Top methods and techniques for evaluating employee performance
February 17, 2016
person
Danielle Shepherd
Performance Management
Employee performance evaluation is a key factor to inspire your employees, improve the quality of work, and keep them motivated. It is not only the best channel to understand how your employees are performing, but also a compelling measure to get feedback about how your business is operating, whether the employees are working positively towards achieving your goals, and what you can do to improve employee engagement. It also provides a foundation for determining increments and succession plans for employees and the development of an organization.
A comprehensive employee performance evaluation process often consists of different evaluation methods to help judge an employee’s performance. Using multiple techniques can help you get a broader perspective of the areas where your staff needs to improve and the steps you can take to support the growth of the employees.
As opposed to the common belief, an employee performance evaluation process is not only beneficial to the organization, but also for the employees. This process includes the following:
1) Peer review Peer review is one of the strategies that many organizations and employee evaluation software use to enhance the traditional evaluation process. The process of peer review consists of taking anonymous feedbacks from colleagues, teammates, and peers on specific aspects of an employee’s performance.
It provides a unique opportunity to study the employee skills and capabilities and help identify individual’s networking, leadership, occupational, and collaboration skills within an organization. Given the intricate nature of working relationships, this process provides a unique chance to identify each employee’s strengths and weaknesses, and use this valuable data to take decisions regarding succession planning, building teams, and job rotations.
2) Self evaluation Self-evaluation is a vital activity to help make your appraisal process more efficient. When done properly, it can provide several key inputs to the organization. This method offers a chance for employees to play an active role in their evaluation process. Thus, rather than simply being the receiver of the management’s feedback, the employees are given a voice. This provides a direct link between their jobs and evaluation process and fosters better communication between staff and management. With active participation, employees can experience better engagement with the overall review process, while managers can better understand the individual’s performance as well as their perception of their performance.
When the self-evaluation is developed as an integral part of the review process, it encourages employees to incessantly evaluate themselves throughout the year leading to a maximum achievement of the company’s goals.
3) Quantitative evaluation Quantitative evaluation is based upon statistics and uses various standards to track productivity. The process begins with the formulation of company standards against which employee’s data can be measured. It is critical to lay out standards in clear and precise terms without ambiguity, leaving no chance for misinterpretation.
Some of the quantitative standards against which the employee’s’ performance can be compared are cost standards, time standards, income standards, ROI, productivity, and market share standards. The data can be used to evaluate a company’s goals and also provide a foundation for awarding promotion or raises. Additionally, you can also use the data to justify the termination of any staff member for poor work performance.
4) 360-degree feedback 360-degree feedback appraisal method provides a chance for all employees to submit their views and contribute towards the business goal. Under this system, an employee is rated by his/her subordinates, superiors, peers, and even clients and customers. As an employee is evaluated from all the sides it is called ‘360-degree feedback’.
Under this method, a questionnaire is prepared which contains aspects such as teamwork, leadership qualities, goal orientation, motivation level, adaptability, etc. and the relevant person is asked to fill this questionnaire – albeit anonymously. The feedback helps employees to gain insight on how other employees perceive their work and motivates them to work hard to realize the company’s objectives.
5) Competency on a scale This is one of the most commonly used employee performance evaluation technique. Under this method, the individual’s performance in various areas of job duties is graded on a scale. A wide range of criteria, including productivity, customer service, teamwork, quality of work, concern for safety, etc. are evaluated. This method can be accomplished with letters or numbers and it usually consists of a range, moving from unsatisfactory to outstanding. This method also allows employers to simultaneously evaluate several employees.
Considering the importance of Employee performance evaluation, it has become necessary to have an efficient Employee evaluation software in place to provide a competitive edge in the ever-changing business environment. With AssessTEAM, you can control how employees are to be evaluated based on the job profile and also as per the needs of your organization.
