraisal is only sparsely used.

6. Confidential Report System Method  

The Confidential Report System method is a traditional method of performance appraisal but is not generally used by private organizations. Most commonly, this method is used by public or governmental organizations.

• In this method, the employee’s appraisal is handed over to the senior management in sealed envelopes.
• Nobody but the writer of the appraisal and the senior management is authorized to open these envelopes. Even the employees who are the subject of the assessment are generally not provided free access to the review. Instead, they might be allowed to look at their appraisal once, with critical points redacted.
• This method enables managers to be candid about the conduct of their employees.
• However, the fact that employees are not allowed to access their appraisals freely can also be detrimental. If employees do not get to look at how their managers perceive them, it becomes hard to take corrective measures to improve lousy performance.
• The secretive nature of this performance appraisal method ensures that employees also do not get to see their ratings or preempt the extent to which their performance-based bonuses might rise.
• While this method is efficient because it allows managers to be more open, it isn’t the best method of ensuring employee productivity.

7. Checklist Appraisal Method

The Checklist Performance Appraisal method is perhaps the least time-consuming performance appraisal example among traditional methods of performance appraisal.

• In the checklist method, all managers will be provided with a standard checklist with questions. The answers to these questions will be either yes and no type or multiple choice. The checklist might also contain statements, and managers will be required to answer with the extent to which they agree with these statements.
• The checklist method is used widely since it takes up less time and allows all employees to be measured on the same scale.
• The drawback of this method of performance appraisal is that it is not subjective enough. No level of detail in a questionnaire is enough to judge the activities and tasks performed by an employee in a corporate setup.
• Hence, this method can lead to dissatisfied employees who might have performed well but still did not get their worth. It can also lead to disappointed managers who believe that the questionnaire does not cover all employee performance domains.

8. Field Review Method

The human resources department may find a reason to believe that a manager’s review is biased or inflated. In that case, they may take it into their hands to conduct an accurate assessment.

• They may call the employee in for an interview and ask a set of predetermined questions to assess their talents and abilities.
• Based on the interview, the employee is given a rating by the human resources team. The managers’ review isn’t entirely ignored, but its weightage in the employee’s overall review certainly decreases.
• This method is generally not used widely. This is because it is frowned upon by managers, who consider this an interference of the staff in the matters of their team and department.
• Besides, this method is also much more time-consuming than other methods.

9. Management By Objectives Method

In a modern corporate setup, management by objectives is one of the most common methods of performance appraisal. Management by objectives mainly consists of four steps.

• In the first step, employees are informed of the goals they are expected to fulfill. These goals might be personal in nature or related to the project that the employees are working on. For each employee, a personalized set of goals is assigned.
• In the second step, the parameters on which the goals will be evaluated are determined. These parameters are dependent on the kind of goal assigned and might be continuous or discrete in nature.
• In the third part of management by objectives, the extent to which the employees attained the goals is compared to the previously agreed goal standards. This allows employers to decide why these goals were met, not met, or exceeded.
• Lastly, a periodic review is carried out, as a part of which managers and employees reporting to them discuss the employees’ development. The employees are informed of their shortcomings, strengths, and opportunities, enabling them to do better in the next stipulated period of time.

10. Assessment Center Method

An Assessment Center is an entirely different form of performance appraisal method. In the assessment center approach, employees gather together at a specified center to be assessed by their managers. They are given tasks, both group and individual, and evaluated based on their performance in these tasks.

• The tasks are generally designed by the managers in conjunction with the organization’s human resources team and senior management. The employees might be judged qualitatively or quantitatively or using a combination of both these types of measures.
• This approach, despite being an innovative performance appraisal process, suffers from several different limitations. The first of these limitations is that the process is very costly.
• While other methods of performance appraisal cost little to nothing, this form requires time to conduct separately. Hence, it also comes with the cost of the work that could have been completed at that time.
• In the assessment centre method of performance appraisal, an employee’s work over a sustained period matters much less than the employee’s performance during the assessment. Otherwise, great employees who have bad days can suffer due to this.

11. 360-Degree Performance Appraisal Method

The 360-degree appraisal is an appraisal method that involves multiple people when developing a comprehensive review of an employee’s performance. Every person who has had an interaction with an employee gets to give the employee a review.

• All the employee’s team members, including the employee’s manager and the employee’s juniors, all pitch in with their appraisal. The assessment may be wholly quantitative or a mixture of quantitative and qualitative metrics.
• Using the review of every person who interacts with the employee, the human resources team and the senior management can build a realistic assessment of an employee’s performance.
• The drawbacks that this method of performance appraisal suffers from are plenty. Firstly, this is a time-consuming method. With every employee having to review multiple other employees, the whole office’s productivity can suffer thanks to the time employees take to provide several appraisals.
• Additionally, this method can involve an element of quid pro quo. Employees might discuss how they will review each other and give everyone great reviews in anticipation of similar reviews from others.

12. Cost Accounting Method

This is one of the most objective performance appraisal types. In this performance appraisal method, all that matters to the employer is the profit you have generated for them.

• From the wages that you earn to the cost of the time it takes your manager to fill your appraisal, every penny is accounted for.
• Based on this accounting, the employer will reach a value for your contribution to the company’s profit. Based on the amount of profit or loss that you have led to, for the company, decisions will be made regarding your future, salary, promotion, and other considerations.
• This method clearly suffers from major subjectivity problems. When nothing but costs and profits matter, it is hard for companies to appreciate other salient features of your personality, your dedication, and your hard work.
• This appraisal method can also lead to a toxic atmosphere within the company, in which there is serious acrimony among employees, especially in businesses where client interactions are a daily feature of the job.
• Also, the weightage of the appraisal of the people who deal with the employee is significantly less, and monetary considerations matter much more.

13. Psychological Appraisals Method

Employees’ hidden potential can be discovered through various methods of performance appraisal . Instead of analyzing a worker’s past work, this approach focuses on their potential future performance. It is through these psychological evaluations that an employee’s abilities in seven different areas are examined, including their interpersonal abilities, leadership skills, emotional quotient, cognitive abilities personality traits, intellectual traits, and other related skills.

• This performance appraisal method can be used to gather objective and measurable data about an employee’s performance as well as his or her future potential.
• It is easy to deploy as compared to other methods
• It provides a stage for shy or introverted employees to shine and demonstrate their potential.
• Psychological evaluations can be used for a variety of purposes, including leadership pipeline development, conflict resolution, team building, and more.
• To make an accurate assessment of an employee, licensed psychologists use a variety of methods (including in-depth interviews, group discussions, psychological tests, group discussions, and more).

Every company has different needs and requirements from its employees. To pursue these requirements and encourage employees to do better for the company, all companies implement various methods of performance appraisal. Over time, these appraisal methods continue to evolve and change with the needs of the company. An efficient performance appraisal method will cost less, take less time to carry out, and truly encourage employees to perform to the best of their abilities. Want to enhance your Workforce Management skills? Check out our online live instructor-led Certificate Program in People Analytics & Digital HR program, a 3-month long program in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management, Indore that will prepare you for the workforce of the future.

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A comprehensive guide to writing an evaluation essay – tips, examples, and techniques.

Welcome to the ultimate guide on writing an evaluation essay! Evaluating a subject, be it a book, movie, restaurant, or a piece of art, requires critical thinking and analysis. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn valuable tips and examples to help you master the art of evaluation essays. Whether you are a student working on an assignment or a writer looking to sharpen your skills, this guide will provide you with the tools you need to craft insightful and compelling evaluations.

Writing an evaluation essay involves assessing the quality, value, or significance of a particular subject based on specific criteria. It requires careful evaluation, evidence-based analysis, and a clear presentation of your findings. In this guide, we will walk you through the essential steps of writing an effective evaluation essay, from choosing a topic and developing a thesis to organizing your arguments and refining your writing. By following our tips and studying the examples provided, you will be well-equipped to write a standout evaluation essay that engages and persuades your readers.

The Art of Writing an Evaluation Essay

Writing an evaluation essay requires a careful analysis and critique of a subject or a topic. To master this art, you need to develop a critical mindset and attention to detail. Here are some key steps to help you craft a compelling evaluation essay:

By following these steps and honing your critical thinking skills, you can master the art of writing an evaluation essay and create a compelling and insightful piece of writing.

Understanding the Evaluation Essay

An evaluation essay is a type of writing that assesses and critiques a particular subject, such as a movie, book, restaurant, or product. It requires the writer to analyze the subject and provide a judgment based on defined criteria. The purpose of an evaluation essay is to evaluate the subject’s quality and effectiveness, and to present a clear and coherent argument for the writer’s assessment.

When writing an evaluation essay, it is important to have a clear understanding of the subject being evaluated and to establish specific criteria for evaluation. These criteria can vary depending on the subject and the writer’s perspective, but they should be logical, relevant, and objective. The evaluation essay should also include evidence and examples to support the writer’s judgment and provide a well-rounded assessment of the subject.

Overall, the evaluation essay requires critical thinking, analysis, and effective communication skills. It is an opportunity for the writer to express their opinion and evaluation of a subject in a structured and persuasive manner.

Choosing a Topic for Evaluation Essay

When selecting a topic for your evaluation essay, it’s important to choose something that you have a genuine interest in and can thoroughly analyze. Here are some tips to help you pick the perfect topic:

• Choose a subject that you are knowledgeable about or have personal experience with.
• Select a topic that is relevant and timely to your audience.
• Pick a topic that can be evaluated objectively based on criteria.
• Consider choosing a controversial topic to spark debate and discussion.
• Ensure that there is enough information available for research and analysis.

By following these guidelines, you can find a topic that will allow you to write a compelling and insightful evaluation essay.

Structuring Your Evaluation Essay

When writing an evaluation essay, it is important to follow a clear structure to effectively communicate your assessment of the subject matter. Here are the key components of structuring your evaluation essay:

• Introduction: Start your essay with an engaging introduction that provides context for the topic and clearly states your evaluation criteria.
• Thesis Statement: Develop a strong thesis statement that presents your overall evaluation and main points.
• Criteria: Identify the specific criteria you will use to evaluate the subject. These criteria should be relevant to the topic and provide a framework for your assessment.
• Evidence: Support your evaluation with concrete examples, evidence, or data. Use specific details to illustrate your points and clarify your assessment.
• Analysis: Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the subject based on your criteria. Provide a balanced assessment that considers both positive and negative aspects.
• Conclusion: Summarize your evaluation and reiterate your main points. Offer a final evaluation that reflects your overall assessment of the subject.

By structuring your evaluation essay in a clear and logical manner, you can effectively convey your assessment to your audience and support your evaluation with strong evidence and analysis.

Tips for Writing a Successful Evaluation Essay

1. Choose a topic that you are familiar with and passionate about. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and engaging for you.

2. Clearly define the criteria that you will use to evaluate the subject. Make sure your criteria are specific, measurable, and relevant to the topic.

3. Provide evidence and examples to support your evaluation. Use facts, data, and examples to back up your claims and make your argument more convincing.

4. Use a clear and logical structure for your essay. Start with an introduction that provides context and introduces the topic. Then, develop your evaluation in the body paragraphs, and conclude with a summary of your main points.

5. Be objective in your evaluation. While it’s important to express your opinion, make sure to support it with evidence and consider different perspectives.

6. Edit and revise your essay carefully. Check for spelling and grammar errors, ensure that your arguments are well-supported, and make sure your writing is clear and concise.

Examples of Evaluation Essay

1. Movie Evaluation: “The Shawshank Redemption” is a classic film that touches on themes of hope, redemption, and friendship. The storyline, acting, and cinematography all contribute to the emotional impact of the movie. However, some critics argue that the pacing of the film is slow in certain parts, affecting the overall viewing experience.

2. Restaurant Evaluation: XYZ Restaurant offers a diverse menu, with options ranging from traditional dishes to modern fusion cuisine. The ambiance is cozy and inviting, creating a pleasant dining experience. However, some customers have complained about the slow service and inconsistent quality of food.

3. Book Evaluation: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is a timeless classic that explores themes of racism, justice, and morality. The author’s evocative writing style and vivid characterizations make the book a compelling read. However, some critics argue that the novel oversimplifies complex issues and lacks nuance in its portrayal of race relations.

Revision and Proofreading

Once you have completed your evaluation essay, it is crucial to revise and proofread it thoroughly to ensure that it is polished and error-free. Follow these steps to refine your essay:

• Check for coherence and structure: Make sure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Check for transitions between paragraphs and ensure that your arguments are presented in a clear and organized manner.
• Verify the accuracy of your evidence: Double-check all the facts, statistics, and examples you have used in your essay to ensure their accuracy. Make sure that your evidence supports your evaluation effectively.
• Evaluate the clarity of your thesis statement: Your thesis statement should clearly state your evaluation and the criteria you are using. Make sure it is concise and specific.
• Scan for grammar and spelling errors: Proofread your essay carefully to catch any grammar or spelling mistakes. Use a grammar checker or have someone else read your essay to identify any errors you may have missed.
• Check the formatting and citation style: Ensure that your essay follows the required formatting guidelines and that your citations are properly formatted according to the citation style specified in the assignment instructions.
• Seek feedback: Ask a friend, family member, or teacher to read your essay and provide feedback. Consider their suggestions and make revisions accordingly.

By revising and proofreading your evaluation essay, you can ensure that it is well-written, coherent, and error-free, enhancing its overall quality and effectiveness.

Final Thoughts on Evaluation Essays

Writing an evaluation essay can be a challenging but rewarding endeavor. It allows you to critically assess a topic or subject and provide your own unique perspective on it. Remember to choose a topic that you are passionate about or have expertise in, as this will make the writing process more enjoyable and insightful.

When crafting your evaluation essay, be sure to provide a clear evaluation criteria and support your claims with evidence and examples. Use a balanced approach, acknowledging both the strengths and weaknesses of the subject you are evaluating. Additionally, make sure to structure your essay in a logical and organized manner, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.

Overall, evaluation essays offer a valuable opportunity to develop your critical thinking and analytical skills. By following the tips and examples outlined in this guide, you can create a compelling and thought-provoking evaluation essay that engages readers and sparks meaningful discussions.

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Essay: Performance Appraisal Methods

Business / Samples May 9, 2011

Sample Essay

There are different performance appraisal methods that are widely used around the world. The study of Locher and Teel (1977) found that there are three most common appraisal methods that are generally used. These three methods are rating scales, essay methods and result oriented or MBO methods (Murphy & Cleveland 1995).

2.1       Rating Scales

This method of rating scales is considered to offer a high degree of structure for performance appraisals. The characteristic of each employee or trait is rated on a bipolar state that usually is comprised of several points from poor excellent or some similar arrangement. The traits that are assessed on these scales actually include the attributes such as cooperation, communication skills and an employee’s ability to communicate, punctuality and technical working skills (Smither 1998). The nature and scope of the traits that are selected for inclusion is limited only with the imagination of designers scale.

A major issue that arises in selecting the appropriate traits is that they should be relevant to the employee’s job characteristics. The traits that are selected by some organizations have been regarded as unwise and they resulted in legal actions on the grounds of discrimination.

2.2       Essay Methods

The essay method approach is famous among many employers and the appraiser prepares a written statement usually in the form of an easy about the employee that is being apprised. This written analysis of the employee usually revolves on describing specific strengths and weaknesses in job performance. It also identifies the course of action and the problem area of the employee (Smither 1998). This statement can be written and edited by the employer (appraiser) alone or it can be composed with the collaboration of appraise.

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Frank Bruni

Donald trump, prince of self-pity.

By Frank Bruni

Mr. Bruni is a contributing Opinion writer who was on the staff of The Times for more than 25 years.

The size of the crowd at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta last month rivaled the turnout for Donald Trump days later only “because she had entertainers,” Trump told the audience at his event, referring to the rappers Quavo and Megan Thee Stallion. “I don’t need entertainers.”

Translation: Harris cheated. Even so, she didn’t get the better of him.

She isn’t really Black but “happened to turn Black” over the course of her political career. That’s what Trump said at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, insinuating that Harris had performed a melanin metamorphosis and was falsely improvising identities to contrive some perk unavailable to him.

Poor Trump. Always forced to compete on an uneven playing field.

Of all his feats of projection, which is psychology’s term for seeing your own methods and motivations in someone else, none fascinates me more than his incessant insistence that every one of his adversaries — that everyone, period — is the beneficiary of some scheme or scam that puts him at a disadvantage. If he triumphs nonetheless? It’s a testament to his peerless might. If he doesn’t? It was never a fair fight.

He’s the prince of self-pity, the bard of bellyaching, reportedly worked up over the imagined injustice or trickery of Harris’s late replacement of President Biden on the Democratic ticket. According to an article in The Washington Post this week, he told an ally : “It’s unfair that I beat him and now I have to beat her, too.”

The more assertively Trump presses a complaint, the more you know it’s bunk. He operates on the theory that if you’re selling falsehoods, peddle like the wind; your audience might well assume that you’d never speak that extravagantly and be that audacious if there weren’t some legitimacy to your claim.

So it is with his underdog yap — his pantomime of Cinderella when he’s really her wickedest stepsister.

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