How can Human Resource Development address Performance Appraisal Bias? by Jerry Lane Silmon A Research Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Human Resource Development Texas A & M University MAY 2010 © 2010 BY JERRY LANE SILMON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS How can Human Resource Development address Performance Appraisal Bias? 1 Integrity of the System 1 Leadership 2 Feedback and Communication 3 Forced Ranking 4 Values 6 Clear Goals and Objectives 7 Alignment 7 Performance Coaching 9 Appropriate Use 10 Organizational Oversight 11 Concluding Remarks 12 References 14 How can Human Resource Development address Performance Appraisal Bias? Merriam Webster’s Dictionary …show more content…
Employees will not go out of their way to provide the extra effort and creativity needed to solve problems and make necessary changes when they lack trust in the integrity of management. The most problematic situation occurs when raters manipulate feedback to game the performance appraisal process to support their favorite employees (in-group) and punish the least favored (out-group). As is the case when managers promote employee participation through self-appraisals, but then ignores that input employees rightly perceive that traditional command and control values dominate. The lack of procedural fairness is compounded by the lack of appraisal recipient voice in the decision making process of setting attainable and measurable goals and development objectives. Feedback and Communication Most employees like to receive feedback; the employees want to know how they are doing! Quality performance feedback on an ongoing basis is the lifeblood of the performance appraisal process. Research and practice demonstrate a consistent disconnect between employee and manager perspectives about the degree and nature of performance feedback. As leaders, communication is the building block of trust. Employees desire more frequent, specific, and timely feedback than the typical once a year meeting with the manager provides. Employees in many cases feel misled and betrayed when they do
The employee should know where he/she stands in obtaining performance goals. Thus, providing feedback is an integral part of the task. The feedback should be delivered to the employee to motivate the employee but also help him/her identify any weakness in his/her performance and to help contribute to growth. The employee should leave the appraisal with knowledge of what he/she specifically needs to improve on
The job description for each position is different and so should the evaluation process and questioner. Each department in an organization needs to have guidelines set forth outlining the duites, expectations, training model, and professional code and consistency among employees are critical to the professional appraisal evaluation process. Each employee must be held to the same accountability or the evaluation process becomes tainted by lack of consistency. Management should always focus on the appraisal process as another of their job duties instead of over thinking the task and rating an employee out of fear and retaliation or to prevent an employee from receiving a raise or promotion. In addition, the for the appraisal process to be beneficial to the company the outcome has to be to protect the company from liability or litigation from a disgruntled employee and to boost the companies overall productivity ratings. When an employee believes he or she has a hand in creating the plan to evaluate and change his or her performance the changes are more likely to last rather than being told what changes need to
Baker (2010) and London (2003) (cited in Baker et al. 2013) define feedback as the informative discussion among two persons concerning the development, performance, goals and behaviours of the recipient, in relation to occupational tasks and outcomes. According to Mulder and Ellinger (2013) (cited in De Janasz et al. 2014) high quality and constructive feedback is instrumental in the improvement of employee education and training, as well as their experience and achievement (De Janasz et al. 2014) Barron (1993) (cited in Sommer & Kulkarni 2012) argues that feedback should be provided in a timely manner, delivered in a relevant setting, be personalised, issue focused, free from threats or bias,
At too many organizations, the performance appraisal has degenerated into a mere formality. Employers and employees are jointly complicit, dutifully sitting across from one another but simply going through the motions, ticking off goals and targets achieved over the past 12 months, those that weren’t, and a new set of goals and targets for the next 12 months. As performance management tools, these by-the-numbers appraisals don’t hold much value for most companies, and they do little to raise employee engagement, commitment or satisfaction levels. However, rather than simply abandoning performance appraisals altogether, as some have implied, a growing number of employers are turning around this state of affairs. They’re reinventing performance reviews and reaping substantial rewards.
Giving timely, appropriate, and effective feedback can be a challenge. The situation, environment, and the audience can also make the use of feedback either easier or much more difficult. As the manager of the department, I find this to be especially true. Some of the staff are easier to provide feedback to than others. Using performance feedback guidelines can make the process more effective and efficient. Some of the guidelines include that you should provide both positive and developmental feedback quickly and in private. Additional suggestions include that you:
Performance Appraisals are integrative assessment tools which are advantageous to organizational effectiveness. The administrators of the performance appraisals usually are managers or human resource professionals. Making sure the appraisal tool is valid, reliable, standardized, and appropriate for the position is only part of the process. Unfortunately it’s not uncommon for employees to be in the dark regarding their performance, or areas of weakness, if a lack of communication exists. The ability to be proactive with one’s employees is where I feel the success lies. “Research shows that managers with poor communication or interpersonal skills are often the downfall of a company's otherwise sound performance management program
“Performance appraisals can enhance employee performance as well as advance the mission and goals of an organization. There are many advantages of performance appraisals if they are applied fairly, consistently and objectively. Performance appraisals not applied fairly can be counterproductive and even destructive to
In an article from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management [OPM] (n.d.) it stated that “without feedback, you 're walking blind, at best, you 'll accidentally reach your goal, and at worst, you will wander aimlessly through the dark, never reaching your destination.” Feedback is a critical element in a managers “toolbox” when evaluating employees. It gives an employee a view of how good or bad their previous performance was and what or if they need to improve in their performance. It also reduces
“In a recent survey, over 50 percent of respondents reported that they believe performance reviews do not provide accurate appraisals of their work, and nearly 25 percent said they dread performance reviews more than anything else” (Pulakos, Mueller-Hanson, O 'Leary, & Meyrowitz, 2012, p. 8). Negative perceptions of appraisals derive from feelings of being a waste of time or holding no value in the workplace. Organization leadership should develop a thorough evaluation form to combat the pessimistic discernment for performance reviews. Constructing a meticulous form, adhering to guidelines, and stressing the importance of the process will build staff support for the program.
In module five we explored performance management and feedback as well as people development. Mello (2015) teaches us that an organization’s long term success in meeting its strategic objectives rests with the ability to manage employee performance and ensure that performance measures are consistent with the organization’s needs (p. 438). This can be done through various performance development strategies. I have personally experienced this from various compensation strategies, performance appraisal methods as well as training and development programs.
“Performance appraisal” is a discrete, formal, organizationally sanctioned event, usually not occurring more frequently than once or twice a year, which has clearly stated performance dimensions and/or criteria that are used in the evaluation process. Furthermore, it is an evaluation process, in that quantitative scores are often assigned, based on the judged level of the employee‟s job performance on the dimensions or criteria used, and the scores are shared with the employee being evaluated. (Angelo S. DeNisi and Robert D. Pritchard, 2006)
Leventhal and Greenberg discussed three broad principles that influence perceived fairness in performance appraisal systems. First, employees should possess the ability to correct or rebut inaccurate information. Second, that specific procedures should be introduced to increase the accuracy of performance information (such as performance diaries, comprehensive rater training, objective performance standards). Third, that procedural safeguards are present to discourage biased ratings (appeal processes, evaluating the rater on how well they administer the process). To fully operationalize these principles, a much greater voice and role for the employee is necessary. What are the preferred means for accomplishing these goals?
What exactly are the consequences of performance appraisal in organisations and how does it contribute to organisational or individual performance? 2000 words
The support for this system is overwhelming. Numerous sources point to constant feedback as the best possible solution to the problem of performance appraisals, and for many reasons outside of the issues discussed in this paper. John Shultz (2015) is a vocal proponent of this system and says that, “Feedback often has negative connotations because it is typically used when something goes wrong… On the contrary, feedback is supposed to be about coaching, providing guidance, and bringing both individuals and the team to a level of self-sustaining performance” (p. 17). His point is that by only looking at performance once or twice a year, management tends to only focus on problems during the rest of the year. This action begins to press a negative connotation onto the idea of feedback and breeds dread into employees that hear the word. Moreover, supervisors tend to overlook positive achievements
One would expect the level of performance feedback to rise as one progresses up the organizational hierarchy. Paradoxically, in some organizations, the higher one rises in an organization the less likely one is to get receive quality feedback about job performance.