Appraisal – Importance and meaning

Appraisal Meaning

Appraisal, also known as performance appraisal, evaluation, or review is a process executed to assess the performance or contribution of each employee over a given period of time against the predefined goals. 

In simpler words, performance appraisal is a process carried out to reward the best employees with promotions/pay increases or both and provide more direction to the low-performing employees to improve.

This performance appraisal glossary covers-

• Appraisal process
• Appraisal methods
• Appraisal Report
• Appraisal Policy
• Appraisal System for employees
  
  Let’s look at them successively, one at a time.

Appraisal Process

The performance appraisal process is considered to be most effective when employees and managers meet and talk at regular intervals of time (frequently) to share work progress and feedback with each other. Here are the steps that an ideal performance appraisal process has-

1. Identify the scope of improvement including behavior and results so that employees can perform to the best of their capability
2. Set goals that benefit the business and the employee- both. For instance- setting a goal to upskill. The same will help in their growth professionally and also help them do better for your business
3. Show appreciation for great work and share constructive feedback for areas that need work
4. Provide opportunities for improvement through training and learning
5. Review the work and progress so far formally once
6. Reward great performance and performer with rewards

Appraisal Methods 

There are two approaches to assess every employee’s performance, i.e. traditional and modern. While traditional methods are quite passé now, most of the performance management software use at least one of the below-mentioned modern and credible appraisal methods.

1. Self-assessment
2. 360-degree feedback
3. Peer assessment
4. Employee-initiated appraisals

Using a mix of these methods or even one helps keep a record of performance so that every small, big failure or achievement can be recalled at the time of semi-annual, annual, and quarterly meetings.

Appraisal Report

While creating the performance appraisal reports of your employees, you must consider the following areas related to their performance:

• Quality of their work done in preceding months after the last appraisal
• Dependability of employees on their team members, other teams, managers, and other colleagues
• Punctuality or activeness in doing work as per ETAs mentioned
• Problem-solving skills as well as willingness to get through challenges
• Team building spirit, competence, and ability to work in and with teams
• Compliance with pre-defined goals set by an organization

You must avoid the following things while creating appraisal reports:

• Excessive negative comments or criticism
• Threats of disciplinary actions against employees
• Taking up undiscussed roles and responsibilities
• Poking unnecessarily on trivial issues that might be ignored

Appraisal Policy

Appraisal policy is a guide to employees for briefing the guidelines for performance appraisal and ensuring that the performance of every employee is managed effectively. This policy aims for positive appraisal process, raising the quality of services, increasing job satisfaction, identifying appropriate development requirements.

Appraisal System for Employees

Appraisal systems for employees can be either pre-defined manually or automated with performance management software. This comprehensive software helps in managing HR functions including complete performance management and conducting continuous appraisal processes.

With HRMS software, you can pre-define the appraisal process and:

• Assign KRAs, KPIs, and competencies for employees
• Use pre-configured and fully customizable templates for goal creation
• Assign initiatives as per the position of employees
• Gather 360-degree feedback for a better understanding of employees
• Collect real-time actionable insights for the appraisal process