Performance Appraisals – Punishment or Catalyst for Improvement

Posted May 27th, 2009

This is my reply to a question, on Linked-In, about performance appraisals.  The question asked whether performance appraisals are punishment or not.
In some companies, the process feels like punishment to the employee and the manager. While that is not the intent, some managers use the event as a time to compliment a little and criticize a lot. It is punishment to the manager who views it as a non-valued added activity required by HR.

Like other HR practices, performance appraisals are viewed as a must-have program. HR provides guidance and training for managers in how to do appraisals. Managers with a large number of people reporting to them do not have time to perform several appraisals a year and certainly do not have time to regularly observe, coach, and provide feedback on performance to employees. It would be great if managers could do that, but it does not happen in the companies with whom I consult.

I do not see appraisals as a catalyst for improvement, unless it is a catalyst that causes negative thinking among most employees.

Pay for performance may work well in some industries and with some positions, but a number of people doing the same job on different shifts have little opportunity to differentiate performance. Set a pay rate that fairly compensates the employees for doing the job requirements. and then a manager could have more time to appraise performance regularly.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under Human Factors, Observations.