UNIT 2

Recruitment: Concept, Sources, Process 

Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization. It is the process of bringing together those who are offering jobs and those who are seeking jobs. Recruitment is a positive process where a pool of prospective employees is created and management select the right person for the right job from this pool. It provides a base for the selection process.

SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

Broadly, there are two main sources of recruitment

1. Internal sources of recruitment which means recruitment from within the organization.2. External sources of recruitment means recruitment from outside the organization.

1. Internal sources of recruitment which means recruitment from within the organization

(i) Transfer: it means shifting of employees from one job to another. There is no drastic change in the pay or status of the employees it generally remains the same.

(ii) Promotion: it means shifting the employee to higher position with the change in the pay or status.

(iii) Internal advertisement: it means appointing the employees from within the organization through advertisement.

(iv) Lent services: it means employing the person for newly started plant in the organization.

(v) Extension of services: it is extending the service of employees by recruiting them again.

(vi) Absorption of trainees: those who come in the organization for training employing them.

2. External sources of recruitment mean recruitment from outside the organization:  

(i) Advertisement: it is a way to attract number of employees by giving advertisement in the newspaper.

(ii) Casual callers: the good organizations have a list of casual callers also who apply them and the organization instead of giving new advertisement give a call to these casual callers.

(iii) Employment exchange: it is a good source of recruitment where the candidates are called with the help of employment exchange.

(iv) Educational institutions: here the company’s go to the educational institutions from where they select the suitable employees for the job.

(v) Labor union: the organization may select the candidate from the labor union of the company to satisfy the labors also.

(vi) Recommendation of employees: sometimes the employees working in the organization also suggest the name of suitable candidate for the appointment.

(vii) Waiting lists: generally the organization s prepares the waiting lists of the employees. Sometimes the selected candidates failed to join in that case the waiting list employees are called.

Thus the above said are the main sources of recruitment of the employees within the organization and outside the organization which are used by the organization to employ the employees.

PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT

(i) Firstly it identify the different sources of employee supply

(ii) To check their validity

(iii) Selecting the most suitable source

(iv) Inviting the applications from the prospective candidate for the vacancy.

Selection: Concept and Process 

Selection is the process of picking or choosing the right candidate, who is most suitable for a vacant job position in an organization. In others words, selection can also be explained as the process of interviewing the candidates and evaluating their qualities, which are required for a specific job and then choosing the suitable candidate for the position.

The selection of a right applicant for a vacant position will be an asset to the organization, which will be helping the organization in reaching its objectives.

Different authors define Selection in different ways. Here is a list of some of the definitions:

Employee selection is a process of putting a right applicant on a right job. Selection of an employee is a process of choosing the applicants, who have the qualifications to

fill the vacant job in an organization. Selection is a process of identifying and hiring the applicants for filling the vacancies in an

organization. Employee selection is a process of matching organization’s requirements with the skills and the

qualifications of individuals.

A good selection process will ensure that the organization gets the right set of employees with the right attitude.

Selection Process

The selection procedure comprises of following systematic steps:

1. Preliminary Interview: The preliminary interview is also called as a screening interview wherein those candidates are eliminated from the further selection process who do not meet the minimum eligibility criteria as required by the organization.

Here, the individuals are checked for their academic qualifications, skill sets, family backgrounds and their interest in working with the firm. The preliminary interview is less formal and is basically done to weed out the unsuitable candidates very much before proceeding with a full-fledged selection process.

2. Receiving Applications: Once the individual qualifies the preliminary interview he is required to fill in the application form in the prescribed format. This application contains the candidate data such as age, qualification, experience, etc. This information helps the interviewer to get the fair idea about the candidate and formulate questions to get more information about him.

3. Screening Applications: Once the applications are received, these are screened by the screening committee, who then prepare a list of those applicants whom they find suitable for the interviews. The shortlisting criteria could be the age, sex, qualification, experience of an individual. Once the list is prepared, the qualified candidates are called for the interview either through a registered mail or e-mails.

4. Employment Tests: In order to check the mental ability and skill set of an individual, several tests are conducted. Such as intelligence tests, aptitude tests, interest tests, psychological tests,

personality tests, etc. These tests are conducted to judge the suitability of the candidate for the job.

5. Employment Interview: The one on one session with the candidate is conducted to gain more insights about him. Here, the interviewer asks questions from the applicant to discover more about him and to give him the accurate picture of the kind of a job he is required to perform.

Also, the briefing of certain organizational policies is done, which is crucial in the performance of the job. Through an interview, it is easier for the employer to understand the candidate’s expectations from the job and also his communication skills along with the confidence level can be checked at this stage.

6. Checking References: The firms usually ask for the references from the candidate to cross check the authenticity of the information provided by him. These references could be from the education institute from where the candidate has completed his studies or from his previous employment where he was formerly engaged. These references are checked to know the conduct and behavior of an individual and also his potential of learning new jobs.

7. Medical Examination: Here the physical and mental fitness of the candidate are checked to ensure that he is capable of performing the job. In some organizations, the medical examination is done at the very beginning of the selection process while in some cases it is done after the final selection.

Thus, this stage is not rigid and can take place anywhere in the process. The medical examination is an important step in the selection process as it helps in ascertaining the applicant’s physical ability to fulfill the job requirements.

8. Final Selection: Finally, the candidate who qualifies all the rounds of a selection process is given the appointment letter to join the firm.

Thus, the selection is complex and a lengthy process as it involves several stages than an individual has to qualify before getting finally selected for the job.

Test and Interview THESTREAK18 FEB 2019 2 COMMENTSIn today’s dynamic business environment, organizations use several methods to connect people’s knowledge, skills and competencies with the responsibilities and duties for a given job. A best practice in this area that is rapidly becoming an industry standard is to run an employee selection test, an assessment that measures an individual’s personality, aptitude and/or abilities.

INTERVIEW

Interview is the widely used (election method. It is a face-to-face interaction between interviewee and interviewer. If handled carefully, it can be a powerful technique in having accurate information of the interviewee otherwise unavailable. At the same time, if the interview

is not handled carefully, it can be a source of bias, restricting or distorting the flow of communication.

Objectives of Interview

1. Verifies the information obtained through application form and tests.2. Helps obtain additional information from the applicant otherwise not available.3. Gives the candidate necessary facts and information about the job and the organization.4. Helps establish mutual understanding between the company and the candidate and build the

company’s image.

Types of Interviews

Four types of interviews for selection have been identified.

1. Preliminary Interview

The interviews conducted to screen the applicants to decide whether further detailed interview will be required are called preliminary interviews. The candidate is given freedom by giving job details during the interview to decide whether the job will suit him.

One of the drawback associated with the preliminary interview is that it might lead to the elimination of many desirable candidates in case interviewers do not have much and proper experience in evaluating candidates. The positive argument, if any, for this method is that it saves time and money for the company.

2. Patterned Interview

In this interview, the pattern of the interview is decided in advance. What kind of information is to be sought or given, how the interview is to be conducted, and how much time is to be allotted to it, all these are worked out in advance. In case interviewee drifts, he/she is swiftly guided back to the structured questions. Such interviews are also called standardised interviews.

3. Depth Interview

As the term itself implies, depth interview tries to portray the interviewee in depth and detail. It, accordingly, covers the life history of the applicant along with his/her work experience, academic qualifications, health, attitude, interest, and hobbies. This method is particularly suitable for executive selection. Expectedly, depth interview involves more time and money in conducting it.

4. Stress Interview

Such interviews are conducted for the jobs which are to be performed under stressful conditions. The objective of stress interview is to make deliberate attempts to create stressful or strained conditions for the interviewee to observe how the applicant behaves under stressful conditions.

The common methods used to induce stress include frequent interruptions, keeping silent for an extended period of time, asking too many questions at a time, making derogatory remarks about the candidate, accusing him that he is lying and so on. The purpose is to observe how the candidate behaves under the stressful conditions – whether he looses his temper, gets confused or frightened.

However, stress-inducing must be done very carefully by trained and skilled interviewer otherwise it may result in dangers. Emotionally charged candidates must not be subjected to further stressful conditions. The candidate should be given sufficient chance to cope with such induced stress before he leaves.

Limitations of Interview

1. Interviewers may not have a clearly defined technique developed. This results in lack of validity in evaluation of the candidate.

2. There is always variation in offering scoring points to the candidate by the interviewers.3. Interview can help judge the personality of the candidate but not his ability for the job.4. A single characteristic of the candidate found out on the basis of interview, may affect the

judgment of the interviewer on other qualities of the applicant. This is called ‘halo effect’.5. The biases of interviewers may cloud the objectivity of interview.6. Finally, interview is a time consuming and expensive device of selection.

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Performance Appraisal: Nature and Objectives 

A performance appraisal is a systematic and objective method of judging the quality of an employee in performing his job and a part of guiding and managing career development. It is the process to obtain, analyze, and record the information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization. Performance appraisal is an analysis of an employee’s recent successes and failures, personal strengths and weaknesses, and his/her suitability for promotion or further training.

It is also the judgment of an employee’s performance in a job based on considerations other than productivity alone.

Performance appraisal is done periodically, but on a continuous basis. It is a part of a larger performance management system and includes both managerial and non-managerial employees in its scope.

Objectives of Performance Appraisal

(i) To provide employees feedback on their performance.

(ii) Identify employee training needs.

(iii) Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards.

(iv) A basis for decisions relating to salary increases, promotions, disciplinary actions, bonuses, etc.

(v) Provide the opportunity for organisational diagnosis and development.

(vi) Facilitate communication between employee and employer.

(vii) Validate selection techniques and human resource policies to meet regulatory requirements.

(viii) To improve performance through counseling, coaching and development.

(ix) To motivate employees through recognition and support.

Advantages of Performance Appraisal

It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company which can be justified by following advantages:

1. Promotion: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programmes for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case.

2. Compensation: Performance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which includes bonus, high salary rates, extra benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority.

3. Employees Development: The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyze strengths and weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing future development programmes.

4. Selection Validation: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard.

5. Communication: For an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. Through performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following ways:

Through performance appraisal, the employers can understand and accept skills of subordinates.

The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship. It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees.

All the above factors ensure effective communication.

6. Motivation: Performance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of employees, a person’s efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a person for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.

Techniques of Performance AppraisalPerformance Appraisal Methods: Traditional and Modern Methods

Each method of performance appraisal has its strengths and weaknesses may be suitable for one organization and non-suitable for another one. As such, there is no single appraisal method accepted and used by all organizations to measure their employees’ performance.

1. Traditional Methods

(i) Ranking Method

It is the oldest and simplest formal systematic method of performance appraisal in which employee is compared with all others for the purpose of placing order of worth. The employees are ranked from the highest to the lowest or from the best to the worst.

In doing this the employee who is the highest on the characteristic being measured and also the one who is L lowest, are indicated. Then, the next highest and the next lowest between next highest and lowest until all the employees to be rated have been ranked. Thus, if there are ten employees to be appraised, there will be ten ranks from 1 to 10.

(ii) Paired Comparison

In this method, each employee is compared with other employees on one- on one basis, usually based on one trait only. The rater is provided with a bunch of slips each coining pair of names, the rater puts a tick mark against the employee whom he insiders the better of the two. The number of times this employee is compared as better with others determines his or her final ranking.

N (N-1)/2

Where N = the total number of employees to be evaluated.

(iii) Grading Method

In this method, certain categories of worth are established in advance and carefully defined. There can be three categories established for employees: outstanding, satisfactory and unsatisfactory. There can be more than three grades. Employee performance is compared with grade definitions. The employee is, then, allocated to the grade that best describes his or her performance.

Such type of grading is done is Semester pattern of examinations and in the selection of a candidate in the public service sector. One of the major drawbacks of this method is that the rater may rate most of the employees on the higher side of their performance.

(iv) Forced Distribution Method

This method was evolved by Tiffen to eliminate the central tendency of rating most of the employees at a higher end of the scale. The method assumes that employees’ performance level confirms to a normal statistical distribution i.e., 10,20,40,20 and 10 per cent. This is useful for rating a large number of employees’ job performance and promo ability. It tends to eliminate or reduce bias.

It is also highly simple to understand and easy to apply in appraising the performance of employees in organizations. It suffer from the drawback that improve similarly, no single grade would rise in a ratings.

(v) Forced-Choice Method

The forced-choice method is developed by J. P. Guilford. It contains a series of groups of statements, and rater rates how effectively a statement describes each individual being evaluated. Common method of forced-choice method contains two statements, both positive and negative.

(vi) Check-List Method

The basic purpose of utilizing check-list method is to ease the evaluation burden upon the rater. In this method, a series of statements, i.e., questions with their answers in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ are prepared by the HR department. The check-list is, then, presented to the rater to tick appropriate answers relevant to the appraisee. Each question carries a weight-age in relationship to their importance.

(vii) Critical Incidents Method

In this method, the rater focuses his or her attention on those key or critical behaviours that make the difference between performing a job in a noteworthy manner (effectively or ineffectively). There are three steps involved in appraising employees using this method.

First, a list of noteworthy (good or bad) on-the-job behaviour of specific incidents is prepared. Second, a group of experts then assigns weightage or score to these incidents, depending upon their degree of desirability to perform a job. Third, finally a check-list indicating incidents that describe workers as “good” or “bad” is constructed. Then, the check-list is given to the rater for evaluating the workers.

(viii) Graphic Rating Scale Method

The graphic rating scale is one of the most popular and simplest techniques for appraising performance. It is also known as linear rating scale. In this method, the printed appraisal form is used to appraise each employee.

The form lists traits (such as quality and reliability) and a range of job performance characteristics (from unsatisfactory to outstanding) for each trait. The rating is done on the basis of points on the continuum. The common practice is to follow five points scale.

(ix) Essay Method

Essay method is the simplest one among various appraisal methods available. In this method, the rater writes a narrative description on an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, past performance, potential and suggestions for improvement. Its positive point is that it is simple in use. It does not require complex formats and extensive/specific training to complete it.

(x) Field Review Method

When there is a reason to suspect rater’s biasedness or his or her rating appears to be quite higher than others, these are neutralised with the help of a review process. The review process is usually conducted by the personnel officer in the HR department.

(xi) Confidential Report

It is the traditional way of appraising employees mainly in the Government Departments. Evaluation is made by the immediate boss or supervisor for giving effect to promotion and transfer. Usually a structured format is devised to collect information on employee’s strength weakness, intelligence, attitude, character, attendance, discipline, etc. report.

2. Modern Methods

(i) Management by Objectives (MBO)

Most of the traditional methods of performance appraisal are subject to the antagonistic judgments of the raters. It was to overcome this problem; Peter F. Drucker propounded a new concept, namely, management by objectives (MBO) way back in 1954 in his book.

The Practice of management. The concept of MBO as was conceived by Drucker, can be described as a “process whereby the superior and subordinate managers of an organization jointly identify its common goals, define each individual’s major areas of responsibility in terms of results expected of him and use these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each its members”.

An MBO programme consists of four main steps: goal setting, performance standard, compari-son, and periodic review. In goal-setting, goals are set which each individual, s to attain. The superior and subordinate jointly establish these goals. The goals refer to the desired outcome to be achieved by each individual employee.

In performance standards, the standards are set for the employees as per the previously arranged time period. When the employees start performing their jobs, they come to know what is to be done, what has been done, and what remains to be done.

In the third step the actual level of goals attained are compared with the goals agreed upon. This enables the evaluator to find out the reasons variation between the actual and standard performance of the employees. Such a comparison helps devise training needs for increasing employees’ performance it can also explore the conditions having their bearings on employees’ performance but over which the employees have no control.

Finally, in the periodic review step, corrective measure is initiated when actual performance deviates from the slandered established in the first step-goal-setting stage. Consistent with the MBO philosophy periodic progress reviews are conducted in a constructive rather than punitive manner.

(ii)  Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

The problem of judgmental performance evaluation inherent in the traditional methods of performance evaluation led to some organizations to go for objective evaluation by developing a technique known as “Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)” around 1960s. BARS are descriptions of various degrees of behaviour with regard to a specific performance dimension.

It combines the benefits of narratives, critical incidents, and quantified ratings by anchoring a quantified scale with specific behavioural examples of good or poor performance. The proponents of BARS claim that it offers better and more equitable appraisals than do the other techniques of performance appraisal we discussed so far.

(iii) Assessment Centres

The introduction of the concept of assessment centres as a method of performance method is traced back in 1930s in the Germany used to appraise its army officers. The concept gradually spread to the US and the UK in 1940s and to the Britain in 1960s.

The concept, then, traversed from the army to business arena during 1960s. The concept of assessment centre is, of course, of a recent origin in India. In India, Crompton Greaves, Eicher, Hindustan Lever and Modi Xerox have adopted this technique of performance evaluation.

In business field, assessment centres are mainly used for evaluating executive or supervisory potential. By definition, an assessment centre is a central location where managers come together to participate in well-designed simulated exercises. They are assessed by senior managers supplemented by the psychologists and the HR specialists for 2-3 days.

Assessee is asked to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, simulations, and role playing which are essential for successful performance of actual job. Having recorded the assessee’s behaviour the raters meet to discuss their pooled information and observations and, based on it, they give their assessment about the assesee. At the end of the process, feedback in terms of strengths and weaknesses is also provided to the assesees.

(iv) 360 – Degree Appraisal

Yet another method used to appraise the employee’s performance is 360 – degree appraisal. This method was first developed and formally used by General Electric Company of USA in 1992. Then, it travelled to other countries including India. In India, companies like Reliance Industries, Wipro Corporation, Infosys Technologies, Thermax, Thomas Cook etc., have been using this method for appraising the performance of their employees. This feedback based method is generally used for ascertaining training and development requirements, rather than for pay increases.

Under 360 – degree appraisal, performance information such as employee’s skills, abilities and behaviours, is collected “all around” an employee, i.e., from his/her supervisors, subordinates, peers and even customers and clients.

In other worlds, in 360-degree feedback appraisal system, an employee is appraised by his supervisor, subordinates, peers, and customers with whom he interacts in the course of his job performance. All these appraisers provide information or feedback on an employee by completing survey questionnaires designed for this purpose.

(v) Cost Accounting Method

This method evaluates an employee’s performance from the monetary benefits the employee yields to his/her organization. This is ascertained by establishing a relationship between the costs involved in retaining the employee, and the benefits an organization derives from Him/her.

Limitations of Performance Appraisal, Potential Appraisal

 Bias of AppraiserThe presence of ‘Halo Effect’ in evaluation of employees is the biggest weakness of this method.

A high rate is given to favoured employees whereas unfriendly employees are rated low.

2. Ambiguity in Standards

If the standards are not clear, the supervisors may follow different standards for different employees.

3. Insufficient Evidence

An employee who can impress the boss may get a positive evaluation though his impression in his own department may be very poor. In such cases, the performance appraisal will be superfluous.

4. Several Qualities Remain Without Appraisal

Through performance appraisal, only few qualities of employees can be measured. All individuals differ from each other in terms of background, values and behaviour.

5. Leniency or Strictness Tenancy

Every evaluator has his own valuation procedure which is regarded as his own standard for evaluation. For example, some teachers are strict in evaluation of answer books whereas others are lenient. The lenient tendency is known as ‘Positive Leniency Error’ whereas strict tendency is called as ‘Negative Leniency Error’. The rating may be high or low depending upon the nature of evaluators.

6. Average Rating Problem

In order to give very low or very high rating, the top managers are required to give reasons to justify the rating. The most common error committed in performance appraisal is to give average rating to all employees. Moreover, low rating antagonizes the subordinates.

7. Influence of Man’s Job

There is a tendency to give a high rating to highly paid jobs. So a senior employee may get a higher rating than a junior employee.

8. Similarity Error

The evaluator tries to look those qualities in subordinates which he himself possesses. Those who show the similar characteristics are rated high.

POTENTIAL APPRAISAL

The potential appraisal refers to the appraisal i.e. identification of the hidden talents and skills of a person. The person might or might not be aware of them. Potential appraisal is a future – oriented appraisal whose main objective is to identify and evaluate the potential of the employees to assume higher positions and responsibilities in the organizational hierarchy. Many organisations consider and use potential appraisal as a part of the performance appraisal processes..

To advise employees about their overall career development and future prospects Help the organization to chalk out succession plans Motivate the employees to further develop their skills and competencies. To identify the training needs.

Techniques of potential appraisal

Self – appraisals Peer appraisals Superior appraisals MBO Psychological and psychometric tests Management games like role playing Leadership exercises etc.

Process of Performance Appraisal

1. The first step in the process is the establishment of performance standards against which the output can be measured.

2. These standards are them communicated the employees as well as to the evaluators. This step helps the employees know what is expected from them and the feedback from the employees can be used for making any require changes in these standards.

3. The next step is to measure the actual performance against these standards a suitable technique for measurement is selected and the internal and external factors that influence the performance are also identified. Information on results is gathered and four sources are most commonly used

to measure the actual performance. These are personal observations, Oral reports, written reports and statistical reports.

4. The results of the appraisal are then shared with the employee so that he become aware of the deviation in performance and can also identify and analyze the cause behind this deviation. This help and employee in identifying his strengths and weaknesses and improve future performance.

5. Corrective actions is then undertaken to improve the performance of the employees the common tools for corrective action are coaching, counseling and training.

 Errors in Performance Appraisals

Structure and Timing

Inconsistency and uncertainty in the performance appraisal system mitigates their effectiveness. Employees should know when to expect performance reviews, and the manager should plan ahead and set an appraisal meeting on time. Scheduling and preparing for appraisal meetings helps your employees take them more seriously. Finding a quiet space to conduct the meeting and allowing the employee to share feedback or input is helpful as well.

Strictness and Leniency

Some managers offer feedback that is too strict or too lenient. Being too strict means that you downgrade employees relative to actual performance. Leniency means delivering scores higher than job performance warrants. Keeping emotions out of your evaluation and using objective criteria with data to support your reasoning helps ensure the most accurate results. Accurate ratings improve the ability of your workers to respond in areas where improvement is needed.

The Halo Effect Prevents Objective Evaluations

The halo effect means that you assume because an employee is generally "good", that his work inall areas is strong. The halo effect prevents a manager from objectively evaluating the employee on each criterion. Maintaining a professional approach to relationships, treating each worker equally and carefully scoring each criterion helps protect against haloing.

Likeness and Stereotyping

"Like me" bias and stereotyping are closely related errors in employee appraisal. These errors in performance appraisal stem from a manager's use of personal perspectives to conduct evaluations. Liking a particular employee may bias the manager toward more favorable assessments. Stereotyping employees leads to preconceived expectations and judgments, which hinder accuracy. Stereotyping also may lead to discrimination.

As with strictness and leniency, the key to protect against these errors in employee appraisal is an objective and carefully scrutinized appraisals. Data-driven assessments also guard against high levels of subjectivity.

The Recency Effect

The recency effect is based on a natural inclination to give greater weight to the most recent events. Therefore, an employee who has performed much lower than normal in recent weeks may receive an overly condemning evaluation. Some employees recognize the recency effect and work hard leading up to a performance appraisal to make a positive last impression. Keeping notes between employee evaluations and tracking performance data for an extended period of time enables a more thorough employee performance evaluation.

360 Degree Performance Appraisal, Feedback System and its Review

The 360 degree performance appraisal system is a way to make sure the appraisal is done in a full-fledged way considering all the elements surrounded to the employee. The 360 degree performance appraisal policy is very complicated and difficult to implement. One may ask why organization should invest in 360 degree performance appraisal system? Here the answer, is for long term development of employee and to create a strong leadership front. The 360 degree performance appraisal method provides a holistic approach towards the performance of employee. It includes very important factors such as collaboration, teamwork and leadership. Development plan based on the 360 degree performance appraisal system, effectively improve the overall performance of employee and productivity of organization. There are different steps which we follow in order to implement the 360 degree assessment. Clarity and effectiveness of the system is very important for an organization. 

What is a 360 degree performance appraisal?

The 360 degree performance appraisal system is advanced kind of appraisal which is used by  many organizations where performance of employee is judged using the review of around 7 to 12 people. These people are working with the employee and they share some of their work environment. The feedback is gathered in the form of reviews in terms of competencies of the employee. The employee himself or herself also takes part in this appraisal with the help of self assessment. The 360 degree performance appraisal system is a way to improve the understanding of strength and weaknesses of employee with the help of creative feedback forms. 

There exist 3 prime reasons due to which organization prefer to go for a 360 degree performance appraisal.

In order to get a enhance review about performance and prospective of the future leader.

To broaden the insight of manpower development and its needs.

In order to collect feedback from all the employees and to ensure the organizational justice.

Usually under 360 degree appraisal system the feedback is collected from peers subordinates customers managers and the team members of the employee. The feedback is collected using on job survey based on the performance of employees there exist four stages of a 360 degree appraisal. The first stages self appraisal followed by superior’s appraisal then subordinates appraisal and lastly the peer appraisal.

What is a 360 performance review in HR?

The 360 review is a professional opportunity given to the coworkers to provide 360 degree feedback about the performance of their fellow employee. Traditionally either the HR department or reporting manager of employee asks the subordinates to provide their feedback. 

Many organizations use an online survey method in order to interact with the employee and enable them to provide performance feedback. The online survey instrument is very useful in collecting the feedback and providing a clear understanding about employee’s performance. 

The 360 performance review is mostly focused on the contribution of employee and their skills along with the competencies. It is a balance way to view the actual performance of employee in the area of teamwork, leadership, interaction, interpersonal communication, contribution, management, accountability, work habits, vision, and other things based on the employee’s job profile.

Here the actual contribution of employee in terms of performance is judge by the manager while the other aspects of the role are judged by or reviewed by the subordinate, peers and the customer.

The purpose of collecting feedback from all the employees who work together is to analyze about how the employee affected the work of their fellow employees. Also it focuses on the steps organization need to carry out in order to enhance teamwork among the employees. Along with

the formal feedback manager can also request for informal or verbal feedback from the subordinates in order to get a clear view about behavior and work attitude of employee.

How to implement 360 degree performance appraisal system?

The implementation of 360 degree appraisal method is not an easy task. In order to design an effective 360 degree appraisal system one has to take care of following things.

Determine the right skill to be assessed.

Proper selection of appraiser.

Proper training should be provided to all the employees about how to use the 360 degree review system.

The intention of appraisal system should be elucidate.

Design simple and easily understandable process.

Ensure that a follow up is taken after appraisal review

Objectives of 360 degree performance appraisal 

The objective of 360 degree feedback process differs from company to company however the main objective of 360 degree performance review used to evaluate the performance of employee in a holistic manner expert of this field often claim that a properly and effectively implemented 360 degree feedback process makes employee more comfortable with the organization and lead to their overall development along with boosting their performance.

In this Era use of 360 degree feedback system has brought a team oriented meaning to the organization. Organization is not restricted to bunch of people but it has become a bigger team. In a traditional way the appraisal was the responsibility of human resource management only, but now the objective of 360 degree performance appraisal is to collect anonymous feedback about the employee from their superiors, colleagues and peers also from the customer. This holistic approach helps to evaluate performance and well-being of employee who is working for the organization.

360 Degree Performance Appraisal Process 

The steps of 360 degree feedback process may slightly vary from organization to organization. However the schedule of the 360 degree feedback process remains quite same. A timeline has been identified for 360 degree performance review which includes different steps which organization has to follow. The step starts with the communication about 360 degree performance appraisal method and it ends at the re-evaluation of participants.

1. Communicating the 360 degree performance review- It is very crucial to communicate the entire process to the stakeholders of the organization. The purpose and objective of 360 degree performance appraisal process should be clearly mentioned and explained to each and every participant. Also the process through which the feedback will be gathered and how the feedback will be utilized should be clearly conveyed to the stakeholders.

Time required- This process could take 2-3 weeks to communicate about the appraisal system. This can be done through in personal meeting with supervisors, managers, leaders and employees. Also it can be communicated through emails and employees should be encouraged to come forward if they have any queries related to 360 degree performance appraisal process.

2. Selection of raters- The selection of rater is one of the most important steps in 360 degree performance appraisal system. We have to choose enough number of participants in order to receive data which is relevant and comprehensive. The number of raters will depend on the employee’s job profile and working relationship.

Time required- This process generally takes one to two weeks. The rater will include supervisors, direct reports, peers and perhaps some customers or clients.

3. Distribution of survey- Organizations can use online 360  degree feedback system which will allow a quicker distribution of questionnaire among the employees. The participants will receive an email with the link of questionnaire and notification. They can click on the link, start and complete the 360 degree review. 

Time required- This may take one week in order to distribute survey among all the employees.

4. Submission of questionnaire- Once the survey is distributed, the participant will complete the survey online. The completed review will be provided to the evaluator. This process can take the longest time. The time required to submit a questionnaire depends on the number of raters which are involved, the job profile of employee and organization. It is highly recommended that a particular deadline should be assigned to the participant in order to quickly finish the process.

Time required- This process should take to 2-4 weeks in order to get completed feedback from the participant.

5. Completion of report- Once the review is been collected through the questionnaire method a confidential report is being produced. It depends on the delivery plan of organization sometimes once the report is ready it is directly sent to the participants or the result is been given through one-one feedback session.

Time required- if you are using an online system this very quick to produce the report, sometimes it takes 1 to 2 days.

6. Facilitation of feedback- It is recommended that the feedback should be given in a confidential manner by arranging the meeting with employee’s manager or coach. This meeting will allow a

great understanding about the feedback report and also provides an opportunity to discuss the strength of the employee and areas which need to be improved.

Time required- It depends on the in depth of the feedback session generally a meeting can last for 1 to 2 hours for each employee.

7. Completion of development plan- Once review is done the development plan should be created for each of the participant based on the feedback reviews received through 360 degree evaluation. It is important to develop an actionable plan which will help to improve the employee. The areas where the improvement is required should be identified as key areas based on which a training programs, workshop, coaching, conferences or mentoring should be arranged for the employee. The development of such plan helps employees to improve quickly. 

Time required- Generally completion of development program could take one to two weeks

8. Re- evaluating- 360 degree feedback system is not one of event; once you start the process it is important to see the consequences of the process. Specific goals and opportunities are outlined in the development program; it does make sense to check the progress. The re-evaluation of participant will enable the organization to see the changes and the area in which the employees are actually improved.

Time required- This process should be carried out after 8 to 12 months of 360 degree performance appraisal.  

360 degree feedback questionnaire

The questionnaire for 360 degree feedback depends on the job profile of employee. However there are some topics such as leadership, interpersonal skills, problem solving attitude, motivation and efficiency of employees which can be judged by the colleagues, peers, supervisor as well as client. For such points there are few questionnaires which can be used. Check out the sample 360 degree feedback questionnaire-

 Leadership 

Do you think this employee exhibit the quality of leadership in the role which he or her play for the organization?

How positively this employee contributes through his leadership skills?

Do you think the employee should improve his leadership quality?

  Interpersonal skills

When you interact with this employee do you think the interpersonal skills which were demonstrated were satisfactory?

Do you experience any sort of problem while interacting with this employee?

Do you recommend any improvement in the interpersonal skills and relationship development skill of the employee?

 Problem solving attitude

Do you observe that this employee effectively solved problem?

What are the skills which this employee has demonstrated in order to solve the problem?

Do you think this employee has less problem solving skills and the employee need to work to improve the skills?

 Motivation 

Do you observe that this employee appeared motivated towards his work-related task, job or relationships?

How committed and motivated do you think this employee is with regards to success of the organization?

Have you ever experienced any issues related to the motivation level of the employees?

 Efficiency 

Do you think the work method and approach used by the employee are effective, efficient and improving?

Do you suggest any areas of improvement for this employee?

These are some areas in which the questions can be raised in order to improve the effectiveness of 360 degree feedback system. These questions will help the employees to respond about their issues and things which they appreciate about their colleagues and peers. These questions will promote ease of sharing of information among the employees.

The significance of 360-degree performance appraisal 

The immediate benefits of 360 degree feedback system can be observed in terms of teamwork, development of leadership and improved productivity of organization. It provides safe, confidential and reliable way for colleagues to provide feedback. It also provides organization valuable insights about the current leadership, how team mechanics works and overall culture of the organization. 360 degree performance appraisal system provides powerful knowledge to the leaders and hence helps them for the development of employees. The effectively used 360 degree performance appraisal system boosts the confidence of employees

and helps them to improve in their performance. It also helps employee to become better leader and contributor for the organization.

360 degree performance appraisal advantages and disadvantages

Similar to every system 360 degree performance appraisal also has some pro and cons. Let's take a look at advantages and disadvantages of 360 degree performance appraisal system.

 Advantages of 360 degree assessment

This system provides a comprehensive view towards the performance of employees.

It improves the credibility of the performance appraisal system

The feedback from colleagues helps to strengthen the self development process of the employee

It also increases the responsibility and alertness of employee towards their clients.

The different ideas coming from different raters combined provide more accurate 360 degree assessment.

More persuasive opinions can be gathered from different participants.

Here not only manager but colleagues are also responsible for assessment of staff performance which empowers them.

Employees get motivated who generally undervalue themselves. 

Honest culture can be established among the organization using 360 degree performance appraisal system.

Disadvantages of 360 degree assessment 

The process is very lengthy, complex and takes a lot of time.

If the feedback got exchange among the employees it can create trouble and tension among the staff.

A lot of effort has to be placed in order to train the employee to effectively use the 360 degree appraisal system.

It is very difficult to figure out the results.

Some feedbacks are useless and need to be deleted carefully.

A suspicious environment can be created in the organization as the information is not available to everybody. 

HR Scorecard

The Evolution of the HR Function through the Decades

Traditionally, Human Resources or HR was viewed as a support function whose primary role was to take care of payroll, time tracking, and disputes between the unions and the organizations.

Indeed, in the manufacturing era, the term used for HR functions was personnel management and industrial relations wherein the job of the personnel manager was to ensure that salaries are paid on time, mediating between the unions and the organizations, and otherwise being peripheral to the other functions such as production, operations, sales and marketing, and strategy formulation.

It was only with the advent of the services sector that the role of the erstwhile personnel manager transformed into “human resources” management and later on, to people management and people enabling and people empowerment.

Note the emphasis on resources and people as the services sector relies on human capital as the key asset and hence, the HR managers were expected to contribute to strategic goals and objectives.

In other words, the HR function evolved and transformed into one where it was no longer peripheral or a support function, and instead of times when human resources are viewed as sources of sustainable strategic advantage, the role of the HR manager was to aid and enable such resources to contribute effectively and meaningfully to the organizational strategies.

What is an HR Scorecard?Concomitant to these developments was the evolution of the initiatives such as HR Scorecard which are tools to measure how well the HR function is aligned to the overall strategic goals of the organization.

In other words, HR now was expected to align its recruitment, compensation, and employee retention strategies to the organizational strategies.

What this means is that in contemporary organizations, the HR managers have a “seat at the leadership table” or to put it simply, they have to be aligned with the larger organizational strategies.

Towards this end, the HR Scorecard works by providing decision-makers with data and inputs about how much the employee recruitment and retention processes cost and what are the benefits of the same.

For much of the 20th century, it was commonly understood that these costs are part of the overall organizational costs and there was no way to measure the benefits of such expenses in “tangible” ways.

In other words, what this means is that an HR Scorecard provides the organizational leaders with metrics and data in tangible terms about the payoffs and the benefits from HR processes and activities.

How the HR Scorecard Works

How the HR Scorecard works is that by drawing up the budget for the HR function, key cost items and overheads are identified and once done so, then such costs are translated into how much benefit that they are bringing to the overall organization.

For instance, if high potential and highly talented employees are hired, the costs of hiring and retention are then measured and stacked against the likely benefits that such activities bring to the organization.

Apart from this, the real usefulness of HR Scorecards is that it gathers metrics about activities and processes such as training and then identifies the likely benefits in terms of result oriented and metric-based training outcomes.

In other words, “by keeping score” of which training cost how much and how useful or relevant it was in addition to how much benefit that such training meant to the attendees, the HR Scorecard provides the leadership and the HR managers with measures and metrics on the “value” that is being created to the organization.

Thus, HR scorecards are indeed useful and relevant in contemporary organizations that take human resources seriously.

What are the Benefits of HR Scorecards?

The key benefit or the relevance of tools such as HR Scorecards is that it aligns the broader organizational strategies with the HR strategies and the convergence of organizational goals with the HR goals brings the HR function in line and tune with the overall organizational ecosystem.

For instance, how this works in the real world is that if an organization identifies superlative customer service as a strategic goal, the HR scorecard helps in measuring the benefits of initiatives such as training the customer service representatives and the associated staff costs involved in hiring and retaining such key personnel.

At the end of the year, the benefits of the initiatives as measured by customer feedback surveys are tallied to the costs of the initiatives so that organizational decision makers and more importantly, the HR Managers have an idea about the effectiveness and efficacy of their hiring and retention strategies and their usefulness and relevance to the broader organizational goals and objectives.

In other words, the HR function is no longer a “silo” that stands apart in “splendid isolation” and is instead, aligned with the overall organizational ecosystem of goals and objectives.

Aligning HR and Organizational Strategies

Thus, the convergence of HR and the organizational strategies creates synergies for all the organizational stakeholders.

Indeed, while it can be argued that the HR Function was always expected to be aligned to the overall organizational imperatives, the key benefit that the HR Scorecard brings is that it provides data and metrics to support its qualitative narrative.

In other words, the HR Scorecard operates through data-driven and metric-based measurement and tracking of the progress and the benefits of the various initiatives.

This data based approach combined with an objective CBA or Cost-Benefit Analysis means that decision-makers can identify where costs can be cut or where optimization and rationalization of benefits accrued from such costs can be done.

To conclude, an HR Scorecard represents an entirely new way of aligning the HR and the wider organizational goals and objectives.

POTENTIAL APPRAISAL

Without the proper management, monitoring, analyzing, and evaluation of their performance, skills, and potentials—the company suffers wasted opportunity to nurture a suitable employee, while the employee itself suffers the loss of opportunity to develop his full potential.

This is the reason why more and more companies are now paying attention to carefully include and execute potential appraisal as part of their performance appraisal processes.

The use of a potential appraisal is very significant to promote employee development. It also encourages a culture of better accountability and higher productivity. It assists the employee on how to better do his job, and how to do it such that he’ll be considered for a possible promotion or be given an added responsibility.

Potential appraisal allows both the employee and the company to identify areas for improvement. And then develop materials and come up with training to enhance performance. Thus, incorporating this appraisal may significantly open real opportunities for employees to demonstrate their abilities, or for the management to pinpoint which particular skills to nurture.

With the aid of potential appraisal, the management can effectively and fairly evaluate whether the employee is suitable to be given added responsibilities or promotion. It can also assess if added training is necessary, or if its time to move the employee to do work that’s more fitting for his skills. And if the employee shows no improvement at all, the potential appraisal can help managers to decide when an employee needs to be let go.

Potential Appraisal Defined:

To better understand potential appraisal, its purpose, objectives, advantages, its steps, andcharacteristics—let us first define the term.

A potential appraisal is a part of the performance appraisal process. It is a future-oriented appraisal in which the term implies the identification and evaluation of the employee’s untapped

talents or undeveloped skills. It aims to identify and evaluate these potentials to determine if the employee is fit to accept a higher position or added responsibilities.

It is possible that the employee is not fully aware of his potential—his existing yet dormant abilities. Hence, a potential appraisal is the tool being used to track hidden talents, skills and abilities of an employee. This is a holistic approach in which in the process, the employee’s strengths and weaknesses are deeply identified.

Consequently, this helps the management provide more succinct feedback to their employees which may help improve their performance and shape them to be better equipped for future positions.

Potential Appraisal Vs. Performance Appraisal:

Potential appraisal should not be confused with performance appraisal as the former is a part of the latter.

Performance appraisal:

A performance appraisal is a method used to document and evaluate the job performance of an employee. It is a systematic process and usually done periodically. It is also known as a performance review, performance evaluation, or employee appraisal.

This process includes an assessment of an employee’s periodic job performance and productivity to pre-established criteria and objectives set by the company. It also includes an assessment of the employee’s overall behavior, accomplishments, areas for improvement, and among others.

The process also includes providing feedback to employees, and one-on-one coaching or career development plan to further enhance performance. It may also entail discussion about a possible salary increase (should the performance be highly satisfactory), a possible promotion, or feedback about job status.

However, it could also become a venue for laying down disciplinary actions or warning to move the employee to better perform otherwise it may result to force resignation or possible termination.

Performance appraisal is needed for the employee to know what is expected from him, and whathe can do to meet those expectations. This method helps better manage and align all the company’s efforts and resources to reach the most effective and efficient performance from their employees.

Potential appraisal:

While on the other hand, as mentioned above, a potential appraisal is a part of performance appraisal. This method is used to identify and evaluate the “potential” of an employee. Potential

appraisal searches for latent abilities of the employee that are, during the appraisal, are not being used.

It aims to reveal the dormant abilities of an employee in the hope of career advancement in the future. It identifies the employee’s possible position or suitable roles in the future within the organization. While at the same time, during the evaluation, it also helps carve paths to guide the employee or develop ways to prepare him for higher responsibilities in the future.

A potential appraisal is a forward-looking process to see whether an employee will be suitable or flexible for new working conditions and challenges. Simply, it is a process in which the main objective is to assess the employee in his present role, drafting ways to improve his performance, and then ultimately move to evaluate to see his suitability for higher responsibility.

The purpose and objectives of the potential appraisal:

Since a potential appraisal aims in identifying future possibilities, it can help in such a way as to guide the employee to grow professionally. It also allows the company to better achieve its goals.

The prime objective of a potential appraisal, therefore, is to help employees move upwards in the organization. It positions the employee to see its future prospectus, while it also helps the company draft a suitable succession plan.

To sum up, the main purposes of a potential appraisal are: to inform employees about their possible career path or future prospects to help the company chalk out succession program to regularly update the training efforts and enhance recruitment to motivate employees to further develop their skills and competencies or overall

performance Advantages of performance appraisal as a whole: Majority of employees wants to advance their career. Understandably, every employee would

like to be allowed to work at a higher level of competence either in their current position or other types of work they particularly excel in. So, a good performance appraisal system, which ideally should include a potential appraisal, will help point out areas where an employee needs to improve.

Although there are some minor drawbacks, there are undeniably many advantages of a good performance appraisal system. The following are some of its well-known benefits:

1) It encourages superior performance: It helps guide the employee since a regular performance appraisal lets the employee know

what is expected from him and what he can do to meet those expectations. Thus, it motivates him why he should perform better and what he should do to deliver superior performance.

2) It helps the management to decide if a salary raise is deserved by an employee: Most organizations believe in pay for performance, and employees also do expect to be well

compensated for doing a good job. A periodic performance assists the management to better decide whether such an employee deserve a raise based on the set performance criteria.

3) It helps support manpower planning: By regularly conducting performance reviews, the management can better assess who can be

given future assignments or a higher position.

4) It allows room for better communication and an enhanced relationship with the management and the employee:

It allows the employee and his immediate supervisor time for a focused one-on-one discussion of work activities, goals, and issues. The appraisal interview, when done properly, allows better communication or identification of existing problems and how to address it.

5) It encourages accountability, as well as adds motivation and satisfaction: Performance appraisal empowers employees because it provides recognition for their work

efforts. It reminds employees that the company is interested in their performance and career development. With this appraisal, the employee may be influenced to be more accountable, genuinely interested to perform better.

6) It helps identify training and development needs: Performance appraisal provides an avenue for the management to recognize relevant training

and development needs. 7) It helps monitor and enhances recruitment and induction practices: The data from performance appraisal can guide Human Resources and the management to

see the effectiveness or what needs to improve in their recruitment process. Additionally, specific to a good potential appraisal, it’s known benefits are: it helps identify employees who can take higher responsibilities it helps employees know that they are not working on dead-end jobs it identifies employee potential to ensure manpower availability

Characteristics and techniques of potential appraisal

Reviewing the performance of the employee forms the basis of potential appraisal since he is assessed based on the targets he accomplished and the skills he possesses and uses. The results of the performance review act as indicators on the employee’s aptitude to handle extra responsibilities. Nonetheless, it’s important to note that this is not a fool-proof way to know whether the employee will be successful in managing higher responsibilities in the future.

It’s also good to remember that a potential appraisal cannot be applied to all—at the same level. This is because there will be employees who may have potential but do not perform well due to behavioral problems. Also, there are chances that some employees may be productive doing routine tasks but cannot perform on higher-level jobs.

Although it is recommended to take place within six months, potential appraisal time isn’t fixed. The reason being is that it should be under the discretion of the management to hold the assessment. A certain milestone achieved by an employee like seniority, or other reasons and factors should be considered before exercising such activity.

A potential appraisal also should start and end with a meeting between the employee and the management. The first meeting should consist of the listing of abilities required for additional assignments or higher position, as well as development plan to attain them. The next meeting should then include the assessment results—whether the necessary skills have been acquired or not, as well as feedback and an action plan.

Additionally, the following are the common techniques of a potential appraisal:

Self–appraisals

Peer appraisals

Superior appraisals

MBO

Psychological tests

Psychometric tests

Management games

Leadership exercises, and etc.

Steps of Potential Appraisal System:

While the following are some of the general requirements and steps when introducing a potential appraisal system:

1) Role Description:

A clear role description is required to have a good potential appraisal system. There should be clarity of roles and functions—which means extensive job descriptions and various functions involved to perform the job.

2) Smart time management:

The perfection of the performance evaluation system also requires smart time management. Proper time management skills are crucial in keeping employees focused on their assigned tasks.

Using a productivity tracker like integrating a free time clock software to track employees working hours have been proven effective in boosting performance.

3) Qualities Required:

Besides clear descriptions of roles and functions, it is also important to have a detailed list of qualities required for the employee to perform and deliver. These qualities are usually broadly divided into four categories, which are listed below:

technical knowledge and skills

managerial capabilities and qualities

behavioral capabilities

conceptual capabilities

4) Indicators of Quality:

A potential appraisal system should also include the various mechanisms for judging these qualities in an employee. These mechanisms for judging these qualities are:

Rating by others

Psychological tests

Simulation games and exercises

Performance appraisal records

Other indicators of potential are:

A sense of reality: The employee thinks and acts objectively, and resist purely emotional pressures.

Imagination: The employee uses his imagination to pursue objectives, and go beyond the conventional approach to certain situations.

Power of analysis: The employee can break down facts, reformulate or transform crisis into manageable terms.

The span of vision: The employee can examine a problem in the context of a broader framework of reference.

Persuasiveness: The employee can sell his ideas to people and uses personal influence to gain a continuing commitment.

5) Organizing the System:

Once the roles, the qualities required, and the indicators of quality are listed down, then the system should be established. The potential appraisal system should be organized in such a way that there is clarity in the organizational policies and systematization of efforts.

6) Feedback:

Finally, the last step should be the inclusion of the climate of transparency and openness. This will help employees to understand and gauge their abilities—and their strengths and weaknesses. Providing feedback allows them to better perform their jobs and develop their skills and abilities. Moreover, the company’s management should incorporate regular one-on-one coaching or periodic counseling.

Conclusion:

Employees want to be recognized. It motivates them as well as encourage them to perform better, be productive, and be more committed. Conducting regular performance appraisal helps to have higher overall performance and productivity. It also helps the company to achieve its goals and objectives.

A potential appraisal is a part of the performance appraisal. It helps identify and evaluate the latent abilities of an employee which is not currently being utilized. Conducting a potential appraisal also have various advantages for the company like supporting manpower planning. In its entirety, a potential appraisal is beneficial for both the employee and the company.

Appraisal Interview

We have discussed the performance appraisal process in earlier articles. In this article, we discuss the performance appraisal interview and its importance in the performance appraisal cycle. The performance appraisal interview is the first round in the performance appraisal process and this is the round in which the manager communicates his evaluation of the employee’s performance during the appraisal period or the time that the employee’s performance is being evaluated.

What is a Performance Appraisal Interview ?

A performance appraisal interview is the first stage of the performance appraisal process and involves the employee and his or her manager sitting face to face to discuss threadbare all aspects of the employee’s performance and thrash out any differences in perception or evaluation. The performance appraisal interview provides the employee with a chance to defend himself or herself against poor evaluation by the manager and also gives the manager a chance to explain what he or she thinks about the employee’s performance.

In a nutshell, the performance appraisal interview precedes the normalization process and is subsequent to the employee filling up the evaluation form and the manager likewise doing so. The interview is the stage where both sides debate and argue the employees’ side of the story as well as the manager’s perception.

Objective Evaluation versus Personal Biases

Though management theorists like to propound the benefits of objective evaluation, it is a fact in contemporary organizations that an element of personal bias enters the evaluation. This is evident from the studies and surveys done by HR consultants like Hewitt that point to the employee’s dissatisfaction with the performance appraisal process as one of the main reasons for leaving the company. To curb the incidence of biases and heuristics playing a role in the appraisal, HR managers typically conduct orientations and trainings to both the Managers and the Employees to sensitize them to these dangers that are sometimes inherent in the process.

On the other hand, the employees’ should approach the process without unrealistic expectations and expect the Manager to agree to whatever they write on the performance evaluation form.

Hence, there is a need for both sides in the interview process to approach the same with an open mind and be as objective as possible. However, this is easier said than done and hence organizations expend resources on making the process as transparent and objective as possible.

The Right and Wrong Way to Approach a Performance Appraisal Interview

The performance appraisal interview must be taken seriously and both the employee and the manager must set aside time to go through the process. The manager cannot arbitrarily change the time or the venue and must not approach the interview in a haphazard manner. Despite all these injunctions, it is often the case that the manager has to be reminded about the interview and then he or she hurriedly arranges the meeting. This is definitely the wrong way to approach the interview. Further, the manager must make the time to go through the employees’ self evaluation and rate the same objectively.

Though there is no right way to conduct the performance appraisal interview, it is incumbent upon the manager to avoid the pitfalls described above. A rule of thumb would be set aside a few days to conduct all the interviews with members of his or her team and ensure follow-ups to the process. The follow-up is needed when the employee is not satisfied with the interview discussion and hence requests for additional time to debate the rating. In some cases, the HR manager may need to step in to ensure that the process is concluded to the satisfaction of the employee and the manager.