Performnce management (developing methods of performance apraisal) Essay

Performnce management (developing methods of performance apraisal) - Essay Example Performance appraisal can be described as a formal and systematic way of identifying, observing as well as measuring the strengths and weaknesses of the employees in their job (Swanepoel, 1998). The primary goal of performance appraisal is concerned with improving the performance of the individuals as well as the organisation as a whole so that the desired goals can be easily attained. The system of performance appraisal is mainly concerned with gathering information about the performance of different individuals so as to be in a position to make a decision with regards to promotion of other people while at the same time developing and training those who lag behind in order to improve their performance (Mullins, 2010). It can also be seen that a performance appraisal system is designed to provide the managers with information that can be used to make necessary pay adjustments since it is widely believed that employees with outstanding and exceptional performance standards should be r ewarded with pay increases so as to motivate them. In most cases, performance appraisal is carried over a certain period of time where the employees are given a certain task to perform in a bid to establish their level of competence. Information about the challenges they have faced is gathered as well as the aspects they found simple to perform. In order to perform this task, the most effective employee performance appraisal tool that can be used is to give the employees short reflective written tests that are designed to explore their views and perceptions towards their work. In order to do this, it is imperative to assign the employees a certain task that ought to be accomplished over a certain period of time. The manger has to design a set of self reflective questions that can be answered in short answers. These questions should be related to the task that has been performed and they help to establish the level of competence of the individual in as far as this job task is concern ed. The method of testing the capability of the employees in performing a certain task is very effective since they are compelled to give objective answers that are relevant to the experience they would have gained through the assigned task. The other method that could be used is a questionnaire. However, the disadvantage of this method is that the responses are subjective since they do not provide a deep insight about a person’s perceptions towards a certain job activity. The test method is effective in that a person would be given the opportunity to narrate the real situation he or she has encountered. Chances of objectivity are high given that the individual would be in a position to give personal opinions and ideas towards something. These views can be used to measure against the standard expectations in the organization. If an employee shows that he or she has weaknesses in certain areas, this information can then be used to improve those weaknesses so that his overall p erformance can be improved. The employees who display exceptional knowledge and skills in the tasks assigned to them can be considered for promotion by the management. They can also be considered for high pay adjustments so as to motivate them in order to continue putting optimum effort in their performance. The problem of poor performance