Performance Appraisal System Essay Example

Organizations globally would employ resources who are high in productivity and beneficial to the company. The competition in the job market is fierce and employees have to remain competitive to stay in the job. So how do companies differentiate their resources as leaders and laggards? Companies may be adopting their own methods and adopting different strategies depending on their size and industry, but one of the most effective and scientific way to evaluate the performance of the employees is to have a well devised performance appraisal system. By implementing a formal performance appraisal system, the organization is establishing a level playing field and the critical parameters depending on the role type will get comprehensively evaluated.
Among the various roles in an organization, the one that is of the front line supervisor assumes great importance. He is the one who communicates with the bottom of the pyramid, trains the new comers and getting them up to speed and gets the work done in a quality manner within the stipulated time. Conducting a proper performance evaluation of the front line supervisors thus assumes high criticality. The front line supervisors act as the bridge between the senior management and the workforce. Hence it is highly imperative to have a proper communication channel established and formal feedbacks are provided to them to remain competitive.
In this essay a formal performance grading form is created by identifying and evaluating the critical parameters that are indicators of a good front-line supervisor’s performance. The parameters are graded using a 5-point scale which are A = Excellent (consistently exceeds expectations), B=Very Good (frequently exceeds expectations), C=Good (consistently meets all expectations), D=Average (frequently fails to meet expectations) and E=Poor (fails to meet expectations). The weights assigned to each category are mentioned in the form itself.

Performance Evaluation Form

Other Comments
The performance parameters have been selected based on the job nature of the supervisor position. The supervisor holds the responsibility of holding the team together and achieving the desired results. Planning and Review is one of the most important criteria since this decides how the work is carried out and whether it has been scheduled to run in the most optimized manner. Planning stage marks the start of the entire process and a flaw here will get reflected in all the following processes further down in the cycle. Hence the maximum weightage is provided to the planning stage at 30%. The next three parameters, i.e. Leadership and Management, Knowledge of the Job and Decision making skills assume equal importance. All these three parameters are a must to have for the supervisor and whole production output depends to great extent on how the process actually runs. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to make sure that there are no disruptions in the process and the output exceeds or at least meets the desired results. The last parameter is the teamwork for which 10% weightage has been provided. Teamwork is a said thing and one cannot become a supervisor without being a team player. Teamwork assumes great importance in almost all sorts of labor intensive jobs and it will be difficult for a privacy oriented person to survive in a teamwork oriented job and role.
The article can be concluded by once again stressing on the importance of implementing a scientific performance appraisal system. A well-defined appraisal process ensures employees are properly taken care of by providing them with promotion, compensation and training as required as well as the enforcement of disciplinary actions for misdeeds and providing guidance and definition for career goals for the employees. It also helps in enhancing employee motivation resulting in lesser turnover, image enhancement for the organization, clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of individuals and creates accountability, all these in turn impacting the organization positively with improved performance and higher financial success.
This article has evaluated the necessity of performance appraisal, created a performance appraisal form for the front line supervisors, allotted proper weightage to each evaluation parameter and assigned a grading scale for the factors in consideration.

Works Cited

Lloyd, K. (n.d.). Employee Appraisal Phrases: Organizing and Planning. Retrieved from For Dummies: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/employee-appraisal-phrases-organizing-and-planning.html
Phrases, P. R. (2011). Performance review phrases – decision making. Retrieved from Performance Review Phrases: http://performancereviewphrases.info/performance-review-phrases-decision-making/
Washington, U. o. (n.d.). Supervisor performance evaluation criteria. Retrieved from UCSC: shr.ucsc.edu
workforce.com, E. a. (2014, March 11). Performance Management Orientation Guide 2014. Retrieved from Workforce: http://www.workforce.com/articles/20325-performance-management-orientation-guide-2014