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Performance Appraisal: Doing it Right

James has finished a marketing campaign for a new application for tablets; after meeting
with his manager he is unsure if his work was productive or a waste of time. Organizations with
failed practices of performance appraisals create emotional distress on employees. As a result,
employees often are misguided with work assignments and begin to stray away from the
organizations values. Managers who are inconsistent and unspecific struggle to properly
appraise employees. Managers can effectively appraise employees once they have become strong
leaders.
Today managers are given multiple options to appraise performance. Methods of
measurement, conventional method and forced ranking offer managers a more traditional process
in assessing employee performance (Heathfield 7). In the conventional method, managers are
asked to rank employees using numbers and have the employee fill out a self-evaluation. By
receiving data from both the manager and the employee, Human Resources is able to compare
the values and further assess the worth of the employee to the organization. Forced ranking
involves ranking of employees based upon their effectiveness and contribution in the
organization. Often the ranked employees who score in the upper percentile, are offered a
reward, and the employees in the bottom percentile are reprimanded. Incentives offer the
opportunity for employees to gain competitive advantage in the work place.
Unconventional methods of performance appraisals are Management by Objectives
(MBO) and Key Result Areas (KRA). MBO, a theory created by Peter Drucker, occurs when
employees measure their personal performance against goals set by themselves (Sudarsan 48).
Giving employees the freedom to create their own goals allows managers to evaluate employees
self-worth in relation to their work. In addition, employees are encouraged to produce work in a

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way that best fits their needs and can be more efficient for the company. KRA focuses more on
the organization implementing set goals, targets, and objectives instead of the employee
(Sudarsan 49). As managers create the goals for employees, goals can be generated for long term
and short term. Correspondingly, goals set by the manager become controllable to measure for
performance appraisal.
Managers who assess assigned work to employees in an unspecific method are setting the
employees up for failure. In addition, managers who choose to focus greatly on goal specific
appraisal using KRA also create an environment that will set up employees for failure. Brogan
states, The supervisor above an employee determines what employees do and how often they do
it. The supervisor who fails to direct, or at least approve of, what subordinates do would be
failing to manage (25). Revisiting James and his marketing for an application, Brogan illustrates
that even if James was directed in an appropriate manner, the approval of the work he has done is
not clear. James is left in an unsure of state of mind creating multiple emotions, ultimately
leading to lack of motivation on his next assignment. Although KRA is goal specific, various
managers may choose not to use this method to measure performance. KRA focuses on specific
tangible numbers but sometimes this leads to a lack of attention to importance and finer
qualitative aspects (Sudarsan 50). As a manager focuses on the quantitative data, they forget
about the qualitative data. Managers lead employees for failure when they set up tasks while
avoiding minor details.
Handing a manager a performance appraisal to fill out can cause anxiety and emotional
distress. This results in an inaccurate performance appraisal. Rating inflation is common while
filling out appraisals, [u]ndeserved elevated ratings protect raters as it allows them to avoid the
social costs related to the provision of low evaluations (Brutus, Fletcher, and Baldry 2000).

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Managers fear society more than the ability to properly appraise employees to better the
organization. Lacking self-efficiency, managers do not believe in themselves enough to trust that
they can accomplish the tasks of successful management and appraising of employees. Low selfefficiency in managers is seen by employees and the influence can occur rather quickly. As
managers and employees begin to question their abilities, they not only hurt the organization in
efficient work completion, but also in failed performance appraisals. Poor communication
models also present problems for the manager and their employees in the organization. When
managers communicate about an employees performance, they often cut corners, mostly to
avoid any negative feedback (Mishra 31). Again managers with fear of confrontation are shown
to take the easy path when giving performance appraisal. Leading employees in a path of
deceit, managers fail to properly enforce and perform adequate performance appraisals.
Bias in performance appraisals not only creates distances between employees, it can also
result in legal action against the organization. Stereotyping is the biggest concern for bias in
assessing an employees performance. Racial, gender, and religious stereotypes play an
important role in evaluation and perception of employees in the workplace. Wilson and Jones
examine the stereotyping in regards to race, [n]egative stereotypes impact performance
appraisals (60). In a white dominant organization, an employee of African-American
descendant may receive a low evaluation because his work was not at the same degree of his
colleagues. Race roles limit individuals with ethnic backgrounds to succeed further in the
organizations (Wilson and Jones 60). While appraising employees, some managers create a set of
racial standards; when an individual does not meet the managers racial standards they are more
likely to receive negative appraisals. Managers who choose to have different standards for
employees with ethnic backgrounds are more likely to avoid those individuals in the workplace

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(Wilson and Jones 60). As managers limit their time with employees, they fail to see all the work
completed by the employee as well as limit their opportunity to properly appraise the individual.
Not only affecting appraisal, bias in the workplace in regards to race puts the organization at risk
for legal action according to the Equal Employment Opportunities Act. By supporting
stereotypes in performance appraisals, managers lead the employees away from the organizations
values.
Employees who fail to standout create difficulties in performance appraisals. Groups of
grey masses are individuals who perform tasks but do not do perform in a way that exceeds the
work of their peers (Morn 865). While writing performance appraisals, managers find it
difficult to remember the grey individuals. If the manager fails to recognize an employee for
their work they are setting the employee up for an inadequate appraisal. In contrast, managers
can become subjective and give the grey employees good reviews based on the fact they
completed their task while doing nothing illegal or unethical. Managers who fail to acknowledge
each employees contributions to the organization, are failing as leaders. An organization cannot
succeed on one individuals work; it takes the right employees on the team to create success.
New leadership models create opportunities for more effective performance appraisals.
Transformational leaders use charisma and their central concept to attract employees to create
higher quality relationships (Tuytens and Devos 3048). By creating an environment with energy
and positive leader-employee relationships, managers are able to improve the understanding and
usage of the organizations values. Employees who feel valued to the company are more likely to
sacrifice personal goals to better the environment and success of the organization. John Wooden
describes this as, team spirit (23). Team spirit is one of Woodens building blocks to success
and it emphasizes the eagerness to help others in your team to succeed before you succeed.

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When a manager fails to see any employee as grey they are allowing individuals to create their
own colors in the organization. Being a rainbow rather than greyscale, the organization is more
likely to develop ideas and employees are more capable of meshing together to create a
successful team. When a manager leads their team to personal sacrifice, they are creating a work
environment that supports teamwork.
To counteract the unspecific performance appraisals and KRA, managers can incorporate
a higher level of frequent feedback. To create a successful appraisal system, Chan and Lam look
for two key components, feedback accuracy and feedback frequency (Chan and Lam 613).
Feedback accuracy gives employees direct feedback on their work; feedback frequency is the
timely manner a manager responds to work done by an employee. Employees use feedback
accuracy to receive feedback that they will in turn perceive as an evaluation of their behaviors
and abilities to complete tasks. Feedback frequency gives employees the opportunity to
understand the importance of performance appraisals. To properly enforce feedback, managers
must give feedback in an adequate amount of time, and for as long as it takes the employee to
understand their work and value to the organization. In One Minute Manager, Blanchard and
Johnson introduce a one minute manager who uses both feedback accuracy and feedback
frequency to lead employees to become their own manager (36-60). Feedback accuracy is seen
as the one minute manager tells his employees exactly what they did correctly or incorrectly for
one minute appraising or one minute reprimanding (accordingly). After telling the employee the
feedback of their work, the one minute manager allots a small amount of time for the employee
to feel and embrace their value to the organization (Blanchard and Johnson 36-60). By giving the
employees time to reflect on their work and value, managers create a sense of team spirit.
Employees are no longer focused on individual goals; they work to better the organization, not

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themselves. In addition, the one minute manager focuses solely on feedback accuracy and
explains exactly what the employee did rather than ignoring brutal facts (Blanchard and Johnson
36-60). Managers who chose to be accurate do not emotionally care about societys reaction to
negative feedback. They also understand that some negative feedback is necessary, but that is not
the only thing employees need to hear. By allowing the employee to feel valued and know what
to improve upon, one minute managers create a self-sufficient organization. Feedback frequency
is seen as the one minute manager approaches the individual within hours of their completed
task. New employees receive feedback frequently with every task they complete; older
employees have developed internal appraising and do not require the feedback as often
(Blanchard and Johnson 36-60). The one minute manager exemplifies a new type of leadership
that allows managers to appraise employees in a clear and concise manner. As employees gain
experience in the organization they are capable of appraising themselves, thus the one minute
manager has lead their employees to effective and accurate appraisals.
Measuring tasks as they are completed will allow the organization to stand the test of
time. Wooden uses the concept of not looking at the scoreboard (Wooden 210) to emphasize
the importance of not overlooking the small things. When an organization creates a long term
goal and solely focuses on that, they become blind to the tasks and their performance leading up
to the long term goal. Wooden believes each employee must do their best at all times in order to
succeed. If an organization fails to plan, they plan to fail (Wooden 154). Managers must appraise
employees throughout the process of completing tasks to maintain accuracy. Managers lead
employees to an environment that promotes accuracy as well as long term success.
Performance appraisals are emotionally tiresome for both employees and managers, but
they can improve relationships in the organization as well as turn a profit. Promoting positive

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ideals, managers can lead their organization to success. When performance appraisals fail to
directly correlate to the employee and manager, the manager is at fault. Giving accurate and
frequent feedback, managers are able to let the employees know they matter to the organization.
Returning back to James one last time, if his manager met with him at the completion of his
work for the tablet applications they are providing a timely feedback response. To appraise
James, his manager would look specifically at the work he has completed and compare it against
the goals he has set. Allowing time for James to reflect on his work and know his value in the
company, James is left satisfied in his work and eager to continue improving for the greater good
of the company. Feedback provides internal motivation for employees to succeed as a whole, not
individually. Managers who successfully lead employees will create an environment with selfsufficiency and accuracy.

Works Cited
Blanchard, Kenneth H., and Spencer Johnson. The One Minute Manager. New York:
Morrow, 1982. Print.
Brogan, Jesse W. Problem Appraisal Systems. Industrial Management 54.5 (2012): 24-27.

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Brutus, Stphane, Clive Fletcher, and Caroline Baldry. The Influence of Independent SelfConstrual on Rather Self-Efficacy in Performance Appraisal. The International Journal
of Human Resource Management 20.9 (2009): 1999-2011.
Chan, Kimmy Wa, and Wing Lam. The Trade-Off of Servicing Empowerment on
Employees Service Performance: Examining the Underlying Motivation and Workload
Mechanisms. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 39.4 (2011): 609-628.
Heathfield, Susan. Performance Appraisals Dont Work What Does?. Journal for Quality
& Participation 30.1 (2007): 6-9.
Morn, Elizabeth Neu. The Negotiated Character of Performance Appraisal: How
Interrelations between Managers Matters. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management 24.4 (2013): 853-870.
Mishra, Kirti. Exploring the Communication Centered Approach of Performance
Appraisal. Amity Global Business Review 8 (2013): 31-36.
Sudarsan, Arvind. Employee Performance Appraisal: The (Un) Suitability of Management
by Objectives and Key Results Areas. CURIE Journal 2.2 (2009): 47-54.
Tuytens, Melissa, and Geert Devos. The Effect of Procedural Justice in the Relationship
Between Charismatic Leadership and Feedback Reactions in Performance Appraisal.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management 23.15 (2012): 3047-3062.
Wilson, Kathlyn K., and Robert G. Jones. Reducing Job-Irrelevant Bias in Performance
Appraisals: Compliance and Beyond. Journal of Central Management 34.2 (2008): 5770.
Wooden, John, and Steve Jamison. Wooden on Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Print.

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