Performance appraisal involves the regular evaluation of employees based on their quantity and quality performance. The practice is standard in most organizations, usually conducted by management though they consider it time-consuming for it involves a lot of work. Typically, the exercise’s primary objective is to measure employee performance; however, there are other objectives such as clarification of roles, improving communication, and provision of feedback. Therefore, appraisals impact the employee’s bonuses, promotion, merit pay, and the employee’s decision to exit the organization.
Furthermore, after reading the politics of performance appraisals, I concur with manager Max Steadman’s approach of assessment. Steadman’s evaluation aims to motivate and reward employees for influencing their future performance positively (cite). He emphasizes on the employees and his department to an extent he sometimes practices fine-tuning. Motivating employees is essential since it fosters them to believe in the organization and pushes them to commit to their work, thus improve work productivity. Managers should use appraisal systems that promote collaboration among workers and between workers and the organization for success since employee performance is the engine of the organization.
The underlying rationale of Steadman’s method of appraisal is motivation rather than performance. Besides, using evaluations as a motivational tool promotes employees’ desire to perform their work to achieve both personal and organizational goals (research gate). Moreover, it is hard for employees to improve their work performance without managerial incentives. Also, the motivation angel of evaluation eliminates the unhealthy competition among employees that results from the high-low rewarding system, an element that hinders effective communication and innovation. Overall, using a motivational appraisal system improves the worker’s performance worth and promotes collaboration creating room for growth and development of both the workers and the organization.