Performance appraisal is necessary to measure the

performance of the employees and the organization to

check the progress towards the desired goals and aims.

The latest mantra being followed by organizations across

the world being – "get paid according to what you
contribute" – the focus of the organizations is turning to
performance management and specifically to individual
performance. Performance appraisal helps to rate the
performance of the employees and evaluate their
contribution towards the organizational goals. If the
process of performance appraisals is formal and properly
structured, it helps the employees to clearly understand
their roles and responsibilities and give direction to the
individual’s performance. It helps to align the individual
performances with the organizational goals and also
review their performance.

Performance appraisal takes into account the past

performance of the employees and focuses on the
improvement of the future performance of the
employees. Here at naukrihub, we attempt to provide an
insight into the concept of performance appraisal, the
methods and approaches of performance appraisal,
sample performance appraisal forms and the appraisal
softwares available etc. An attempt has been made to
study the current global trends in performance appraisal.

Self appraisal is an important part of the Performance

appraisal process where the employee himself gives the
feedback or his views and points regarding his
performance. Usually this is done with the help of a self
appraisal form where the employee rates himself on
various parameters, tells about his training needs, if any,
talks about his accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses,
problems faced etc.
TIPS FOR SELF – APPRAISAL

 Be honest
Always be truthful and honest while telling your
accomplishments or failures. Don’t exaggerate your
strengths and don’t hide your weaknesses. Don’t make
personal judgments for anybody.
 Do the preparation
 It’s always better to prepare yourself before the
meeting. Get all the lists in place, prepare all the
evidences and references.
 Be objective
Objectivity is important in self – appraisal. Don’t
exaggerate or downplay your achievements or
failures. Be specific and concise in your statements
and if possible support them with examples or
references or evidences with dates. For example: "I
responded to all queries within 48 hours" is better
than just saying "My customer service was good."

 Positive attitude
Have a positive attitude towards the whole appraisal
process. Be co-operative. Don’t hesitate from taking
the responsibility of your failures as well as the
achievements. Demonstrate enthusiasm to improve in
future and take all his suggestions calmly. Don’t
complain or demonstrate a negative attitude.

 Cover all the aspects

Apart from your strengths, weaknesses,
accomplishments and failures, express the
opportunities you would like have for your
 development and improvement. Suggest ways to
overcome the problems faced. Assess your
capabilities, behaviours and skills and competence.

 Seek future responsibilities

According to the assessment of the KSA’s according
to your job description, plan the short term and long
term for the next year. Try to look for tasks beyond
your current job responsibilities. This will help in
personal development as well as contributing to the
organizational productivity.

Self appraisal should ideally include the

accomplishments, the goals achieved, the failures,
and the personal growth (i.e. new skills acquired,
preparation for the future etc.), the obstacles faced
during the period, the efforts for removing them, the
suggestions, and the areas of training and
development felt by the employee.

Performance appraisal form provides the basis for the

performance review, providing the feedback to the
employees and the final rating of the employee. It also
facilitates various other HR decisions and career
development plans and decisions of the employees.
Therefore, performance appraisal from should be filled
with utmost care and objectivity.

The Performance appraisal form should be filled by the

immediate supervisor or manager of the employee in
order to ensure that the appraiser if fully acquainted with
the performance, responsibilities, targets and standards of
the employee. All the instructions and guidelines on the
appraisal form should be read and followed carefully.

 Be prepared with all the details of the performance,

the standards, job description and the past appraisals
of the employee.

 Clear and unambiguous description of the employee

performance should be given in terms of average,
above average, good and excellent performance.

 The focus should be on the employees’ behaviour

throughout the year and not just his recent
performance.
  Quantify the ratings, wherever possible, to ensure
easy comparability.

 Substantiate and support your rating, and attach all

the necessary documents (if required).

 Apart from the defined performance objectives and

results, discuss the related issues as well covering all
the aspects of the performance.

 When filling the appraisal form, be honest and

objective.

The most difficult part of the performance appraisal

process is to accurately and objectively measure the
employee performance. Measuring the performance
covers the evaluation of the main tasks completed and the
accomplishments of the employee in a given time period
in comparison with the goals set at the beginning of the
period. Measuring also encompasses the quality of the
accomplishments, the compliance with the desired
standards, the costs involved and the time taken in
achieving the results.
Measuring employee performance is the basis of the
Performance appraisal processes and performance
management. Accurate and efficient performance
measurement not only forms the basis of an accurate
performance review but also gives way to judging and
measuring employee potential.

For the purpose of measuring employee performance,

different input forms can be used for taking the feedback
from the various sources like the superior, peers,
customers, vendors and the employee himself. All the
perspectives thus received should be combined in the
appropriate manner and to get an overall, complete view
of the employees’ performance. Observation can also be
exercised by the superior to obtain information. Some
suggestions and tips for measuring employee performance
are:
 Clearly define and develop the employee plans of
action (performance) with their role, duties and
responsibilities.

 Organizational outcomes or the achievement of

organizational goals should also be kept in mind.
 Focus on accomplishments and results rather than on
activities.

 Also take note of the skills, knowledge and

competencies and behaviors of the employees that
help the organisation to achieve its goals.

 If possible, collect the feedback about the

performance of the employees through multi-point
feedback and self-assessments.

 Financial measures like the return on investment, the

market share, the profit generated by the performance
of the team should also be considered.
For an organisation to be an effective organisation
and to achieve its goals, it is very important to
monitor or measure its’ and its employee
performance on a regular basis. Effective monitoring
and measuring also includes providing timely
feedback and reviews to employees for their work
and performance according to the pre-determined
goals and standards and solving the problems faced.
Timely recognition of the accomplishments also
 motivates the employees and help to improve the
performance.

Measuring the performance of the employees based

only on one or some factors can provide with
inaccurate results and leave a bad impression on the
employees as well as the organisation. For example:
By measuring only the activities in employee’s
performance, an organization might rate most of its
employees as outstanding, even when the
organisation as a whole might have failed to meet its
goals and objectives. Therefore, a balanced set of
measures (commonly known as balanced scorecard)
should be used for measuring the performance of the
employee.
Writing performance appraisal involves creating a
document which has the summary of the every
employee’s performance over a period of time and a
snapshot of their observed strengths and weaknesses, and
the rater’s feedback that can be used for other purposes.

Writing Performance appraisal depend significantly on

the writer’s various abilities and a combination of other
factors. A rater or a manager needs :
 An objective rating method to assess an employee’s
performance, behavior, and skills and knowledge.
 All the relevant data related to the employee’s
performance, the standards, his job description.
 To observe and accurately recall the employee’s
behavior throughout the time period of the appraisal.

 Using meaningful, unambiguous and clear

language for the description in the document.

The written performance appraisal document should

ideally contain 3 basic sections:

Performance elements
A performance element is a general description of an
employee’s overall responsibility in a particular area
of work. Performance elements are basically the job
description of the employee clearly describing the
roles and responsibilities expected from him.

Performance standards
Performance standards are the expected or the desired
level of the tasks to be accomplished by the
employee.

Actual performance
This section records the data of the actual
performance of the employee, his accomplishments,
successes and failures, his on-the-job performance,
his strengths and weaknesses.
Plans for employee development
The developmental requirements (the training needs)
felt or found by the appraiser for the employee.

An overall rating

An overall rating for the employee’s overall

performance like satisfactory performance,
unsatisfactory performance, requires improvement
etc.

The common errors that creep in the writing the

appraisals and should be avoided are:

Halo effect:
Halo effect is the tendency of the rater to allow one
aspect of a man’s character to influence his overall
rating of the employee.

Central tendency
Central tendency is the tendency of the rater to give
average ratings to the employee without actually
appraising or condemning them.

Recent behaviour (the pitchfork effect)

As per the human nature, it is a common tendency to
rate the people on the basis of their moat recent
behaviour and forgetting the events and their
performance in the starting of the period.

Stereotyping an employee on the basis of the

performance of his/her team is another common
error.

Therefore, with proper preparation, training and

effort, writing appraisals can be converted from a
time consuming activity into a meaningful activity
for the employee and the organization.