Unit 3 Performance Measurement

Performance Appraisal Methods: Traditional and Modern Methods!

Each method of performance appraisal has its strengths and weaknesses may be suitable for one
organisation and non-suitable for another one. As such, there is no single appraisal method accepted
and used by all organizations to measure their employees’ perfor­mance.

All the methods of appraisal devised so far have been classified differently by different authors. While
DeCenzo and Robbins’^ have classified appraisal methods into three categories: absolute meth-ods,
relative methods and objective methods; Aswathappa has classified these into two categories past-
oriented and future-oriented.

Traditional Methods:

Ranking Method:

It is the oldest and simplest formal systematic method of performance appraisal in which employee is
compared with all others for the purpose of placing order of worth. The employees are ranked from the
highest to the lowest or from the best to the worst.

In doing this the employee who is the highest on the characteristic being measured and also the one
who is L lowest, are indicated. Then, the next highest and the next lowest between next highest and
lowest until all the employees to be rated have been ranked. Thus, if there are ten employees to be
appraised, there will be ten ranks from 1 to 10.

However, the greatest limitations of this appraisal method are that:

 (i) It does not tell that how much better or worse one is than another,
(ii) The task of ranking individuals is difficult when a large number of employees are rated, and
(iii) It is very difficult to compare one individual with others having varying behavioural traits. To
remedy these defects, the paired comparison method of perfor-mance appraisal has been
evolved.

Paired Comparison:

In this method, each employee is compared with other employees on one- on one basis, usually based
on one trait only. The rater is provided with a bunch of slips each coining pair of names, the rater puts a
tick mark against the employee whom he insiders the better of the two. The number of times this
employee is compared as better with others determines his or her final ranking.

Grading Method:

In this method, certain categories of worth are established in advance and carefully defined. There can
be three categories established for employees: outstanding, satisfactory and unsatisfactory. There can
be more than three grades. Employee performance is compared with grade definitions. The employee is,
then, allocated to the grade that best describes his or her perfor-mance.

Such type of grading is done is Semester pattern of examinations and in the selection of a candidate in
the public service sector. One of the major drawbacks of this method is that the rater may rate most of
the employees on the higher side of their performance.

Forced Distribution Method:

This method was evolved by Tiffen to eliminate the central tendency of rating most of the employees at
a higher end of the scale. The method assumes that employees’ performance level confirms to a normal
statistical distribution i.e., 10,20,40,20 and 10 per cent. This is useful for rating a large number of
employees’ job performance and promo ability. It tends to eliminate or reduce bias.

It is also highly simple to understand and easy to apply in appraising the performance of employees in
organizations. It suffer from the drawback that improve similarly, no single grade would rise in a ratings.

Forced-Choice Method:

The forced-choice method is developed by J. P. Guilford. It contains a series of groups of statements,

and rater rates how effectively a statement describes each individual being evaluated. Common method
of forced-choice method contains two statements, both positive and negative.

Examples of positive statements are:

1. Gives good and clear instructions to the subordinates.

2. Can be depended upon to complete any job assigned.

A pair of negative statements may be as follows:

1. Makes promises beyond his limit to keep these.

2. Inclines to favour some employees.

Each statement carries a score or weight, which is not made known to the rater. The human resource
section does rating for all sets of statements— both positive and negative. The final rating is done on the
basis of all sets of statements. Thus, employee rating in this manner makes the method more objective.
The only problem associated with this method is that the actual constructing of several evaluative
statements also called ‘forced-choice scales’, takes a lot of time and effort.

Check-List Method:

The basic purpose of utilizing check-list method is to ease the evaluation burden upon the rater. In this
method, a series of statements, i.e., questions with their answers in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ are prepared by the HR
department. The check-list is, then, presented to the rater to tick appropriate answers relevant to the
appraisee. Each question carries a weight-age in relationship to their importance.

When the check-list is completed, it is sent to the HR department to prepare the final scores for all
appraises based on all questions. While preparing questions an attempt is made to determine the
degree of consistency of the rater by asking the same question twice but in a different manner.

However, one of the disadvantages of the check-list method is that it is difficult to assemble, analyse
and weigh a number of statements about employee characteristics and contributions From a cost stand
point also, this method may be inefficient particularly if there are a number of job categories in the
organisation, because a check-list of questions must be prepared for each category of job. It will involve
a lot of money, time and efforts.

Critical Incidents Method:

In this method, the rater focuses his or her attention on those key or critical behaviours that make the
difference between performing a job in a noteworthy manner (effectively or ineffectively). There are
three steps involved in appraising employees using this method.

First, a list of noteworthy (good or bad) on-the-job behaviour of specific incidents is prepared. Second, a
group of experts then assigns weightage or score to these incidents, depending upon their degree of
desirability to perform a job. Third, finally a check-list indicating incidents that describe workers as
“good” or “bad” is constructed. Then, the check-list is given to the rater for evaluating the workers.

The basic idea behind this rating is to apprise the workers who can perform their jobs effectively in
critical situations. This is so because most people work alike in normal situation. The strength of critical
incident method is that it focuses on behaviours and, thus, judge’s performance rather than
personalities.
Its drawbacks are to regularly write down the critical incidents which become time-consuming and
burdensome for evaluators, i.e., managers. Generally, negative incidents are positive ones. It is rater’s
inference that determines which incidents are critical to job performance. Hence, the method is subject
to all the limitations relating to subjective judgments.

Graphic Rating Scale Method:

The graphic rating scale is one of the most popular and simplest techniques for appraising performance.
It is also known as linear rating scale. In this method, the printed appraisal form is used to appraise each
employee.

The form lists traits (such as quality and reliability) and a range of job performance characteristics (from
unsatisfactory to outstanding) for each trait. The rating is done on the basis of points on the continuum.
The common practice is to follow five points scale.

The rater rates each appraisee by checking the score that best describes his or her performance for each
trait all assigned values for the traits are then totaled. Figure 28-3 shows a typical graphic rating scale.

This method is good for measuring various job behaviours of an employee. However, it is also subjected
to rater’s bias while rating employee’s behaviour at job. Occurrence of ambiguity in design- mg the
graphic scale results in bias in appraising employee’s performance.

Essay Method:

Essay method is the simplest one among various appraisal methods available. In this method, the rater
writes a narrative description on an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, past performance, potential and
suggestions for improvement. Its positive point is that it is simple in use. It does not require complex
formats and extensive/specific training to complete it.

However, essay method, like other methods, is not free from drawbacks. In the absence of any
prescribed structure, the essays are likely to vary widely in terms of length and content. And, of course,
the quality of appraisal depends more upon rater’s writing skill than the appraiser’s actual level of
performance.

Moreover, because the essays are descriptive, the method provides only quali-tative information about
the employee. In the absence of quantitative data, the evaluation suffers from subjectivity problem.
Nonetheless, the essay method is a good start and is beneficial also if used in conjunction with other
appraisal methods.

Field Review Method:

When there is a reason to suspect rater’s biasedness or his or her rating appears to be quite higher than
others, these are neutralized with the help of a review process. The review process is usually conducted
by the personnel officer in the HR department.
The review process involves the following activities:

(a) Identify areas of inter-rater disagreement.

(b) Help the group arrive at a consensus.

(c) Ensure that each rater conceives of the standard similarity.

However, the process is a time-consuming one. The supervisors generally resent what they consider the
staff interference. Hence, the method is not widely used.

Confidential Report:

It is the traditional way of appraising employees mainly in the Government Departments. Evaluation is
made by the immediate boss or supervisor for giving effect to promotion and transfer. Usually a
structured format is devised to collect information on employee’s strength weakness, intelligence,
attitude, character, attendance, discipline, etc. report.

Modern Methods:

Management by Objectives (MBO):

Most of the traditional methods of performance appraisal are subject to the antagonistic judgments of
the raters. It was to overcome this problem; Peter F. Drucker propounded a new concept, namely,
management by objectives (MBO) way back in 1954 in his book.

The Practice of management. The concept of MBO as was conceived by Drucker, can be described as a
“process whereby the superior and subordinate managers of an organization jointly identify its common
goals, define each individual’s major areas of responsibility in terms of results expected of him and use
these measures as guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of each its members”.

In other words, stripped to its essentials, MBO requires the manager to goals with each employee and
then periodically discuss his or her progress toward these goals.

In fact, MBO is not only a method of performance evaluation. It is viewed by the Practicing managers
and pedagogues as a philosophy of managerial practice because .t .s a method by wh.ch managers and
subordinates plan, organize, communicate, control and debate.

An MBO programme consists of four main steps: goal setting, performance standard, compari-son, and
periodic review. In goal-setting, goals are set which each individual, s to attain. The superior and
subordinate jointly establish these goals. The goals refer to the desired outcome to be achieved by each
individual employee.
In performance standards, the standards are set for the employees as per the previously arranged time
period. When the employees start performing their jobs, they come to know what is to be done, what
has been done, and what remains to be done.

In the third step the actual level of goals attained are compared with the goals agreed upon. This
enables the evaluator to find out the reasons variation between the actual and standard performance of
the employees. Such a comparison helps devise training needs for increasing employees’ performance it
can also explore the conditions having their bearings on employees’ performance but over which the
employees have no control.

Finally, in the periodic review step, corrective measure is initiated when actual performance deviates
from the slandered established in the first step-goal-setting stage. Consistent with the MBO philosophy
periodic progress reviews are conducted in a constructive rather than punitive manner.

The purpose of conducting reviews is not to degrade the performer but to aid in his/her future
performance. From a motivational point of view, this would be representative of McGregor’s theories.

Limitation of MBO:

MBO is not a panacea, cure for all organisational problems.

As with other methods, it also suffers from some limitations as catalogued below:

(i) Setting Un-measurable Objectives:

One of the problems MBO suffers from is unclear and un-measurable objectives set for attainment. An
objective such as “will do a better job of training” is useless as it is un-measurable. Instead, “well have
four subordinates promoted during the year” is a clear and measurable objective.

(ii) Time-consuming:

The activities involved in an MBO programme such as setting goals, measuring progress, and providing
feedback can take a great deal of time.

(iii) Tug of War:

Setting objectives with the subordinates sometimes turns into a tug of war in the sense that the
manager pushes for higher quotas and the subordinates push for lower ones. As such, goals so set are
likely to be unrealistic.

(iv) Lack of Trust:

MBO is likely to be ineffective in an environment where management has little trust in its employees. Or
say, management makes decisions autocratically and relies heavily on external controls.

Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS):

The problem of judgmental performance evalu-ation inherent in the traditional methods of

performance evaluation led to some organisations to go for objective evaluation by developing a
technique known as “Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)” around 1960s. BARS are descriptions
of various degrees of behaviour with regard to a specific performance dimension.

It combines the benefits of narratives, critical incidents, and quan-tified ratings by anchoring a
quantified scale with specific behavioural examples of good or poor performance. The proponents of
BARS claim that it offers better and more equitable appraisals than do the other techniques of
performance appraisal we discussed so far.

Developing BARS typically involves five steps:

1. Generating Critical Incidents:

Critical incidents (or say, behaviours) are those which are essential for the performance of the job
effectively Persons who are knowledgeable of the job in question (jobholders and/or supervisors) are
asked to describe specific critical incidents of effective and ineffective performance. These critical
incidents may be described in a few short sentences or phrases using the terminology.

2. Developing Performance Dimensions:

The critical incidents are then clustered into a smaller set of performance dimensions, usually five to
ten. Each cluster, or say, dimension is then defined.

3. Reallocating Incidents:

Various critical incidents are reallocated dimensions by another group of people who also know the job
in question. Various critical incidents so reallocated to original dimensions are clustered into various
categories, with each cluster showing similar critical incidents. Those critical incidents are retained
which meet 50 to 80% of agreement with the cluster as classified in step 2.

4. Scaling Incidents:

The same second group as in step 3 rates the behaviour described in each incident in terms of
effectiveness or ineffectiveness on the appropriate dimension by using seven to nine points scale. Then,
average effectiveness ratings for each incident are determined to decide which incidents will be
included in the final anchored scales.

5. Developing Final BARS Instrument:

A subset of the incidents (usually six or seven per cluster) is used as a behavioral anchor for the final
performance dimensions. Finally, a BARS instru-ment with vertical scales is drawn to be used for
performance appraisal.

How BARS is developed can be exemplified with an example of grocery checkout clerks working in a
large grocery chain.

Assessment Centres:
The introduction of the concept of assessment centres as a method of performance method is traced
back in 1930s in the Germany used to appraise its army officers. The concept gradually spread to the US
and the UK in 1940s and to the Britain in 1960s.

The concept, then, traversed from the army to business arena during 1960s. The concept of assessment
centre is, of course, of a recent origin in India. In India, Crompton Greaves, Eicher, Hindustan Lever and
Modi Xerox have adopted this technique of performance evaluation.

In business field, assessment centres are mainly used for evaluating executive or supervisory potential.
By definition, an assessment centre is a central location where managers come together to participate in
well-designed simulated exercises. They are assessed by senior managers supple-mented by the
psychologists and the HR specialists for 2-3 days.

Assessee is asked to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, simulations, and role playing which
are essential for successful performance of actual job. Having recorded the assessee’s behaviour the
raters meet to discuss their pooled information and observations and, based on it, they give their
assessment about the assesee. At the end of the process, feedback in terms of strengths and
weaknesses is also provided to the assesees.

The distinct advantages the assessment centres provide include more accurate evaluation, mini-mum
biasedness, right selection and promotion of executives, and so on. Nonetheless, the technique of
assessment centres is also plagued by certain limitations and problems. The technique is relatively costly
and time consuming, causes suffocation to the solid performers, discourages to the poor performers
(rejected), breeds unhealthy competition among the assessees, and bears adverse effects on those not
selected for assessment.

360 – Degree Appraisal:

Yet another method used to appraise the employee’s performance is 360 – degree appraisal. This
method was first developed and formally used by General Electric Company of USA in 1992. Then, it
travelled to other countries including India. In India, companies like Reliance Industries, Wipro
Corporation, Infosys Technologies, Thermax, Thomas Cook etc., have been using this method for
appraising the performance of their employees. This feedback based method is generally used for
ascertaining training and development requirements, rather than for pay increases.

Under 360 – degree appraisal, performance information such as employee’s skills, abilities and
behaviours, is collected “all around” an employee, i.e., from his/her supervisors, subordinates, peers
and even customers and clients.

In other worlds, in 360-degree feedback appraisal system, an employee is appraised by his supervisor,
subordinates, peers, and customers with whom he interacts in the course of his job performance. All
these appraisers provide information or feedback on an employee by completing survey questionnaires
designed for this purpose.
All information so gathered is then compiled through the computerized system to prepare individualized
reports. These reports are presented to me employees being rated. They then meet me appraiser—be it
one’s superior, subordinates or peers—and share the information they feel as pertinent and useful for
developing a self-improvement plan.

In 360 – degree feedback, performance appraisal being based on feedback “all around”, an em­ployee is
likely to be more correct and realistic. Nonetheless, like other traditional methods, this method is also
subject to suffer from the subjectivity on the part of the appraiser. For example, while supervisor may
penalize the employee by providing negative feedback, a peer, being influenced by ‘give and take
feeling’ may give a rave review on his/her colleague.

Cost Accounting Method:

This method evaluates an employee’s performance from the monetary benefits the employee yields to
his/her organisation. This is ascertained by establishing a relationship between the costs involved in
retaining the employee, and the benefits an organisation derives from Him/her.

While evaluating an employee’s performance under this method, the following factors are also taken
into consideration:

1. Unit wise average value of production or service.

2. Quality of product produced or service rendered.

3. Overhead cost incurred.

4. Accidents, damages, errors, spoilage, wastage caused through unusual wear and tear.

5. Human relationship with others.

6. Cost of the time supervisor spent in appraising the employee.

Appraisal interview

An interview in which the supervisor and subordinate review the appraisal and make plans to remedy
deficiencies and reinforce strengths

An appraisal typically culminates in an appraisal interview. Here, supervisor and subordinate review the
appraisal and make plans to remedy deficiencies and reinforce strengths. Interviews like these are often
uncomfortable. Few people like to receive – or give – negative feedback. Adequate preparation and
effective implementation are therefore essential.

Types of Appraisal Interviews

There are four basic types of appraisal interviews each with its own objective:
Satisfactory – Promotable is the easiest interview: The person’s performance is satisfactory and there is
a promotion ahead. Our objective is to discuss the person’s career plans and to develop a specific action
plan for the educational and professional development the person needs to move up.

Satisfactory — Not promotable is for employees whose performance is satisfactory but for whom
promotion is not possible. Perhaps there is no more room in the company. Perhaps he or she is happy as
is and doesn’t want a promotion. The objective here is to maintain satisfactory performance. The best
option is usually to find incentives that are important to the person and enough to maintain satisfactory
performance. These might include extra time off, a small bonus, additional authority to handle a slightly
enlarged job, and reinforcements perhaps in the form of an occasional well done!

When the person’s performance is unsatisfactory but correctable the interview objective is to lay out
and plan for correcting the unsatisfactory performance.

If the employee is unsatisfactory and the situation is uncorrectable you can usually skip the interview.
You either tolerate the person’s poor performance for now, or dismiss the person.

How to conduct the appraisal interview

Preparation is essential. Review the person’s job description, compare performance to the standards
and review the employee’s previous appraisals. Give the employee at least a week’s notice to review his
or her work, analyze problems, and gather questions and comments.

Find a mutually agreeable tem for the interview and allow enough time for the entire interview.
Interviews with lower level personnel like clerical workers and maintenance staff should take no more
than an hour. Interviews with management employees often two or three hours Be sure the interview is
done in a private place where you won’t be interrupted.

Guidelines: There are four things to keep mind when actually conducting the interviews:

1) Talk in terms of objective work data: Use examples such as absences, tardiness, quality records,
orders processed, productivity records, order processing time, accident reports, and so on.

2) Don’t get personal: Don’t say, you’re too slow in producing those reports. Instead try to compare the
person’s performance to a standard (These reports should normally be done within 10 days). Similarly,
don’t compare the person’s performance that of other people. (He s is quicker than you are).

3) Encourage the person to talk: Stop and listen to what the person is saying; ask open ended questions
such as What do you think we can do to improve the situation? Use a command such as Go on restate
the person’s last point as a question such as, you don’t think you can get the job done?

4) Don’t tiptoe around: Don’t get personal, but do make sure the person leaves knowing specifically
what he or she is doing right and doing wrong. Make sure before he or she leaves there is agreement on
how things will be improved and by when. Write up an action plan with targets and dates.

Overcoming the Problems of Performance Appraisal:

To overcome the appraisal problems, here are some tips that you might follow –

1. Turn the confrontation into discussion:

In most cases when an employee received poor rating, then it is obvious that he will be a bit agitated.

However, if you keep on giving him feedback on his performance from time to time, then he will be
aware of his performance as per company standards.

If someone is lagging in performance, then don’t wait till the end of the year to tell him or her where
they are lagging, instead inform them right away, so that they have the time to overcome it.

This way you will be able to avoid the confrontation to a great extent.

2. Link between the salary and performance:

If you perform well, then your salary will be increased accordingly.

It is a fact that we all are aware of, but the appraisal discussion is not all about salary, instead it is about
how the employee has performed and how much he has developed since the last time.

Therefore, no matter how much the employee shows interest in discussing his or her salary, you must
keep it aside and focus on the performance instead.

3. The appraisal must link to the job:

This is one of the most important things in the appraisal procedure. The performance rating must
directly relate to the job of the employee, nothing else matters.

It must be strictly about his daily performance and how it affected the business goals in a positive or
negative manner.

4. Development plans put into place:

If you do not put in a learning plan or a development plan, in front of the employee, then how will you
assess the performance?

In order to achieve a result or enhance performance, a proper plan is very important.

You must include development of skills in your plan along with the long term action and short term
action plan with specific objectives and goals.

5. Keep a note:

Note down the performance of the employee all throughout the year. This way you will be able to
discuss the shortcomings and the achievement of the employee during the appraisal discussion.
If you are not keeping a note of that and when an employee asks you the basis on which the rating has
been provided, you will be in a big soup. Therefore, track the performance on a daily basis.

Make sure that you do the performance appraisal in the correct manner, so that it yields the right fruit
for your company.

Unit 4 – Improving Performance

A person’s performance is a function of several factors, but perhaps it can be
boiled down to three primary concerns: • ability, • motivation, and •
environment.
Too often managers assume that poor performance is due to:
• First, lack of ability,
• Second, poor motivation, and
• Third, external conditions an employee faces.
Ironically, research also suggests that we tend to make just the opposite
attributions about our own performance. We first attribute poor performance to
external constraints such as bad luck or factors out of our control.
This can result in a negative feedback cycle if it’s not handled properly. Managers
who assume that employees are not motivated or not capable may begin to treat
them differently (perhaps supervising them too closely or watching for their next
mistake). This can decrease an employee’s motivation and cause him or her to
withdraw. Seeing this might confirm the manager’s initial belief that the
employee does not “measure up.” This “set-up-to-fail” syndrome can be self-
fulfilling and self-reinforcing.
Managing Ineffective Performance.
Once the sources of performance problems are known, a course of action can be
planned. This might involve providing training in areas that would increase the
knowledge and skills the employee needs to perform effectively. A transfer to
another job or department might give an employee a chance to become a more
effective member of the organization. In other instances, different ways to
motivate the individual might have to be found
Focus on Changing the Behaviour, Not the Person.
As hard as it might be to do, a supervisor has to try to separate the employee from the behaviour—it is
not the employee who is bad but his or her actions exhibited on the job.

One way to communicate this to employees is not to make suggestions about personal traits they
should change but instead to suggest more acceptable ways of performing.

For example, instead of focusing on a person’s “unreliability,” a manager might focus on the fact that
the employee “has been late to work seven times this month.”

It is difficult for employees to change who they are; it is usually much easier for them to change how
they act.

If the ineffective performance persists, it may be necessary to transfer the employee, take disciplinary
action, or discharge the person from the organization.

Not only is the ineffective behaviour likely affecting the manager and the organization as a whole, but it
is also probably affecting the person’s coworkers. Whatever action is taken, however, should be done
legally, fairly, and with an understanding of the feelings of the individual involved.

Performance Diagnosis
 Factors that Influences the Work Performance:
An employee’s performance in the office is influenced by a number of internal and external factors. A
person needs to receive a certain level of support from management and company leaders to do his
best work. He also must enjoy his job and come to work every day focused on his assignments and ready
to do his best work.

Personal Issues

If an employee is experiencing troubles at home, he may not be able to achieve optimal performance at
work. Factors such as marital and other family troubles, and financial problems can distract a person.
Health concerns, including medical conditions or struggles with substance abuse, can also monopolize
most of a person’s focus, so that he doesn’t have much left to give at work.

Job Suitability

When a person is well-suited for a job, she’s more likely to become a high performer than someone who
is not prepared to take on the role. A worker with the required skills and experience to perform the
expected duties is eager to excel at her job, and her performance often reflects this enthusiasm.

Motivation to Succeed

A company culture that recognizes and celebrates success motivates employees to work hard. When
achievements are recognized, either with monetary incentives, promotions or other rewards, a person is
encouraged to perform to his highest standards. Praise for a job well done makes a worker feel
appreciated and valued, which usually is reflected in his performance.

Working Conditions

Job performance depends highly on the working conditions under which the employee is expected to
perform. When a worker has plenty of time, appropriate equipment and necessary support to complete
an assignment, he’s better able to produce high-quality work. However, when he’s given inadequate
conditions to work with, the results can be less than stellar.

Job Training

An employee should receive appropriate training prior to beginning work at a new position and on an
ongoing basis thereafter. If he doesn’t receive initial training, he won’t properly learn processes that are
in place to complete work according to company standards. Similarly, offering continuing education
programs to a worker who has held the same position for a number of years allows him to keep up with
new practices in the field, helping him to keep his work at or above industry standards and company
expectations.

Performance Feedback

A worker relies on her supervisor to let her know if her work meets expectations. It’s the manager’s
responsibility to praise an employee for a job well done or let her know when her work needs
improvement. Without this valuable feedback, she will likely be confused on whether or not her
performance is at an acceptable level.
 Legal Aspects of Performance Appraisal
1. Legally defensible Appraisal procedures :
All personnel decisions should be based on a standardized performance appraisal
system.
Any performance appraisal process should be uniform for all employees within a
job group, and decisions based on those performance appraisals should be
monitored for differences according to race, sex, national, origin, religion, or age
of the employees. While obtained differences as a function of any of these
variables are not necessary illegal, an organization will have more difficulty
defending an appraisal system with ratings related to these variables.
All specific performance standards should be formally communicated to
employees.
All employees should be able to review their appraisal results.
There should be a formal appeal process for the rate to rebut rater judgments.
All raters should be provided with written instructions and training on how to
conduct appraisals properly to facilitate systematic, unbiased appraisal.
2. Legally defensible Appraisal Content :
Any performance appraisal content should be based on a job analysis.
Appraisal based on traits should be avoided
Objectively verifiable performance data( e.g. sales, productivity, not rating)
should be used whenever possible.
Constraints on an employee’s performance that are beyond the employee’s
control should be prevented from influencing the appraisal to ensure that the
employee has an equal opportunity to achieve any given performance level.
Specific job-related performance dimensions should be used rather than global
measures or single overall measures.
The performance dimensions should be assigned weights to reflect their relative
importance in calculating the composite performance score.
 3. Legally defensible documentation of Appraisal results :
A thoroughly written record of evidence leading to termination decisions should
be maintained (e.g. performance appraisals and performance counseling to advise
employees of performance deficit, and to assist poor performance in making
needed improvements)
Written documentation (e.g. specific behavioral examples) for extreme ratings
should be required and they must be consistent with the numerical ratings.
Documentations requirements should be consistent among the raters.
4. Legally defensible Raters :
The rater should be trained in ‘how to use an appraisal system.
The rater must have the opportunity to observe the rate first-hand or to review
important rate performance products.
Use of more one rater is desirable in order to lessen the amount of influence of
any one rater and to reduce the effect of basis. Peers, subordinates, customers,
and clients are possible sources.

Unit – 5 Employee Counselling

Employee Counselling – Introduction
Employee Counselling – Definitions Given by Different Authors and Experts: Wren, Webster, Robinson
and Strong

Counselling is a process and it is described as it provides help and support to the persons those who find
themselves in problems and they are not in a position to solve the problem of their own. The problems
may be faced in any area of life such as – personal, family, society, business, health and jobs. When the
problems are faced any area of life then it starts affecting adversely, psychology, health, relationship,
performance.

It creates a lot of stress and which is difficult to digest for a longer period. The need of help of some
body is required who can listen, guide, support and show the path to solve the problems. This is called
counselling.
So it can be said the counselling is the process of listening, guiding, supporting, consoling, advising and
showing the path to solve the problems of persons who are facing these problems. Anyone can face the
problems relating to his life, health, career, performance and jobs.

Counselling concept has been defined by experts as follows:

Wren is of the opinion that the “counselling is a personal and dynamic relationship between two
individuals — an older, more experienced and wiser (counselor) and a younger, less wise (counselee).
The latter has a problem for which he seeks the help of the former. The two work together so that the
problem may be more clearly defined and the counselee may be helped to a self-determined solution.”

Webster’s dictionary defines counselling as – “consultation, mutual interchange of opinion, deliberating

together”.

Robinson said that, “the term counselling covers all types of two person situations in which one person,
the client is helped to adjust more effectively to himself and his environment”.

Strong defined counselling as – “face-to-face relationship in which growth takes place the counselor as
well as the counselee”.

At a workplace the employees are interacting with different people from diversified background. It takes
a lot of pains taking efforts to adjust with other and work effectively. The employees are exposed to the
different situations in an organisation and performing various types of jobs at different times. They are
asked to follow certain rules, regulations, instructions, procedure while performing their duties.

These may be favorable to them or not but they have to follow during their jobs. The employees are
given various types of jobs to perform at different times as per the situation. They may have the skills to
perform the jobs or not. They cannot deny the work but face difficulties. Over and above they are to
perform as per the performance standards, targets, customers, expectations and cost reduction.

All these situations are creating pressure on employees. They are under stress and it affects their
mental, physical conditions, performance, and relationship, personal and family life. Other side some of
the employees not working hard and avoid the work and do not follow the rules of conducts are not
acceptable in the organisation.

The hard working employees are not in position to solve their problem of their own and hardly working
employees willingly avoid the work or create problems. They need the help of experienced person who
can help, support and guide them to solve problem. In this the supervisor or manager listen them
sympathetically, try to find out the causes of difficulties, suggest and guide them to solve the problem.

This process is called employees counselling. Time-to-time this technique has been used by HRD
manager to solve the problems of employees so that their performance and skills are improved. For
diversified working force it is becoming more and more popular because it helps a lot the employees to
solve the problems and adjust with the people of different cultures.

Employee counselling is a psychological technique and that is used in various forms. The main objective
of it is to support the employees by providing them advice, guidance, suggestions to solve the prevailing
problems and improve physical and mental conditions, performance and which can take many forms. It
is conducted with problem-solving approach by supervisors, managers or consultants.
Employee counselling is defined as a process which is initiated by the responsible manager or counsellor
for providing assistance to employees facing problems. It is conducted to listen, understand problems
and provide guidance, advices and suggest ways to solve them. It is mainly to provide job related,
personal and confidential help to those who are facing the problems.

If not done so then it might affect working, increasing difficulties, loss of job interest, accidents,
absenteeism, poor performance and productivity and poor relationship.

Employee counselling is a vehicle of communication to provide assistance in a practical and effective

way to the problem affected employees. Through this effort are put to get employees relieved from
difficulties and motivate them to utilize their potential for contributing in accomplishment of individual
performance and objectives of the organisation in the interests of all concerned.

Employee Counselling – Characteristics and Importance

In past the success of a company was attributed on traditional factors and these are becoming less
important in present time. The most important factor of success in present time is selection and
management of high quality workforce and it is very critical.

In present time, HR consultants and practitioners are busy in designing and developing new, better and
innovative techniques to attract, motivate and retain talented and high quality workforce. One of the
new techniques is employees counselling and it is gaining popularity.

Main Characteristics of Employee Counselling are:

(a) Service offered to employees.

(b) Service is conducted in organisation.

(c) Focus is on problems faced by employees.

(d) Objective of counselling is problem solution.

(e) Employee counselling serves all concerned.

(f) Employee counselling is a continuous process.

(g) Role of counsellor is important in counselling.

(h) Half knowledge is a dangerous thing, is completed through counselling.

Importance of Employees Counselling:

Through counselling the supervisor tries to speak to his subordinates, ensure a two-way communication,
and help them grow and develop in the organisation.

The various importance of employee counselling are listed as under:

1. It provides employees with an atmosphere where they can share and discuss their tensions, conflicts,
concerns, and problems with their supervisors.

2. It is a process of helping employees to realise their full potential by making them understand their
strengths and weaknesses.

3. Counselling provides employees with the reassurance and cour-age to face the problems confidently.

4. Releasing emotional tension is an important function of counselling. Release of tension may not solve
the entire problem but it removes mental blocks to the solution.

5. Counselling sessions also help employees to get an opportunity to understand the business
environment and set realistic goals for further improvements.

6. It even gives the employer an opportunity to understand the employee’s perspective and set mutually
agreeable goals for fu-ture.

7. It can even help the management decide about the need for train-ing and development programs to
sharpen the employees skills and increase their level of confidence on the job.

8. A good counselling session generally helps in winning the trust and faith of the employees.

9. It provides more autonomy to employees and positively reinforces their desirable behaviour and tries
to create conditions in which the employee is able to learn from his mistakes.

Employees Counselling – Top 4 Types: Performance, Disciplinary, Personal and Stress Management

The four types of employee counselling are:

Type # 1. Performance Counselling:

If the performance of an employee starts declining at the workplace, the need for performance
counselling arises. The counsellor should try to identify the underlying causes behind the employee’s
poor performance. The reasons could be office stress, unachievable deadlines, problems in
interpersonal relations with other employees, etc. After recognizing the problem, the counsellor can
advise about how to deal with it.

Type # 2. Disciplinary Counselling:

This type of counselling takes place when an employee’s behaviour falls short of the standards expected.
An employee may suddenly start picking up fights, become irritable, be absent from work for long, etc.
The counsellor should interview the employee and confront him about his behavioural problems.

He should try to analyze all the reasons that could be causing the behavioural lapses. An employee may
be frustrated because of personal problems; high absenteeism may be due to bullying by co-workers in
the office. The counsellor may give tips on how to face the situation and improve his behaviour.

Type # 3. Personal Counselling:

Workplace problems are not the only problems that employees face; personal and family problems also
affect their performance. Families and friends are integral parts of any human being’s life; tension in a
worker’s personal life affects his work performance adversely.
Personal problems could include sickness of a family member, marital conflicts, dysfunctional family life,
problem with children, family feuds, etc. The counsellor should lend a sympathetic ear to the
employee’s personal problems and support them in resolving them so that the employee is able to
concentrate on his job wholeheartedly.

Type # 4. Stress Management in Workplace:

Working in the modern job environment is very stressful with so many deadlines to meet and targets to
achieve. Employees may become anxious and tense due to their high pressure workload. This not only
affects their productivity on the job, but also their mental health.

It is the duty of the organization to take care of the employees’ well-being and provide them guidelines
for dealing with stress. Bigger organizations may engage experts for providing psychiatric counselling to
employees as part of employee welfare programmes.

Prerequisites of Employee Counselling

1. Listen and Show Confidence:

Do not ignore the employee problems as trivial and listen to them. Believe in their abilities, show
confidence in their work and tell them that the organization has a lot of expectations from them. Such
trust and confidence motivates the employees to resolve issues and perform better.

2. Focus on the Problem and not the Person:

However big or small the problem is, it is affecting performance and needs to be discussed. But
remember the real culprit is the problem and not the person. So, instead of focusing on the employee,
try to focus on understanding the problem.

3. Give Suggestions and Solutions:

After understanding the problem, try to help the person solve it. Take the employee’s opinion about the
ways the issue can be resolved. Analyse the various solutions and give suggestions. A discussion about
the solutions may actually help you figure out and eliminate the pain point.

4. Create an Action Plan:

Some problems may warrant a series of tasks to be performed over a period of time to be resolved.
Create action plans for yourself and the colleague. Clearly note down the actions that each party has to
perform. Show active involvement to make the team member feel comfortable with your initiatives and
motivate him/her to perform to the best of his/her abilities.

5. Follow up:

Follow up after regular intervals to see if the counselling has helped. It not only shows the genuine
interest in the well-being and performance of the team mate but also helps to identify gaps and other
issues. Moreover, follow up helps to evaluate the success of the action plan by HR Head.

Counselling, if done well, can produce spectacular results, in terms of improving employee morale and
productivity. However, when it comes to counselling co-workers, one has to be really careful and take
the working environment and current situation into consideration. Go with a genuine intention to help
and see how your counselling works wonders.

Process/Stages of Counselling Process:

1. Rapport/Relationship Building – Rapport building is the first step in counselling. It demonstrates such
essential skills as mirroring, tracking, pacing, attentive listening, and empathizing and presents such
tools as obtaining informed consent, using self-disclosure, reflecting client feelings etc.

2. Assessment/Problem Definition – The counsellor assesses the employee’s feelings, thoughts,

behaviours, and interpersonal dynamics. It involves asking the Counselee exploring questions.

3. Goal Setting – Third stage of the counselling process, involves focus on goal setting. It shows how goal
setting is a collaborative focus and demonstrates the use of the three Cs choice, change, and coping in
the process.

4. Intervention – It demonstrates establishing a plan for change, reviewing the goals set in the process,
and preparing for dealing with the problem

5. Termination – The counsellor assesses goal accomplishment, skills gained, available resources and
supports, and potential obstacles and looks at follow-up planning. It involves finding alternative ways to
help the Counselee.

Employee Counselling – Programmes: Components and Essential Conditions

Most of the leading organisations are interested in conducting counselling of employees because it is
manpower that contributes in success of the organisation. It is not possible to afford to work with
workforce under stress and lower motivation. It is needed to take proper care of employees so that they
are free from problems, work properly and maintain good relationship in the organisation.

It contributes finally in the progress of all concerned parties. It is the need of the hour to attract and
retain the skilled manpower. HR consultants and practitioners are focusing in designing more useful and
innovative tools for attracting and managing better employees. Due to this, popularity of employees
counselling is getting momentum day-by-day.

The organisation are designing and providing employees counselling programme for their employees
with the help of internal experts if they are having. If not then help of external experts or consultant is
taken for conducting employees counselling programme.

Components of Programme:

In employees counselling programme the different types of activities are involved as per the need of the
employees.

Due to this the major components or activities involved are different as mentioned below:

(i) Identification of Problems:

The first component of employee counselling programme is identification of problems of the employees.
The problems may be faced in different areas which are not yet identified. Different techniques have
been used for identification of problems such as – questionnaire, laboratory tests and training of
employees.

For instance, while conducting tests the problems of diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, etc., can be
identified. It helps to take the remedial action as early as possible. If the problems not identified timely
then the adverse effect will me more harmful for employees.

(ii) Educating Employees:

There are certain areas where the employees are involved in bad habits and the consequences are not
known to them For example, the employees are involved in drinking and smoking activities regularly.
The counsellor educates them regarding the bad effects on health, mind, financial conditions and family
relationship. It is provided with the help of lectures, videos and pictures. The objective is to educate
them and motivate them to take preventive steps in future.

(iii) Counselling of Employees:

In this the manager or consultant gets involved with employee who faces the problems. They interact
face-to-face and discuss the problems of employee. He tries to listen, understand and provides advice or
suggestions to solve the problems. It may be related to work performance, health, personal and marital
of employees. Through counselling service the employee is relived from the problems and condition of
employee improves.

(iv) Direction for Assistance:

In this programme when counsellor finds that it is not possible to solve the problem of his own then it
becomes necessary to refer or direct the employees to other experts or sources for assistance.

For instance, if an employee is facing hypertension problem and counsellor is not in position to solve
this, the employee is directed to take help of medical experts so that the problem can be solved at the
earliest. There may be many other such cases when help of other experts is sought for problem solution.

(v) Execution of Techniques:

In this activity the manager gets involved in implementation of the techniques or interventions so that
the problems can be solved or prevented so that in future it can be prevented. For instance, conducting
medical check-up, eye testing camps, nutrition programme, cleaning campaign, cooking of healthy food
in canteen or cafeteria of the organisation, etc., are execution of the activities. Such programmes are to
be conducted by the managers in the organisation itself.