“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”
Anne Mulcahy
For many years, employee appraisal is treated as a mere formality and done in organisations for namesake. However, Mercer 2019 Global Performance Management Study highlights the changing business scenario and the need for a more flexible and employee-oriented performance management system. The study also reveals that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to become more prominent and talent management will be aligned to business goals. The compensation structure will also become increasingly nimbler, linked to performance.
Previously, managers used to see performance appraisal as a corporate exercise that is forced upon them by the human resource departments of their organisation. On the other hand, employees have always wanted their work to be valued, appreciated, recognised and rewarded. For instance, 68% of employees who receive consistent, accurate feedback are more fulfilled in their jobs, in turn boosting employee engagement. Additionally, 92% of employees believe feedback – including negative feedback, if delivered appropriately – is effective for improving performance, resulting in increased employee output.
Actionable Appraisal Method to Boost Performance
In any organisation, the methods of appraisal must be actionable and not just theoretical.
A few tested and tried methods of performance appraisal are:
Helping you offer useful, impactful, and fruitful feedback, this method is highly popular. Feedbacks from all levels of the organisation, including self-evaluation are taken into consideration in this method of performance assessment. This highlights the importance of communication among team members and the organisation as a whole.
This method of appraisal includes setting objectives that align with personal as well as organisational goals. These objectives are agreed to by both management and employees mutually. The method helps to compare actual performance and achievements to the defined objectives.
Key Performance Indicator, or KPI, is a method to measure the organisation’s effective achievement of its key business objectives. This method is used to evaluate their speed at reaching targets at multiple levels. The overall performance and growth of a business are evaluated with the help of high-level KPIs. Departmental progress is tracked through low-level KPIs.
Organisations are able to evaluate and plot their talent pool with the help of a 9-Box matrix, or, a ‘nine-box grid’. This evaluation is done on the basis of two factors, namely, performance and potential. Typically speaking, the horizontal axis depicts employee performance, which is measured on the basis of performance reviews. The vertical axis denotes growth potential of an individual in a professional or managerial capacity on one or more levels.
By definition, OKRs mean Objectives and Key Results. With the help of OKRs, a collaborative goal-setting tool, challenging, ambitious goals with measurable results can be set by teams and individuals. OKRs are a means to track progress, build alignment and boost engagement around measurable and defining goals.
Significant characteristics of modern performance appraisal method
Having mentioned all the above, it is extremely important for employees to value their work themselves first. Until and unless they are confident and proud of what they do, and their skills, nobody else is going to believe them. This is a dog-eat-dog world with cut-throat competition and people tend to behave like crabs in the real world, which makes the below-mentioned quote all the more relatable.
“Each one of us, regardless of title and level in the organisation, is 100% accountable for our careers. We are accountable for our happiness, success and satisfaction at work – NOT our boss and NOT our company.”
Read also: Companies that Value Female Employees Perform Better, Appraisal Says
Ansh Aggarwal has 6+ years of experience in the B2B Marketing space in India and International markets. Currently associated with Zimyo, Ansh is taking care of the entire gamut of marketing activities for the on-boarding of Enterprise clients. He communicates directly/indirectly with Industry leader CXOs, CHROs, IT Heads to understand their challenges and come up with solutions that are enabling them to transform their company into an employee-centric organisation.
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