Overview of the Three Performance Appraisal Instruments (Essay Sample)

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Topic: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
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Overview of 3 performance appraisal instruments
Performance appraisal has been described as a formal interaction between an employee and a manager, aimed at assessing and discussing performance in detail (Seiden & Sowa, 2011). For performance appraisal to be formalized and regularized, organizations use different forms of instruments including rating scale, management by objectives (MBO) and 360-degree feedback. Rating scale is generally a grading system used to quantitatively rate employees based on specific work outcomes. MBO involves setting SMART objectives for employees with success or failure determined by degree of attainment of objectives. 360-degree feedback is a more qualitative instrument involving the profiling of employees through interviews and other interactive procedures.
Three components of any performance appraisal instrument
Even though each type of performance appraisal instrument may be used for different reasons and in order to achieve different purposes, there are some specific components that run through almost all these instruments. According to Kondrasuk (2011), the extent to which HR managers are able to apply these components to each instrument determines how effective a given instrument would be. The first component is that all appraisal instruments are objective based. What this means is that the instruments are designed with very specific objectives set for employees to attain. Without the objectives, it will be difficult to measure the real performance outcome of employees (Bol, 2011). Secondly, the instruments are linked to the larger organizational goal, meaning that they are set to ensure that employees accomplish the overall goals of the organization. Lastly, the instruments are performance improvement related, ensuring that they critique employees towards making them more viable (Kondrasuk, 2011).
Components necessary for employee motivation and why
Using the rating scale performance appraisal instrument as an example, it would be said that the component that is most necessary for employee motivation is the fact that the instrument is performance improvement related. The reason for this assertion is that when employees are appraised with the purpose of making them better workers; they get motivated, knowing that the appraisal is in place to develop their professional competence. This is to say that employees refuse to see the appraisal as a means to sabotage them but to discover the best from them. Luckily, the fact that the rating scale is quantitative in nature means that it is possible to easily determine areas where employees require more training and assistance to become as productive as the organization require of them (Seiden & Sowa, 2011).
Adjusting components to effectively motivate and satisfy high-quality and diverse workforce
Even though the component of performance improvement related has been said to be motivating in nature, it is still possible to adjust this component to effectively motivate and satisfy high-quality and diverse workforce. To do this, it would be relevant to ensure that the appraisal system is made as interactive as possible. As indicated already, using the 360-degree feedback is interactive in nature but others such as rating scale do not readily guarantee such interactivity. However, HR managers can adjust the instruments and the component aimed at improving performance to be interactive, where they specifically interact with employees to know at first hand, how best they may be assisted in improving their performance.
Employee attitudes, behaviors and perceptions about appraisals
Based on previous experiences with different companies, one major realization I have come to make is that employees hardly see and appreciate the fact that performance appraisal instruments are there to help them become better workers. Rather, they see these instruments as a means to expose their weaknesses and possibly penalize them for these. Because of this, employees are most likely to develop apathy towards appraisals, refusing to see