Happy New Year and welcome with me to 2021.
Have you had your new resolutions yet? Happy deliberations! Please join me make this year a great year as we resolve to conduct a non-vindictive performance appraisal system this year and beyond. We may be expecting magical results this year. 2021 is a normal year like any other year. The magic we bring in is what will make the year magically. What kind of daily routine activities are we embarking on this year? The secret lies in our daily routine as it’s said we are creatures of habit. If you desire change, please check the answer yourself in the mirror. You will realize you are the change and the answer lies in your hands.
It’s that time of the year when goals set for the 2020 fiscal year is reviewed depend on our definition of the fiscal year. Generally, most Ghanaian companies observe the January – December fiscal year. Let’s discuss performance management and the appraisal system knowing that the performance appraisal is not expected to be a vindictive process.
The fairness of performance appraisal will depend on whether targets set for employees are seen to be equitable and consistent. To ensure this happens, HR and line managers must be able to understand the process of calibration during the target setting and performance review process as well as in alignment with business goals. How do you link the performance outcomes to rewards such as bonuses, salary increment, and promotion or employee development?
The Bell Curve or Straight-Line methods for instance have been popular with some organizations in managing reward for performance decisions amidst many more other methods currently available. Equipping ourselves to learn to iron out inequities and inconsistencies in target setting, performance reviews and alignment with business goals ensuring a high degree of fairness in rewarding performance is the way to go.
Performance appraisal is a formal management system that provides for the evaluation of the quality of an individual’s performance in an organization over time. The appraisal is usually prepared by the employee’s immediate supervisor. It’s great when both employee and immediate supervisor are involve in the goal drafting. This creates a sense of ownership. The procedure typically requires the supervisor to fill out a standardized assessment form that evaluates the individual on several different dimensions and then discusses the results of the evaluation with the employee. At an engagement forum, an employee alerted the house, a question asked during an employee orientation program to which the employee was introduced to; constituted one of the base for which a supervisor negatively evaluated aspect of the performance of that employee with a poor rating and indicated these reasons as a bases for the negative rating and alerted same at the forum. Should things like these add up to employee’s performance appraisal and evaluation? Why do some managers consider and make the performance appraisal system a vindictive process? What is your experience? What do you think? Please let’s hear from you
Too often, performance appraisal is seen merely by many as a once-a-year drill to many businesses and individuals; but I believe this should be an ongoing process and not merely an annual event. Constant feedback and update provision becomes a great mechanism to managing this. For companies managing this way for instance, performance management is reviewed and its appraisal follows a four-phase model:
- Phase 1: Performance Planning. At the beginning of the year, the manager and employee get together for a performance-planning meeting ideally. In this hour-long session they usually discuss what the person will achieve over the next twelve months (the key responsibilities of the person’s job, the resources needed to get that job done and the goals and projects the person will work on) and how the person will do the job (the behaviors and competencies the organization expects of its members). They typically also discuss the individual’s development plans and allocated resources to enable the employee work to achieve their goals.
- Phase 2: Performance Execution. Over the course of the year the employee works to achieve the goals, objectives, and key responsibilities of the job. The manager provides coaching and feedback to the individual to increase the probability of success. He creates the conditions that motivate and resolves any performance problems that may arise. Midway through the year—perhaps even more frequently—they meet to review the individual’s performance thus far against the plans and goals that they discussed in the performance-planning meeting.
- Phase 3: Performance Assessment. As the time for the formal performance appraisal nears, the manager reflects on how well the subordinate has performed over the course of the year, assembles the various forms and paperwork that the organization provides to make this assessment, and fills them out. The manager may also recommend a change in the individual’s compensation based on the quality of the individual’s work. The completed assessment form is usually reviewed and approved by the appraiser’s boss. Others—perhaps the department head or the compensation manager—may also review and approve the assessment.
- . Phase 4: Performance Review. The manager and the subordinate meets, usually for about an hour or more if at all possible and doable. They review the appraisal form that the manager has written and talk about how well the person performed over the past twelve months. At the end of the review meeting they set a date to meet again to hold a performance-planning discussion for the next twelve months, at which point the performance management process starts anew. Does your performance appraisal system look anything similar? Following very simple system and processes like this makes your assessment free and fair and not a vindictive process. But in the event where constant feedback is not provided and managers hold on to every little bit f challenge and piles them up over the period of the fiscal year to be assessed at the end of the period to prove and show your power and superiority makes the performance appraisal system a vindictive process. Let’s make performance management and the appraisal system a great tool to help coach, mentor, and develop our team instead of making it a vindictive process.
By Baptista Sarah Gebu (Mrs.)
Baptista is a human resource professional with a broad generalist background. Building a team of efficient & effective workforce is her business. Affecting lives is her calling! She is a Hybrid Professional, HR Generalist, strategic planner, innovative, professional connector and a motivator. You can reach her via e-mail on [email protected] You can follow this conversation on our social media pages Facebook / LinkedIn/ Twitter / Instagram: FoReal HR Services. Call or WhatsApp: +233(0)262213313. Follow the hashtag #theFutureofWorkCapsules #FoWC
