Reflective Thinking and Writing: Performance Appraisal Experience

This reflective essay delves into the author's experience with a performance appraisal in a nursing setting. The assignment begins by defining performance appraisal and its significance in organizations, then recounts the author's personal experience of receiving an appraisal, highlighting the anticipation and emotional impact. The essay details the author's strengths, such as being friendly, positive, and hardworking, illustrating how these traits have positively influenced their professional and personal life. Conversely, the author identifies stubbornness as a significant weakness, detailing a specific instance where this trait led to a less favorable outcome. The essay concludes with reflections on how the appraisal experience has motivated the author to capitalize on their strengths, address their weaknesses, and foster continued professional development, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and continuous improvement.

Running head: REFLECTIVE THINKING AND WRITING
REFLECTIVE THINKING AND WRITING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Performance appraisal is defined as the daily review of the job performance of an
employee and their overall contribution to a business or an organization (Heywood, Jirjahn &
Struewing, 2017). Performance appraisal evaluates the skills of the employees and their
growth and achievements (Dobre, 2013). Organizations use company appraisal in order to
provide a big picture to the employees as feedback of their work and then justify the increase
and bonuses in pay and also the decisions regarding termination (Mohapatra, 2015).
Performance appraisal tends to be annual and sometimes quarterly or semi-annual.
Performance appraisal helps organizations to understand which employees have contributed
to the success of the company and has been beneficial for the company and on that basis the
top performing employees are rewarded. Performance appraisal helps in creating plans for the
development of the employees through increased responsibility and additional training.
Performance appraisal is one of the biggest motivational factors for an employee as the
employee feels that they are valued for their performance (Mohrman & Lawler, 2017). The
day the company provides their employees with appraisal it becomes a memorable as well as
a crucial moment for every employee. In this paper I am going to give an insight of the day
when I got my performance appraisal from the company I worked for and shed light on how
the experience will help to me to develop myself personally.
Before joining this esteemed university I use to work as a nurse in a reputed hospital
and I had worked for more than two years there which has helped gain a lot of experience that
has helped me in getting me my current job where I have been designated as a senior nurse.
The hospital I was working for provided their employees with appraisals annually on the
basis of their performance as well as their tenure in the organization. In the initial stages
when I joined the hospital I was not well accustomed to the environment as that was my first
job as a nurse and I was finding it difficult and scared at the same time to take up such a big
responsibility that was to keep a track of the patient and keep the files of the patients updated
with necessary information like their blood pressure, their urine output and many more.
According to me taking responsibility of a patient is a huge task and there is no such place for
a minor mistake as well. I however took help from my seniors and got to understand how to
maintain records and at what intervals should I keep a check on the patient. With time and
practice I started learning the basics which later urged me to learn more and gave me
confidence to take the responsibilities of the patients. I did not only maintain the records of
the patient but also communicated with the patients and made conversations as patients tend
to be lonely as they have no access to the outside world and the physical heath often takes a

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toll on their mental health as well. This is how I continued my job and made sure I was
attentive. Later after assessing my performance I got more responsibilities from the doctors
and I was asked to give the patients medicines on time and report to the doctors about their
conditions by providing them with the details in the files and also verbally. This continued
and I almost worked for a year in the hospital as a nurse. Our hospital provides us with
appraisals annually and the day came when the employees and the staffs of the hospitals were
about to get their appraisals. I was excited as I was waiting and expecting a hike in my salary
which I was entitled to get after a year. In the evening, after work all the staffs and the
employees were called in the conference hall were the appraisal process was going to be
conducted and people were going to be presented with rewards and recognition for their
effort and their performance that had contributed to the success and the reputation of the
hospital because of their impeccable service.
In the evening after work we had all assembled in the conference hall of our hospital.
The management of the hospital arrived along with the Human Resource Manager and other
Executive managers who run the hospital. That day was a mini celebration because of the
positive reviews and ranks the hospital acquired and also features in the list of best hospitals
in town because of their services and because of the treatment by the doctors which had led to
the recovery of many serious patients. Everyone was acknowledged for their contribution in
the hospital and was called out and appreciated for their performance and was handed over an
envelope in which their appraisal letter was present. Everyone was getting called and my
name was not being called which was making me nervous and sad at the same time. However
in the end my name was called and I had to get up on the stage. The management of the
hospital was highly impressed by my performance and had congratulated and acknowledged
my performance in front of everyone and said kind words on stage about me. The
management of the hospital spoke about my performance and had given me an envelope
where my annual appraisal report was present where wrote about what they felt about my
strength and also gave me feedback on the weaknesses I have which they felt and asked me to
work on it so that I could provide with better performance. This day I will never forget as this
was the first time I got an appraisal for my performance and this appraisal highly motivated
me in order to perform better and work on my weaknesses so that I could turn them into my
strengths which would help me gain more success in my work and in my field.
According to the things that were spoken about me by the management of the hospital
I could assess my strengths and weaknesses from their point of view. Every individual has

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some strength and some weaknesses which help and contribute in their professional as well as
personal life. My strengths have helped me in my professional life immensely and also
impacted my personal life. One of my biggest strengths is that I am friendly and this helped
me in the initial stages of my job where I could initiate a conversation in the hospital with my
superiors and ask for help. This has helped me in learning a lot from my superiors and my
peers in the hospital. As I am very friendly it becomes easier for me to work in a team as I
communicate within the team and get the things done. According to scholars, one of the main
aspects for an effective team is communication (Mohanty & Mohanty, 2018). I have worked
in team projects that had been assigned by the hospital to us and I have performed well and
done all my duties efficiently without any conflict. Being friendly has helped me make
conversations with the patients I looked after in the hospital and made them feel like home. I
think this had made them comfortable which is important for a patient as mental health is
important to recover from physical health.
The other strength I have is positivity which has helped me immensely in my
professional career. Initially when I joined the job of a nurse in this hospital I was having
immense problem in the hospital as I was unable to cope up and get accustomed to the work
culture and the atmosphere. In the beginning I did make some mistakes out of nervousness
and the pressure which I had because of the responsibilities of the patients. I thought one
mistake could cost a life of a person however positivity I had helped me to keep on learning
and not get nervous. It also helped me learn and helped me grow. In the beginning I did the
basic jobs of a nurse and with time and with knowledge I learnt many extra things which
trained me to be a more efficient nurse where I learnt how to put an oxygen mask give
injections and many more. Positivity helped me be more focused has helped me not give up
my job and continue to work with the right mind without any major mistakes. Positivity has
helped me in handling stress in difficult situations that occurred in the hospital with certain
patients. It helped me act systematically in an untoward situation which has helped patients
and I have been appreciated by the doctors for this very reason. This is one of the major
reasons I could work here for almost two years and gain experience that was beneficial for
my future.
My other strength is hard work. I always put in hard work even if I am not that skilled
and this has helped me gain knowledge and also has helped me enhance my skills. Because of
hard work I practiced many things based on the knowledge I gained from my seniors and my
peers in the hospital. It helped me become a skilled nurse that resulted in the performance

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appraisal where I was appreciated for the work I have done in the hospital and the feedback
provided by the patients I have served and looked after. Through this experience I have
experienced my potential and the strengths have helped me bring out my best version in the
forefront.
These strengths have not only helped me professionally but also personally as I can
communicate with other people and build positive relationships, my positivity has given me
different outlook towards life and I am not afraid to try something new and do not let any
negativity affect my mind and take away my mental peace. This has helped me to lead a
simple yet special life with my family and friends around me which genuinely makes me
happy.
According to the appraisal report I have come to know about my weaknesses as well
and I have understood how they have somewhat affected my performance in specific area
which I tried to mend and rectify later in order to outdo myself. One of the main problems
that I have is I am very stubborn which is not only going to impact my professional career
negatively but also negatively impact by personal development. As I am stubborn I often
believe and strongly feel the fact that what I am saying is right and I would do that according
to my way without any consultation rather I disregard advice which has had negative impacts
while I was working in the hospital. When I started understanding the work in a clearer
manner I would usually disregard the advice of other nurses around me. Once one patient was
having some problem with his knee and I asked the person to position is his leg in a manner
so that it did not hurt him as I was good at this and learnt this for a very long time however
one of my other colleagues advised me to position his legs in a different posture as this would
restrict the blood flow. However my rigid mind and my stubbornness got in the way and I did
not listen to my colleague. Later I saw what she said was true and it did restrict the blood. I
was very embarrassed and sad at the same time that because of y stubbornness someone had
to go through some problem though it did not affect him negatively however in my mind I
could not forget that day. However, I changed after that and did consider the advice of others.
The other weakness I have is that I am a very sensitive person. If anyone talks to me
in a different tone I start crying which sometimes affects my self esteem and often
demoralizes me which is a bad thing as being sensitive is ok but being overly sensitive is not
nice. In the workplace sometimes we have to face difficulties because of certain situations,
often doctors or some seniors’ scold us because of the mistakes that are for our own good but

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as I am sensitive often take it in a negative manner and disassociate myself from others and
often question myself. Once I made a minor mistake for which the doctor who was on a
round scolded me and was a bit rude to me. This is when I should have understood my
mistake and corrected it rather I ended up crying which took a toll on me mentally and the
rest of the day I would not work in the right mind and could not concentrate on my work
properly. However, I have learnt that this is a part of workplace and this should be taken in a
positive strive and learn something from it rather than contemplate about it. Now when I get
called for because of the mistakes I have done , I apologize and start learning about it so that I
do not make the same mistake twice which has helped me gain my knowledge and enhance
my skills. This has helped me in developing myself personally as well as I do not take what
each and everything a person says seriously and focus on what I can do to change in order to
develop myself.
The event on the day I got my performance appraisal has motivated me and I feel I
have been valued for all the hard work I have put in. I have experienced a lot which has
helped me develop new skills and enhance the skills so that I can perform better in the
coming years. From the appraisal report I have come to know about the strengths and
weaknesses I have which had helped me achieve an appraisal. The hospital I worked for had
helped me immensely in gaining experience and learning a lot that would help me to achieve
my future goals. I would work on my strengths more so that I can be perfect at my job and
utilize my strengths so that I can bring fruitful results to the organizations I work for in the
future. I would work on my negatives and try to overcome them so that it does not become a
hindrance to my professional development. The small experiences will help me grow and
make sure that I attain a better position that will help me and my family and some of these
will also help me grow personally.
Performance appraisal often feels like a onetime thing where we are rewarded because
of our hard work and our performance however according to me it is something more than
that. It has motivated me, boosted my morale and my self confidence and has trained me to
achieve my goals in my life. It has made me rectify my mistakes and enhance my strengths so
that I can lead a better life and be best at what I do. This is the day I will never forget in my
life as it is a special memory for me and a one of a kind experience that has changed me in
certain ways in a positive manner.

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Reference
Dobre, O. I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of applied
socio-economic research, 5(1).
Heywood, J. S., Jirjahn, U., & Struewing, C. (2017). Locus of control and performance
appraisal. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 142, 205-225.
.Mohanty, A., & Mohanty, S. (2018). The impact of communication and group dynamics on
teamwork effectiveness: The case of service sector organisations. Academy of
Strategic Management Journal, 17(4), 1-14.
Mohapatra, M. (2015). 360 Degree Feedback: A Review of Literature. Research Scholar of
Management KIIT University Bhubaneswar Orissa, 2(1), 112-116.
Mohrman, A. M., & Lawler, E. E. (2017). Motivation and performance-appraisal behavior. In
Performance measurement and theory (pp. 173-194). Routledge.