Every employee makes an immense contribution towards the returns which an organization makes. Because of this very rationale, it is as well critical to monitor and evaluate the performance of employees regularly. Carrying out these performance evaluations is not simple.
Chang and Matthew (1993) observe that, companies all over the world continue to struggle to formulate systems which work most excellent to evaluate employee performance or his/her productivity. Several methods have been formulated which includes performing objective and subjective physical examination, complex performance appraisals methods and other many ways. These methods have been formulated to evaluate the significance of every employee. Organization leadership also plays an important role in enhancing employees’ performance in an organization.Methods of assessing, evaluating and measuring outcomes of performance improvementEvaluating an employee work performance gives an organization or the management some control since it connects performance feedback against corrections and rewards. According to Reid (1992), evaluation of employees is a continuous process which goes on informally each day within the organization.
There exist a number of evaluations methods which we shall review in the following section.Methods to evaluate performancePerformance appraisalPerformance appraisal is an official structured system which is used to compare performance of employee against set standards of the job. Evaluation of the performance of the job is shared together with employees who are being apprised by using one of the many key methods of performance appraisals. Components in performance appraisal systems are customized according to the organization’s jobs, structures and employees. These components objectives form criterion for employee performance measurement and ratings to give a summary of how well an employee is performing. Effective appraisal methods have ability to undoubtedly define and clearly communicate set standards and expectations to the employee (Reid, 1992)Performance evaluation methodsPerformance evaluation comes in many different types, among them is written essays.
The easiest essay method used for performance evaluation is the written narrative used to evaluate the strength and weakness of an employee, his /her previous performance and the employee potential. The written narrative then presents recommendations and offers areas to be improved. Varieties of performance evualtions methods comprise:Comparative standards: this includes simple ranking; paired comparison; forced distributionAbsolute standards: this includes critical incidents; BARS; and MBO (Chang and Matthew, 1993)Comparative StandardsThis evaluation method is a relative approach which compares an employee performance against another employee performance or against many other employees. This method is in contrast with absolute method.
(Chang and Matthew, 1993)Group rank orderingIn this evaluation method, the supervisor puts employees in a specific categorization for example, ‘top one-tenth’ and ‘second one-tenth’. Supposing a supervisor has twenty employees, just four could be placed in the top tenth and four have to be placed to the bottom tenth. (Chang and Matthew, 1993)Individual rankingIn this method of evaluation, the supervisor ranks employees starting from highest to the lowest. The variation among top two employees is presumed to be corresponding to the variation among the last two employees.
(Chang and Matthew, 1993)Paired comparisonIn this method, the supervisor makes a comparison of every employee against another employee within a work group and ranks each one of the employees as superior or weaker of the two. After making all the comparisons, each one of the employee is then assigned a summarized ranking which is established from the figure of superior counts the employee has received. (Chang and Matthew, 1993)Critical incidentsIn this method of appraisal, the attention of the supervisor is focused on particularly or critical conducts which separate effective performance from ineffective. The supervisor then notes these conducts in his/her evaluation and performance reports. (Chang and Matthew, 1993)Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)BARS evaluation method combine aspects from critical incident together with graphic rating scale methods, afterwards, the supervisor then rates employees depending on entries on a numerical scale. (Chang and Matthew, 1993)Management by objectives (MBO)In this method, an employee is evaluated according to how best the employee has achieved the objectives which are set to be critical for his performance.
MBO evaluation method aligns quantitative performance measures for example sales, revenue, number of defected units produced with objectives set by the organization.360 Degree FeedbackThis is a multi-source evaluation feedback method which provides a broad perspective of employee performance through using feedback from the entire sphere of people with whom an employee interrelates with; supervisors, co-workers and subordinates. This method is effective particularly for career coaching as well as discovering strengths and weakness of an employee.Computer monitoringThis method is used to track the performance of an employee continuously as the employee carries out his/her duty.
Evaluation process is officially documented in the performance appraisal for a certain period of time and results are analyzed by the management accordingly. (Reid, 1992)Performance evaluation softwareSupervisors can also measure employee performance through software-aided performance. This evaluation software provides the supervisor with online human resource management capability and real-time means to assist the supervisor track and appraise employee performance. An example of this software is Knowledge Point’s performance appraiser which takes supervisors through the processes of evaluation, taking the supervisors through the blank page and then turning observations being made into important feedback.
The computerized performance assessment system eliminates a lot of the barriers which usually undermine the performance assessment process.Importance and role of effective leadership in the performances improvement equationThere exists vast evidence to underscore the significance and critical roles played by leaders or managers regarding employee performance and improvement. (Rue and Byars, 2006) Nonetheless, the possible number of activities which a leader can do to improve employee performance are numerous and the question is; which are the best activities that a leader should undertake to improve employee performance? A lot of experts agree that an effective leader should use an approach which balances his focus amid interpersonal skills as well as driving for results. Basically, the evidence indicates that leaders have a role of establishing an organizational culture which is performance management based. The leaders have a role of creating a culture that entails coaching and conscious efforts and constant dialogue among the employees to attain a balance involving interpersonal skills and driving for results.
As such leaders should role to carry out performance management which is important in employee performance and improvement.Performance managementHodgetts (1993) elucidates that, a number of people have a mistaken presumption that performance management only involves adhering to regulatory stipulations to appraise and the rank performance. In deed, ranking of records is simply one element of the whole process. Measuring performance is thus a systematic approach which includes:1. Planning work then stating expectations and constantly monitoring employee performance2. Developing the capability to perform3.
Regularly ranking performance in a summarized manner4. Rewarding best performanceThe managers and supervisors have a duty of carrying out the above mentioned process to ensure that employee performance evaluation is accurate so that areas for improvement can be identified and improvements made (Hodgetts, 1993)Immediate feedbackThe leader has a role in providing immediate feedback which reflects the actual employee performance. Salaman (1995) states that, leaders have a better chance of greatly improving employee performance through providing timely and accurate feedbacks. Leaders who visibly focus their effort on particular recommendations for improvement can enhance employee’s performance. In general Salaman (1995) points out that, leaders who give feedback which is voluntary, positive, immediate and detailed can have a positive impact on employee performance.Performance improvement cultureThe mangers have a role in supporting employee performance improvement through evidently assigning at every level; communications and behaviors which sustain performance improvement and which the mangers have a duty of continuously applying them.
It is vital that the whole organization, which includes management and employees, ought to comprehend on how the journey of performance improvement looks. The management has a duty to explain to the employees what they are expected from them and what it is required to form an organization culture which supports the following objectives that a manager should articulate:• Managers should Make sure that an understandable vision, objectives, goals regulations, duties and expectations has been clearly communicated to create a culture of performance improvement in an organization• Managers have to ensure that comprehension and buy-in are present in the leadership• Managers have a duty to set core values enabling particular behaviors which enhance creating and supporting a performance improvement culture• The managers also have a role of encouraging employees fully participate in all activities and have a questioning attitude which supports performance improving. (Hodgetts, 1993)Importance of performance evaluationRue and Byars (2006) explains that, tracking the employee production will enable the management to know where and which are need improvement, those employees who does not perform to the levels of set standards can be told to improve on their abilities or given duties which they can perform best. Since the aim of any organization is to maximize profits and reduce costs, tracking the employees production will also enable the organization to cut cost of production by for example, lying off those employees who are not producing. Ultimately these measures will add value to the organization in terms of cost effectiveness. (Rue and Byars, 2006)ConclusionIt is important that the management have a way of tracking employee performance based on objective of the organization and evaluate performance of the employee competencies and skills.
As Druker (1995) observes, there are several ways of which companies use to evaluate the employee performance. The traditional way is paper based which may be ineffective, cumbersome and time consuming. The management has an option of using software for performance management system which allows the managers to easily connect organization objectives to individual objectives, giving the supervisor a complete outlook of how effective the employees are. The leaders also have a role of improving performance equation through using an approach which focuses on improving employees interpersonal skills in line with intended results. To achieve this, leaders have to provide performance leadership through creating a culture of improvement and providing effective and immediate communication. However, employee performance is a continuous process which can only be perfected by effective leadership.
