HR Definitions

Performance Appraisal is the formal conclusion to a performance management process at the end of a prescribed term.

Prescribed terms may be any length but are usually a 12 month period.

The Performance Appraisal process involves an interview between a staff member and their manager where the objectives and deliverables for the staff member are reviewed, and an overall assessment of the staff member's performance is agreed.

It must be understood that a Performance Appraisal is only a component part of a Performance Management System. Many people confuse the two and interchange the terminology.

The Performance Appraisal is usually used to identify:

• Development needs for the individual
• A positioning of the staff member's performance for remuneration review

The Performance Appraisal, on its own, has some big limitations in terms of effectiveness.

The limitations are:

• The review is done in retrospect and is an average of six months old so recollection of events is poor
• The opinions of staff and manager are often in opposition, causing de-motivation
• The process is usually Manager driven and the staff member is expected to be compliant in the interview
• The process usually involves the Manager giving their opinion and the staff member having to defend the position, rather than a positive discussion
• There is no room for remedial action during the year
• The process is usually done in a rushed manner to meet a budget development process and therefore loses its relevance to performance

The solution we propose is to implement Performance Management Online which:

• Forces staff to take control of their own performance with Management oversight
• Agrees the performance objectives and development plan for the staff member in advance
• Monitors performance achievement progressively during the assessment term
• Focuses development on objectives to be achieved, thus equipping the staff member to do the job and maximising value in training investment
• Aligns activities during the year to organisational objectives and/or competencies and/or key result areas/deliverables
• Allows for an automated injection of 360-degree Processes into the appraisal process at various intervals during the year
• Includes a performance journal, accumulated during the year, that can be referred to in the appraisal process
• Includes a development journal, accumulated during the year, that can be referred to in the appraisal process
• Provides oversight of the process online by the HR department

Balanced Scorecard
Performance Management
Performance Profiling