HRMT 300: Employee Performance Appraisal and Management

This report delves into the critical aspects of employee performance appraisal and management. It begins by defining performance appraisal and emphasizing its significance in modern business. The report explores various approaches to measuring performance, including comparative, attribute, behavioral, 360-degree feedback, and results-based methods. It highlights the importance of training for both managers and employees, outlining critical training needs for enhancing performance levels and aligning individual goals with company objectives. A performance management plan is proposed, encompassing job analysis, goal setting, communication, training, and policy review. The report then examines the advantages and disadvantages of different appraisal systems, such as Behavior-Focused Performance Appraisal, 360-degree appraisal, and the critical incident method. It also addresses legal and ethical issues related to performance and rewards, emphasizing the need to avoid bias and discrimination. Finally, the report provides strategies for improving individual performance, focusing on the role of HR managers and team leaders in implementing feedback sessions, training programs, and effective performance management systems. The report concludes by underscoring the importance of structuring performance appraisal based on organizational resources and employee satisfaction.

Running head: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The procedure or method which involves the evaluation of the employee performance
is known as performance appraisal. The method of employee performance appraisal
comprises of the management practices of regular reviews and career development activities.
The functions of performance is considered for evaluating the skills, growth, gaps and
achievements of the employees. The performance appraisal procedures are conducted by the
employers for proving necessary feedback to the employees and also contribute towards the
justification of pay hike, termination or bonuses. The purpose of the paper is to design a
performance management plan by considering various approaches in the process of
measuring results, behavior and performances.
Discussion
Approaches for measuring performance, results and behaviour:
The approaches which can be utilized for enabling the process of measuring
performance of employees in the workplace are Competitive approach, behavioral approach,
attribute approach, 360-degree feedback and result approach. The comparative approach is
ranking employee performance in regards with other departmental groups. Employees are
ranked from highest to lowest performer. In the case of attribute approach, employees are
ranked or rate based on particular skill set like teamwork, problem solving skills, judgment,
creativity and innovation. The concept of behavioral approach depicts the comparison of
performance level of employees against certain behavioral benchmark (Lawler & Mohrman,
2017). The 360-degree feedback approach includes the system of recording feedback from
subordinates. The result approach includes rating the performance of employees based on the
final results.
Critical training needs for managers and employees for performance improvement:

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Managers and employees reflects the need for training for the purpose of improving
performance levels in the functional areas. New employees need training for understanding
the organizational vision, policies and standards, which allows the employees to synchronize
the personal goal with the company’s objectives. Training requirement is not limited to the
new employees, existing employees need to be trained in the process of restricting or
strategic implementation. In the case of new product development or new technology
implementation, training programs should be focused on the development of skills for both
managers and employees (Noe et al., 2017). Even at the time of promoting or career growth,
training programs needs to be included for developing the knowledge and understanding of
employees regarding roles and responsibilities. Critical training needs for employees and
managers can be justified by the benefits of improvement in morale, impose a combine
system of control and flexibility and enhance the employee productivity.
Performance management plan:
The performance management plan for the company will include the step of job
analysis, which will identify the underlying concerns and issues of the employees. The issues
will determine the reason for gap in performance level in respect to the set objectives. This
step should ensure the identification and understanding of the main issues amongst the
employee groups. The performance management plan should include the employees in the
process to understand the reasons behind the identified concerns. This step will present
opportunities for the employees to communicate the ideas and methods which can bridge the
gap. The encouragement for understanding employee perspective will allow employees to
feel satisfied and valued. Involving employees and managers in the process will ensure the
benefits of co-creation. Then, the plan will include setting goals and objectives after forming
a clear understanding of employee performance gaps (DeNisi & Murphy, 2017). The
following step will be the communication of the derived objectives and procedures which
will be facilitated through the training programs. After the implementation of training and

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development programs, employer can decide on the approach or combination of approached
for implementing the performance management method. Lastly the plan will include the
process of reviewing the policies and performance in regards with the communicated
objectives (Pulakos et al., 2015).
Advantages and disadvantages of performance appraisal systems:
The performance appraisal systems includes, Behavior-Focused Performance
Appraisal, 360-degree appraisal and critical incident method. The advantages of Behavior-
Focused Performance Appraisal is that the results deduced by the system are reliable due to
the similar rating from different sources (Mone & London, 2018). The approach minimizes
the possibility of biased response and focusses on the observable behavioral pattern. The
approach can be time consuming and complex in nature. The approach needs to be updated
with the changing job requirements. The advantages of critical incident approach is that it is
known for recording employee performances and activities at is occurs. It helps in linking
employee behavior to the job performance (Abu-Shamaa, Al-Rabayah & Khasawneh, 2015).
It also helps in the identification of important scopes of particular job. The disadvantage of
critical incident approach can be that it requires regular monitoring of attention and
discipline. The advantages of 360-degree appraisal approach is that it contribute towards
effective teamwork. An anonymous range of productive feedback. The downfall can be the
possibility of a negative work culture, focus majorly on weaknesses and the low possibility of
accuracy.
Legal and ethical issues associated with performance and rewards:
The issues and concerns which can be observed in the performance management and
reward system are the issues of biasness which can lead to favoritism at the time of appraisal.
The reward and performance management system based on the grounds of discrimination can
be one of the major issues with the system of performance management. The performance

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management system should first focus on optimizing the performance of the employees rather
than pointing out the weaknesses (Van Niekerk & Du Plessis, 2017). The performance and
rewarding system without the backing of proper data resources can be considered as an
ethical issue. The legal and ethical issues can be reflected in the inclusion of emotive harass
or improper language. Restricting employees from the opportunity of commenting or
justifying any positive or negative system of performance management and reward system
can be the indication of ethical or legal issue.
Strategies for improving individual performance:
The strategies for improving or enhancing the performance of individual employees
primarily indicates the importance of involvement of HR managers and the team leaders.
Human Resource manager can incorporate regular feedback sessions for understanding the
concerns and issues of employees, regular training and development programs can be
strategically implemented for improving the skill set and communicating the organizational
changes to the employees (Sanders & Yang, 2016). Training programs can ensure the
alignment of employees and company’s objective. The strategies can also include the
effective and efficient structuring of performance management and reward system policies.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded from the paper that performance appraisal and
performance management system is very crucial for the organization and should be structure
based on the understanding of organizational resources and employee satisfaction.

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References:
Abu-Shamaa, R., Al-Rabayah, W. A., & Khasawneh, R. T. (2015). The Effect of Job
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management: 100 years of progress?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 421.
Lawler, E. E., & Mohrman, A. M. (2017). Motivation and Performance-Appraisal Behavior.
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Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2018). Employee engagement through effective performance
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