First-Time Performance Appraisal: How Can We Create a Simple Self-Appraisal Format for All Employees?

Hi Everybody,

My organization is going ahead with Performance Appraisal for the first time. If you could please help me with some formats where we have self-appraisal. Considering certain facts like the organization has a mixture of either very high or low and average experience and professional employees, so the understanding of the appraisal mechanism is very less. Also, the KRAs are not well defined. We are looking for a simple format of Self-performance Appraisal where we could make every employee understand and help and also gauge the performance in a right way. Kindly help me with some formats.

Regards,
Sangita

Hi Sangita, Who else will be conducting the appraisal of an employee? –their manager? –peers? The answer to this will impact on how the form will look.
You say KRAs are not well defined. What about KPIs? Do you want to assess achievement of measurable targets? Or do you just want to assess competencies/skills/behaviors?
And why do you want the appraisee to self-assesses? What is your objective here? Answers to these questions will help clarify what format is best for your company.
Vicki Heath
Human Resources Software and Resources
http://www.businessperform.com

Hi,

Before designing the appraisal format, I suggest conducting an appraisal awareness campaign. In this campaign, try to convey what management wants to focus on by implementing the appraisal system. Once this is over, then gather self-assessments from individual employees. This will give you a fair idea of how they perceive the appraisal process. Additionally, you will be able to draw conclusions on how to bridge the gap between management's expectations and the employees' current state.

There are various formats available, but you will be able to devise one according to your requirements that is realistic and fair.

Regards,
Jitendra

Hi Sangita,

I think the first and foremost thing when conducting the Performance Appraisal is setting the objective so you know what you are planning to achieve. Based on the objectives only, you have to consider the Performance Appraisal criteria and standards, and accordingly, you can choose the PE method, etc. Designing the Performance Appraisal format should be decided based on what you are planning to achieve through the appraisal.

Dear Sangita,

Performance appraisal system/forms would need the following:

1. Job descriptions/key performance indicators (functional/job areas for building measurement yardstick)

2. Key result areas (performance areas that each department expects)

3. Goals set/to be set (to measure achievement)

4. Job traits/characteristics (attributes required to perform well on the job)

Performance appraisal system would generally depend on:

1. Industry & business type you are in (mfg., global, services, et al)

2. Type of employees, their skill requirements

3. Education level of employees

4. Number of employees/span of control

5. Organizational structure and reporting relationship (one-on-one/matrix, project-based, structurally flat/pyramid, etc.)

6. Organizational culture/openness/conservative/dynamic/type of entrepreneurship (family/corporation/partnership/associate/Directorial, etc.)

Depending on the above, you can follow any of the following and more:

1. Point rating PA system (preferred weighted average system)

2. Factor comparison PA system

3. Forced choice PA system

4. Forced distribution PA system

5. CR PA system

6. 180-degree PA system

7. 360-degree PA system

8. Assessment Centre

9. MBO (Management by Objectives), etc.

You may add a Goal-setting form, and for managerial senior levels, a self-assessment form to be appended to the main form. Depending on the structure, seniority, and total number of employees in your organization, you may suggest these forms. But, again, you may need to design separate forms for a separate cluster of employees based on their levels in the hierarchy or even based on their designations/responsibilities.

The best approach for you may be to design a very basic form to primarily solicit/collect the KPIs, KRAs, and set-goals/positional descriptions. Once you get this information for each position/department, you can proceed to attempt the most appropriate PA forms/system. Do consult department heads on this as they have value input on specific measurement needs.

Hope this helps.

Rahul Kumar

Dear Sangitha,

If you are conducting the performance appraisal for the first time, conduct an awareness or orientation for the employees about the appraisal. This will help them better understand the system.
After developing the objectives of the performance appraisal system, divide the total PA system into a few major areas like:
1. Job responsibilities i.e. Tasks vs achievements
2. Competencies/behavioral skills.
Also, provide guidelines for the appraiser within the system itself.
The appraisal system generally depends on a few indicators like Participation (which is usually based on the job description of the employee), Coordination, Implementation of Planning, meeting deadlines, recurring tasks, etc. You can also include indicators for accountability.
The indicators vary from company to company.

All the best.

Regards,
Hasini

Hi Sangeeta,

I am attaching an appraisal form format for your reference. I hope this gives you a fair idea of the appraisal format. However, there are many more things that you need to put in place before actually performing the appraisal. Employees should be well aware of the following:
1) the criteria used for their appraisal,
2) their roles and responsibilities,
3) the expectations of their seniors from them.

A one-on-one appraisal session with their immediate senior or appraising authority needs to be conducted. First of all, you need to decide on the appraisal process to follow, i.e., 180-degree appraisal or 360-degree appraisal. Finally, you need to define an appraisal evaluation form for all employees to be filled by HR after reviewing their appraisal forms submitted by the appraiser and the employee's self-appraisal form.

Neha :)

Hello Sangita,

Currently, most of the companies are using one of the following Performance Appraisal Methods:

1) 360 Degree Appraisal Method
2) Rating Scale Method
3) Management by Objective Method

Under the 360 Degree appraisal method, the employee is rated from all angles, i.e., by the superiors, subordinates, peers, suppliers, distributors, customers, and clients.

Under the Management by Objective method, the employee's goals are set mutually by the employee and the management. The employees are then rated based on the accomplishment of these goals.

In the Rating Scale method, each employee trait or characteristic is rated on a scale that usually has several points ranging from "poor" to "excellent" (or some similar arrangement). The traits assessed on these scales include employee attributes such as work quality, cooperation, initiative, punctuality, and technical competence, among others. The selected traits should be in some way relevant to the appraisee's job.

Here, I am attaching a performance appraisal form with 7 performance factors/employee traits (i.e., Job Knowledge, Work Quality, Work Rate, Communication, Interpersonal Skills, Policy Compliance, and Attendance), wherein each factor is to be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 (1-very poor, 2-poor, 3-competent, 4-good, 5-exceptional). Based on the ratings, an employee can be rewarded.

Hope the information is useful to you.

Regards,

Venkat

Hi,

I am sending one performance appraisal. Please download it.

Regards,
Srinivas Reddy

Hi all,

Our organization is in the process of changing the PA procedure because we consider our PA system to be very lengthy and complicated. We are gathering feedback internally and externally on what changes need to be made. To achieve this, I have been assigned the task of meeting with HR personnel from other companies to learn about the procedures and forms they use.

Could you please assist me in drafting a questionnaire that includes most of the questions related to PA? By asking these questions, we aim to gather valuable insights.

Some questions that I have drafted include:

- What is your basic approach when dealing with competencies in PA forms?
- On what basis do you assign ratings for KRAs and competencies – together or only for KRAs?
- Which method does your company use – 360-degree feedback, rating scale, or Management by Objectives?

I urgently require more questions that I can ask. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi Everybody,

Please find attached a new format for performance appraisal. Kindly provide me with the appraisal format for collection and customer care.

Regards,
Ashish

Dear Ramesh,

This format is for you!