Performance appraisal Introduction An organizations goals can be achieved only when people put in their best efforts.

How to ascertain whether an employee has shown his or her best performance on a given job? The answer is performance appraisal. Employee assessment is one of the fundamental jobs of HRM. But not an easy one though In simple terms, performance appraisal may be understood as the assessment of an individual's performance in a systematic way, the performance being measured against such factors as job knowledge, quality and quantity of output, initiative, leadership abilities, supervision, dependability, co-operation, judgement, versatility, health, and the like. Assessment should not be confined to past performance alone. Potentials of the employee for future performance must also be assessed. A formal definition of performance appraisal is: It is the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development. Performance appraisal is a process of summarizing, assessing and developing the work performance of an employee. In order to be effective and constructive, the performance manager should make every effort to obtain as much objective information about the employee's performance as possible. Performance Appraisal is a review and discussion of an employee's performance of assigned duties and responsibilities based on results obtained by the employee in their job, not on the employee's personality characteristics. Personality should be considered only when it relates to performance of assigned duties and responsibilities. It is a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. In many organizations - but not all - appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions. By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify poorer performers, who may require some form of counseling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay. Need of study Performance appraisals, a very important function of the human resources department for any organization, are conducted to gauge the net worth of all its employees. Appraisal methods benefit the organization immensely. The aim of appraisals is to improve the present performance of the employees and draw on the future potential. The HR department undertakes this processes usually annually in which they procure, analyze and document facts about the performances of the employees of the organization. Performance appraisals provide feedback on the employee's performance. On the basis of the obtained feedback, the organization can decide whether to promote, demote, transfer, terminate

the employee. Pay hikes and disciplinary actions can also be fixed by these. Resources for rewards are allocated by performance appraisals. These facilitate communication flow, organizational diagnosis and development. The superiors and subordinates both take each other as partners and work toward attainment of organizational goals and objectives. Performance appraisal is needed in order to: (1) Provide information about the performance ranks basing on which decision regarding salary fixation, confirmation, promotion, transfer and demotion are taken. (2) Provide feedback information about the level of achievement and behavior of subordinate. This information helps to review the performance of the subordinate, rectifying performance deficiencies and to set new standards of work, if necessary (3) Provide information which helps to counsel the subordinate. (4) Provide information to diagnose deficiency in employee regarding skill, knowledge, determine training and development needs and to prescribe the means for employee growth provides information for correcting placement. (5) To prevent grievances and in disciplinary activities. Objectives Of Performance appraisal: To review the performance of the employees over a given period of time. To judge the gap between the actual and the desired performance. To help the management in exercising organizational control. Helps to strengthen the relationship and communication between superior subordinates and management employees. To diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals so as to identify the training and development needs of the future. To provide feedback to the employees regarding their past performance. Provide information to assist in the other personal decisions in the organization. Provide clarity of the expectations and responsibilities of the functions to be performed by the employees. To judge the effectiveness of the other human resource functions of the organization such as recruitment, selection, training and development. To reduce the grievances of the employees 1. To effect promotions based on competence and performance. 2. To confirm the services of probationary employees upon their completing the probationary period satisfactorily. 3. To assess the training and development needs of employees. 4. To decide upon a pay raise where (as in the unorganized sector) regular pay scales have not been fixed. 5. To let the employees know where they stand insofar as their performance is concerned and to assist them with constructive criticism and guidance for the purpose of their development. 6. To improve communication. Performance appraisal provides a format for dialogue between the superior and the subordinate, and improves understanding of personal goals and...

Importance From the employee point of view, there are several benefits that are derived. First, the employee gets a very clear cut understanding of his job duties, authority and responsibility in the organization. Second, the employee is appraised of his highs and lows in performance. When the highs are rewarded, the employee's morale is boosted tremendously and when the lows are reprimanded, he takes care not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. For the management, performance appraisals bring out the key and non-key performers. The management then takes steps to hone the key performers and develop the non-key performers into putting in their best. Performance appraisals identify the areas where training and development are needed. Performance appraisals benefit the company as well as individual employees also. They increase rapport between management and employees, increase job satisfaction and improve employees sense of loyalty toward the company. Performance appraisals assist the employee in seeing how her role in the organization contributes to the companys overall success, thus increasing employee morale. All of these lead to higher productivity among employees, which improves organizational productivity. Benefits of performance appraisal I/ For the appraisee: 1. Increased motivation and job satisfaction. 2. Clear understanding of what is expected and what needs to be done to meet expectations. 3. Opportunity to discuss aspirations and any guidance, support or training needed to fulfill these aspirations. 4. Improved working relationships with the superior. 5. Opportunity to overcome the weaknesses by way of counseling and guidance from the superior. 6. Increased sense of personal value as he too is involved in the appraisal process II/ For the appraiser: 1. Opportunity to develop an overview of individual jobs. 2. Opportunity to identify strengths and weaknesses of appraisees. 3. Increased job satisfaction. 4. Opportunity to link team and individual objectives with department & organizational objectives. 5. Opportunity to clarify expectations that the manager has from teams and individuals. 6. Opportunity to re-prioritize targets. 7. Means of forming a more productive relationship with staff based on mutual trust and understanding. 8. Due to all above Increased sense of personal value III/ For the company: 1. Improved performance throughout the organization due to: Increased sense of cohesiveness and loyalty. Managers are better equipped to use their leadership skills and to develop their staff. Effective communication of organizations objectives and values.

2. Improved overview of tasks performed by each member of a group. 3. Identification of ideas for improvement. 4. Creation and maintenance of a culture of continuous improvement. 5. Communication to people that they are valued. METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION Research is a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Research is an art of scientific investigation. According to Clifford Woody,Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, collecting, organizing and evaluating data, making deductions andreaching conclusions and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulating hypothesis. 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN Research design aids the researcher in the allocation of limited resources by posing crucial choices in methodology.Research design is the plan and structure of investigation so conceived as toobtain answers to research questions. The plan is the over all scheme or program of theresearch. It includes an outline of what the investigator will do from writing hypothesisand their operational implications to the final analysis of data. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN The design for this study is descriptive research design. This designwas chosen as it describes accurately the characteristics of a particular system as well as the views held by individuals about the system. Theviews and opinions of employees about the system help to study thesuitability of the system as well as the constraints that might restrict its The sampling technique adopted for the purpose of the study isconvenience sampling.As the name implies a convenience sample means selectingparticular units of the universe to constitute a sample. SAMPLE SIZE The sample size of the study is 150. This sample is considered asrepresentative. 3.4 DATA COLLECTION PRIMARY SOURCE: The primary source of data is through Questionnaire. SECONDARY SOURCE: The secondary source of information is based on the various detailsretrieved from Journals, Websites and Magazines.The data for this study has been collected through primary sources. Primary datafor this study was collected with the help of Questionnaires and evaluation feedbackforms. The extra information was collected through interviews with the employees atvarious companies

3.5 TOOLS OF THE STUDY 3.5.1 Tool used for data collection:
The tool used for collecting the data is through the questionnaire .The main reason for selecting the questionnaire method for the study is: Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers. The time of the study was also a limiting factor.

Five pointer scales were use through the Questionnaire.

3.5.2 Statistical tools used

Statistical tools like Tabulation, Graphic Representations,percentage analysis and, Chi-Square, are used in the compilation andcomputation of data.

Limitations Time and resource were the major constraints during the execution of theproject. Therefore only a limited number of employees were included inthe project. The respondents were selected inside the organization only. So it cannotbe generalized as a whole. Some of the respondents were not even ready to spare time with theresearcher. There are many respondents who hesitated to answer the questionnaire. The human behaviour is dynamic and hence the results may not hold good for a long time. T h e r e s u l t s o f t h e s u r v e y a r e t o t a l l y d e p e n d e n t o n t h e a c c u r a c y a n d authenticity of the information provided by the respondent