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Performance Appraisal For Employees at

Different Levels

Appraisals Home » Performance Appraisal For Employees at Different Levels

Performance appraisal is important for


employees at all levels throughout the
organization. The parameters, the characteristics
and the standards for evaluation may be
different, but the fundamentals of performance
appraisal are the same. But as the level of the
employees’ increases, performance appraisal is
more effectively used as the tools of managing
performance.

Performance appraisal of
Managers:

Appraising the performance of managers is very


important, but at the same time, it is one of the
most difficult tasks in the organization. It is
difficult because most of the managerial work
cannot be quantified i.e. it is qualitative in nature
like leading his/her team, guiding, motivating,
planning etc.

Therefore, the two things to be noted and evaluated for the purpose of appraisals are:

• Performance in accomplishing goals, and

• Performance as managers

Performance in accomplishing goals

Managers are responsible for the performance of their teams as a whole. Performance in
accomplishing goals would mean to look at the completion or achievement of the goals
set for a team of employees which is being assigned to or working under a particular
manager. The best measuring criteria for a manager are hi goals, his plans of course of
action to achieve them and the extent of achievement of the goals.

Performance as managers

The responsibilities of managers include a series of activities which are concerned with
planning, organizing, directing, leading, motivating and controlling. Managers can be
rated on the above parameters or characteristics

Criteria for measuring performance at different levels:

The criteria for measuring performance changes as the levels of the employees and their
roles and responsibilities change.

A few examples for each level are described below:

For top level management

• Degree of organizational growth and expansion

• Extent of achievement of organizational goals

• Contribution towards the society

• Profitability and return on capital employed

For middle level managers

• Performance of the departments or teams

• Co-ordination with other departments

• Optimal use of resources


• Costs Vs. revenues for a given period of time

• The communication with superiors and subordinates

For front line supervisors

• Quantity of actual output against the targets

• Quality of output against the targets

• Number of accidents in a given period

• Rate of employee absenteeism

What criteria should be used to evaluate


Next, an organization must decide what criteria it will use for evaluation. Does it want a
system based on evaluating individual traits, behaviors, or job results? This decision
depends in part on who is being evaluated and how the organization intends to use the
performance appraisal.

TRAIT
Early graphic rating scales evaluated workers on individual traits or personal
characteristics which were presumably related to job performance. Initiative,
aggressiveness, reliability, and personality are examples of traits on which employees
have been rated. One problem with trait rating is that the traits themselves are difficult to
define and may be subject to varying interpretation by evaluators.

BEHAVIOR
Rating employees according to job behaviors is based on the assumption that there are
effective and ineffective behaviors and that these have been identified for each job or
type of job. Behaviors are judged effective or ineffective in terms of the results the
behaviors produce (either desirable or undesirable). For example, a customer service
representative could be judged on the amount of patience shown to irate customers.
Evaluating employees along behavioral dimensions is especially important for employee
development purposes.
JOB RESULT
Results indexes are often used for appraisal purposes if an employee's job has measurable
results. Examples of job results indexes are dollar volume of sales, amount of scrap, and
quantity and quality of work produced. When such quantitative results are not available,
evaluators tend to use appraisal forms based on employee behaviors and/or personal
characteristics. In some cases, appraisals may of necessity focus on results rather than
behaviors. This is especially true where job content is highly variable, as in many
managerial positions, thus making it difficult to specify appropriate behaviors for
evaluative purposes. Results indexes such as turnover, absenteeism, grievances,
profitability, and production rates can be used to evaluate the performance of
organization units.

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