Peformance Appraisal

Human Resources Strategic Planning: Performance Appraisals

Craigs_Lovie

BUS303: Human Resources Management

Kevin Righter

May 13, 2013

What is performance appraisal? “Performance appraisal is the process through which employee performance is assessed, feedback is provided to the employee, and corrective actions plans are designed” (Youssef, 2013). This assessment is a subset of the process for strategic Human Resource planning and is used to reflect the effectiveness and efficiency of achieving organization goals and objectives. Let’s explore the strategic advantages, potential forms of bias within the appraisal system, and how performance appraisals can contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives.

When looking at strategic advantages, how performance is measured is key. Management (of any company) uses performance appraisals to “manage salaries, wages, and pay adjustments” (Youssef, 2013). Another reason for appraisals include “providing performance appraisals feedback for employees and communicating points of strengths and weakness” (Youssef, 2013). Performance appraisals can also be used to “determine job placement discussions such as promotions, demotions and transfers or to justify employee disciplinary actions such as termination or dismissal” (Youssef, 2013). Therefore, the measurement of performance must be accurately assessed, reliable, and valid.

The strategies of measuring performance include:

* “The graphic rating scale method is favored by organizations because it is fairly simple and easy to apply. It also provides a clear quantitative measure of performance; however, its validity and reliability may be questionable when the involved criteria are obscure or biased.

* The behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) provides a more accurate and consistent method of assessing employees. However, thorough analysis must be conducted to determine the specific behavioral patterns associated with each task—a time-consuming...