Tackling Bias in Performance Appraisals: How Can We Overcome Personal Prejudice?

Hi Everybody,

One of the major problems that we face in the performance appraisal system is the "Personal Prejudice" factor. In this type, the manager or the supervisor mainly rates the employees based on his personal likes and dislikes for the employees. Last year in the Employee Satisfaction Survey in our company, we saw major dissatisfaction of employees towards our current appraisal system wherein the result was that nearly 70% said that there was bias in the appraisal process.

I need some suggestions and guidance on how we should proceed to curb this problem in the appraisal system.

I look forward to the replies of the forum members.

Hi!

First of all, all the research associated with performance appraisal will always tell you that whoever receives a poor rating will feel that the process is biased. However, you can try:

1) 360-degree appraisal where a person is rated by his peers, subordinates, customers (both internal and external). The person then cannot say everyone around him is biased?

360-degree appraisal is a lengthy and costly process, so the organization can try implementing it first as a supplementary system to your current process.

I think you should try to experiment with the 360-degree system; it shall work. It always does in most situations.

Hi Melvin,

Thank you for your response. Almost 70% of the population in my organization says that the appraisal system is biased. When the majority of our population expresses concerns about bias, we need to address and rectify our processes. As for implementing a 360-degree appraisal, I have doubts about our ability to do so for all our employees due to the time and cost involved.

Is there another way we can address this problem? I would appreciate your prompt response.

Thank you.

If you have a problem with perceived bias, here are two other suggestions.

1. Train your managers in setting objectively measurable objectives.

2. For the attributes/competencies section of the appraisal (if you decide to keep with the attributes/competencies section), require managers and their direct reports to keep a diary of observed behaviors (both desired and undesired).

You can find some good articles on setting up and managing objective performance management systems on my webpage at http://www.businessperform.com/html/employee_performance_management.html

Les Allan Business Performance P/L - Managing for Performance http://www.businessperform.com

Dear Ranjeeta,

I think the problem with your current appraisal system is not the appraisal itself but the subjectivity and lack of transparency in the system. As with most organizations, objectivity and transparency are key to the acceptance of the appraisal system, but these elements are not present in most organizations.

In agreement with what Allan says, one way to deal with it is implementing an MBO system. Here, every employee lists down "SMART" goals in line with the organizational/departmental objectives. The number of goals is limited, measurable, and hence reduces bias. However, a "quota" system or a forced distribution (classifying people into top, middle, and poor performers forcibly despite good on-the-job performance) in the appraisal process will again cause heartburn.

I am attaching a project I did with a friend on performance appraisal, which contains sample MBO sheets. I hope it is useful.

Dear all,

Good morning to everyone. "Best success comes after the greatest disappointment." So never feel disheartened by failure. Have a nice day.

Regards,
Kulanthai Selvam.M
MBA GRU