Answer to Question #191953 in Management for Mitali

Question

Rahul and Priyanka are partners in a content writing company named as ‘Writing4You’. Rahul says it’s quite clear whether any particular employee of the company is doing their job properly or not, as they monitor, observe and give them feedback regularly. Being a small company Rahul feels a formal appraisal process is of no use because they (both Rahul & Priyanka) can keep in touch with every employee on a regular basis. Priyanka on the other hand, feels that sitting down and giving formal feedback will reinforce what employees are doing right and get them to modify things they may be doing wrong. Now, they want you, their management consultant to advise them on what to do. a. What performance appraisal problems will ‘Writing4You’ encounter if they continue on the course of not using formalized performance appraisals? What guidelines would you recommend to ‘Write4You’ partners for developing an effective appraisal system?

Answer 1

A performance appraisal is a formal method of evaluating and reviewing an employee's performance. The reviewing process is done continuously by either a supervisor or a manager. Although the managers of Writing4you interact easily with the employees by virtue of its small size, assessment based on interaction may be biased bacause it focuses on an individual's skills and traits which do not necessarily translate to performance. Similarly, this method poses challenges to feedback from employees because of fear, therefore, it is not suitable for tracking progress and development of the human resource. A good performance appraisal should have specific and clear objectives.Additionally it should be based on accurate and reliable data upon which the management can use to make strategic decisions. Thus, the performance criteria should be well defined and based on the job descriptions and the accompanying skills. Finally, the process should foster continuous feedback in the organisation by ensuring post appraisal discussions between employees and their supervisors in order to solve any existing problems.