Advantages & Disadvantages of Performance Appraisal Which Links to Goal Setting
Many organizations use performance appraisal to determine how well each employee is performing a job. Performance appraisal includes many factors, including goal setting. If an employee accomplishes goals that management sets, he can earn a raise or promotion. If the employee does not accomplish goals, the management can require him to undertake additional training, write him up or even fire him for poor performance.
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Work Tasks
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When an organization decides specific goals that determine an employee's performance, the disadvantage is that she now has an incentive to focus on these goals and avoid performing other work. If an employee at a retail store has the goal to make as many sales as possible, she will not want to perform other work such as cleaning up the store or organizing items on the shelves if these actions are not listed as goals on the performance appraisal.
Time Frame
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The performance appraisal must cover a long enough period for the employee to accomplish the goals. This is a disadvantage since the employer must wait before making a decision. The United States Department of Agriculture sets a standard period of a year for a performance appraisal, and forbids a manager from making decisions based on work performance for less than 90 days. The employee should have a reasonable amount of time to attempt to meet the goals, but not too much extra time.
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Employee Input
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Employers can improve employee motivation by allowing an employee to state his opinion when the employer sets goals, which is an advantage. According to the University of California at Berkeley, workers are more motivated when the goals are difficult to accomplish, but are achievable with enough effort. The main concern with employee suggestions is that the employee has an incentive to suggest goals that are too easy to accurately assess the value he has supplied to the company.
Peer Evaluation
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A performance appraisal can include other employees' opinions on whether an individual employee is meeting goals, which is an advantage since it helps motivate other employees. The other employees will know whether she is meeting goals or avoiding work, since this can force other employees to perform additional work that she hasn't and that is necessary. According to the University of California at Berkeley, co-worker appraisals are usually anonymous since an employee will be angry with any co-workers who rated her performance poorly.
Goal Criteria
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When a performance appraisal includes goals, certain characteristics of these goals contribute toward making the assessment a useful measure, which is an advantage since this method can be used in the future. Worchester Polytechnic Institute establishes specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and time bound (SMART) goals. The manager can state a goal in a sentence that includes all five of these characteristics, ensuring that it is a useful measure of an employee's work performance.
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References
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