Performance Review

After reading the three HR Talk Message Boards, I concluded that as an HR manager, I would utilize both a written self-evaluation completed by the employee as well as a 5 point numerical rating scale with no incremental ratings. I think that the most effective way to use this scale would be to write very specific descriptions for each of the ratings. The HR manager should ensure that managers who are giving the reviews are familiar and comfortable with the criteria an employee must possess in order to be given a score. The definition for each rating should be provided to the employees as well, allowing them to see exactly why they were give the score they received. This would also show the employee what they would need to do in order to reach the next rating level. As posted by “Anonymous” in the first message board, they mentioned that their “Employees do a written self-evaluation and managers provide written comments on strengths, abilities and areas needing improvement, requiring at least one comment for each area.” I think that this would be beneficial because it gives employees an opportunity to participate in the performance review process by providing their input on their performance. In the “Twenty Best Practices for Just Employee Performance Reviews” article, employee participation is one of the Best Practices at the implementation phase of performance review.

I think that a 3 point rating scale would be too general, and it makes rating an employee very black and white by essentially saying, they either know nothing, something or everything. It would not give an accurate rating and would lose significance. On the other hand, using a rating scale with incremental numbers would be very complicated and confusing. It would be difficult to determine the difference between ratings for instance, if one employee receives a 3.2 and another employee receives a 3.3, what did one employee do differently from the other that set them apart and what does it mean?...