1. Managing
Performance Appraisal
QU, MBA
1st, April, 2009
Dr Hend Al Muftah

2. Session Plan
 Introduction
 Practice of Performance Appraisal (PA)
 Contemporary PA
 Problems related to PA
 PA @ QU

3. • Why do employees need
performance reviews?
• Why do managers and supervisors
need performance appraisals?
• Why do organizations need
performance appraisals?

4. Introduction
The practice of PA has undergone
many major changes over the last
decades, which was driven by large-
scale organizational changes
 Restructuring
 Move to teamwork
 TQM
 BPR
 Cultural change

5. Key terms
 Performance… relationship between a person‟s
capabilities and what the person actually achieves, usually
related to a person‟s job.
 Performance management…..…A broad term that has
come to stand for the set of practices through which work is
defined and reviewed, capabilities are developed, and
rewards are distributed…” (Morhamn & Morhamn, 1995).
 Performance Appraisal…a process for reviewing the
past performance of an employee, and agreeing future
objectives and development activities.

6. Appraisal – what is it?
•A Measure of performance
(actual vs. planned)
•A Conclusion of continuous
feedback
•A step towards development

7. Practice of PA - Scope
 PA has become a common HR practice in high
performance jobs especially within financial,
sales and customer care sectors, especially
within profit-making organizations.
 It is equally practiced in private and public
organizations such as government authorities,
schools, universities, hospitals, banks etc.,
etc.,
 Still „contingent‟ and „peripheral‟ workers are
mostly left out of appraisal schemes

8. Practice of PA – Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantage
- PA can bring coherence (integration) within
the organization (i.e. performance → reward
→ development → succession)
Disadvantages
- Integration plans are often too ambitious
- Using past information to predict future
performance can be misleading

9. Practice of PA – Uses of PA
Application of PA can be for the following
purposes:
 Defining (and clarifying) performance
expectations
 Identifying training and development needs
 Providing career counseling
 Help with succession planning
 Facilitating communications and involvement
 Allocating rewards and determining
promotion
 Motivating and controlling employees

10. Defining Perf.
expectations
Identifying T
Motivation & D needs
Provide
career
Controlling PA counseling
Objectives
Documentatio
Rewards n
Succession Promotions
planning

11. Performance Management (PM)
PM is a “system & attitudes which help
organizations to plan, delegate and
assess the operations of services”
• Shared vision of the org objectives
• Individual performance objectives that are
related to org objectives
• Plan, Monitor And regular review of
individual targets towards progress
1. Ongoing Developmental Process &
Motivational Exercise
2. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the
PM process

12. How is Appraisal Conducted?
 Set the organization‟s goals
 Set the departmental goals
 Set & Discuss individual
goals
 Define expected results
 Performance reviews
 Provide feedback

13. 5 key Components of Conducting
Appraisal/Review
1. Planning and Preparation
2. Starting the Meeting
3. Discussion
4. Closing
5. Follow-up

14. Appraisal Discussion
"The manager and you should spend only about 30% of the
time discussing the past and 70% talking about future
performance,"

15. PA as Managerial Control
PA have become very important
managerial tool in motivating &
controlling staff
PA is seen as a tool in maintaining staff
loyalty & commitment
PA provides managers with opportunity
to reinforce corporate values and culture
Thus, it is a strategic instrument in the
control process

16. Contemporary PA
- Upward Appraisal System: Involves
employees rating their manager‟s
performance & often leads to improved
leadership and employee empowerment
- Customer Appraisal: where organization is
setting its employees performance standards
base on customer surveys (e.g. customer
care card, telephone surveys, focus groups,
interviews, postal surveys)

17. Contemporary PA – 360° Appraisal
- A popular choice (75% of Fortune 500 companies are
using it)
- 360° Appraisal is based on feedback derived from
ratings from peers, sub-ordinates, supervisors
(managers) and customers.
- Wide variations in terms of what is appraised.
- However two general approaches are used mostly:
- Unstructured approach: open questions are asked about (i)
major value adding areas (ii) managerial strengths (iii)
improvements needed
- Structured approach: questionnaire based on model of
managerial competency. Key components include role
analysis, commercial awareness, customer care,
performance problems and professional development.

18. Contemporary PA – Advantages of 360°
Appraisal
- Multiple raters give a wide
perspective to evaluation
- Whole some feedback to the
manager and the managed
However cost and time requirements
for 360° Appraisal are high. Hence
HR Consultants are making lucrative
careers out of it

19. Problems related to PA
 Most employees (both managers and
managed) hate PA (most disliked this
activity – WHY?).
 PAs over promised and under deliver
 Most managers are not trained to conduct
PAs. Hence they use their gut feeling and
focus on negativity.
 PAs are subject to political manipulation
(„who is the daddy‟ effect).
 Paperwork related to PAs is excessive

20. PM @ QU
2007-08
The process of quantifying, reviewing,
reporting, and enhancing performance
levels

21. What are the major benefits to QU?
 Enforcing a fair and consistent
performance appraisal system
 Fostering personal growth and career
development for QU staff
 Supporting QU “Attracting & Retaining
Employees” objective
 Enhancing QU performance through
linking individual objectives to University
objectives

22. PMS Components
Appraisal of Objectives Competencies Assessment
• What results should be • How should the results be
delivered achieved
• SMART • Soft skills • Leadership
• Teamwork
• Linked to QU Objectives
• Planning & Organisation
• Results Orientation
• Change Orientation
Personal Development Plan • Customer Focus
Bridge gaps and prioritise an
action plan for development
Ongoing … Review

23. PM Cycle
1
Setting Objectives
and
Personal Development Plan
Appraisee
Appraiser
Performance Final Continuous Feedback
Review and Evaluation Ongoing Update
3 2

24. The PMS Cycle
1
Setting Objectives
and
Personal Development Plan
1. Setting Shared QU objectives
2. Setting organizational unit objectives
3. Agree employee objectives
4. Agree Competencies Levels
5. Set the Personal Development Plan

25. The PMS Cycle
2
Continuous Feedback
Ongoing Update
1. Talk to each other about performance
2. Identify improvements and actions
3. Update objectives (if needed)

26. The PMS Cycle
3
Performance Final
Review and Evaluation
1. Self assessment
2. Review by appraiser.. comments
3. Discussion and agreement on scores

27. REALITY!!!
Results
2007
Out of the 92% (QU staff who
submitted their PAs to HR),
54% scored 4 (exceed
expectations) and 18% scored
outstanding performance!!!

28. The received scores (2008) showed the following:
Out of the 98% (QU staff who
submitted their PAs to HR), only
29% scored 4 (exceed
expectations) and 4% scored
outstanding.

29. Actions
 Professional and highly customized PM training
for both supervisors and staff
 Efficient 2-way communication with the
organizational units through focal points
 “3 is Good” campaign
Yes, we made it…affected positively the
performance culture….

30. Positives
 Awareness about QU objectives.
 Awareness about department objectives.
 Awareness about individual objectives and self
initiatives.
 Understanding of job responsibilities.
 Understanding the job competencies.

31. The PM system will NOT:
 Solve all our organizational problems
 Change the organizational culture
 Make the organization fairer or staff happier
Why not?
Because PM system is a tool and tools don‟t make
things happen….
People do!!!
People just like you, with the right tool in hands and
the right attitude in mind!

32. KEY MESSAGE
 THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY OF MANAGING
PERFORMANCE
 THERE ARE NO UNIVERSAL SOLUTION TO PM
PROBLEMS AND EACH ORGANIZATION MUST,
THROUGH A PROCESS OF DIAGNOSIS,
ACTION, EVALUATION AND LEARNING,
DEVELOP ITS OWN STRATEGY AND
PRACTICES

33. LESSONS LEARNED
Generally, PM proved it success as effective tool towards
changing performance culture within QU, specifically:
 Emphasizing development, NOT evaluation, culture
 Documentation
 2-way communication (effective continuous feedback)
 Everyone should know what to do, and what NOT to do
 Everyone contribute
 Everyone develops the necessary skills
 Managers must have the necessary skills
 Managers must monitor and measure

34. THANK YOU
Q&A