What Is an Employee Performance Appraisal?
To simply tell a worker that she's doing a "good" job or a "bad" job isn't adequate when it comes to respecting the employer/employee dynamic. The reason is that "good" and "bad" are subjective tags, and don't constitute sufficient evidence to merit a raise or justify termination. A more formal context--the employee performance appraisal--is required to support decisions made by the Human Resources department in today's workplace.
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Definition
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An employee performance appraisal is the functional equivalent of a personnel report card; it ranks a worker's skills, attitude, knowledge and interactions with others on a 5-point scale that ranges from "Unsatisfactory" to "Outstanding."
Review Periods
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In all U.S. government offices and most private sector businesses, an employee is considered to be "on probation" for a period that ranges from two months to a year. The purpose is to formally evaluate the new employee's learning curve and determine if she will be a good long-term fit for the organization. At the time of hire, employees are shown a copy of the evaluation form and told when each review will be done. For probation periods of a year, for example, appraisals are done every three months. Thereafter, permanent hires generally have annual reviews.
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Low Marks
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The subject areas that garner unsatisfactory ratings are either an indication that more training is required on the part of the company, or that more effort is required on the part of the employee. If these weaknesses are not addressed and the employee continues to fall short of company expectations, this could be grounds for termination.
High Marks
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If an employee consistently exceeds expectations, this is an indication to the employer that she will be a good candidate for more responsibility and/or an increase in pay when conditions warrant it. For both exceptionally high marks and exceptionally low marks, supervisors are expected to provide concrete examples of work performance to support their ratings.
Discussing the Appraisal
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While no one likes to be the bearer of bad news if an appraisal is largely negative, it's nonetheless incumbent upon a supervisor to discuss the evaluation's content in person with the employee and allow the latter to ask questions, express concerns and/or clarify misunderstandings. This discussion should be conducted out of earshot of other employees, and is often attended by a representative from the company's Human Resources department.
Following the Appraisal
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Whether the appraisal is positive or negative, the employee is asked to sign the form as an acknowledgment that the content has been discussed with her. If she disagrees with any of the issues, she may submit an attachment. A copy of the appraisal is then given to the employee, and the original is placed in the employee's personnel file.
Retention
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The employee's performance appraisals will stay in her file throughout her duration with the company, and will subsequently be destroyed based on the company's policies for record retention. In the case of a government employee, these documents "travel" from one personnel office to another for the duration of the employee's government service.
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- Photo Credit Photo by Christina Hamlett
