performance management vs performance appraisal

1. Performance management vs performance appraisal
There may be a huge difference between the performances of two employees, even
when their qualifications or all other variables are same. Reason can be the difference
in their dedication, commitment or personal traits. Quite obviously, the one who put
more effort, more time or more commitment, for the growth of business than his/her
counterparts, should be getting some extra reward for that. A timely salary increment
or promotion for the best employee is not only an encouragement for the frontrunner;
it also motivates others to work harder. If you don't come up with any kind of bonuses
or rewards, it won't take long before you see a drop in that employee's performance
graph too. Also, performance appraisals are essentials to keep a track of your overall
business performance and figure out the deficiencies.
It may sound quite simple to choose the best contributing worker and hand him the
reward. In reality, performance appraisals are something that needs lots of planning
and careful thinking. Sure, it brings the sense of competition in your workforce, but
the evaluations will also attract lots of puckered brows and objections. A flawed
performance appraisal will go as far as completely shattering employee's confidence
or loyalty towards your company. Bottom-line ... don't take it lightly; you need to be
extra cautious and fair when planning and implementing some performance appraisal
program.
Guidelines for performance appraisal system:
Performance appraisal systems are based on some ranking or scaling criteria. Ideally,
the judgment should be made with the help of statistics, along with the feedback
coming from managers, coordinates and peers. Assessment criteria must be
uncomplicated and easily available to everybody. Give them a transparent review
system, where employees can judge themselves against their fellow workers, at any
given time. Monitor the performance on regular basis instead of waiting for the month
end before you go through the evaluation process. Don't try to stuff your performance
appraisal plan with too many attributes and benchmarks, keep the requirements simple
and easy to comprehend.
Performance appraisal Meetings:
The most important part of performance appraisal is to communicate with employees
and discuss their overall performance. Don't discuss anybody's problem or dismal
performance in front of his/her colleagues. Also, don't ignore past performances when
judging an employee, if the worker has constantly been performing well except the
present month, ask for the reason, especially if something is bothering him/her at
workplace. Keep in mind the main objective of performance appraisal i.e. to
encourage and motivate your employees, not to mark their short comings or hurt
somebody's feelings.
http://performanceappraisalebooks.info/ : Over 200 ebooks, templates, forms for
performance appraisal.