Q.1. Why an organization evaluate employee performance.
Related Question -
Q. How does performance relate to motivation. (AKTU. 2009 - 10)
Ans. There are many uses and goals for performance appraisal, the most common include determining salary increases, making promotion decisions, providing employee feedback and training, making termination decisions, and conducting personnel research.
Determining Salary Increases: -
A Job’s worth is determined by many factors, including the degree of responsibility and level of education required to perform the job. But the difference in compensation between two individuals within the same job is a function of both tenure and job performance. That is, it would not seem fair to pay a poor-performing employee the same amount as an excellently performing one. Thus, one important reason for evaluating employee performance is to provide a fair basis on which to determine an employee’s salary increase. If performance appraisal results are to be used to determine salary increases, a numerical rather than narrative format is probably needed.
Making Promotion Decisions: -
Another reason for evaluating performance is to determine which employees will be promoted. Although it would seem only fair to promote the best employee, this often does not occur. For example, the policy in some organizations is to promote employees with the most seniority. This is especially true of organizations whose employees belong to unions. Even though promoting employees on the basis of performance or tenure seems fair, it may not always be smart. The best employee at one level is not always the best at the next level. Promoting the best or most senior employee often results in the so-called Peter Principle - the promotion of employees until they reach their highest level of incompetence. If performance evaluations are used to promote employees, care should be taken to ensure that the employee is evaluated well on the job dimensions that are similar to those of the new position.
Providing Employee Training and Feedback: -
By far, the most important use of performance evaluation is to improve employee performance by providing feedback about what employees are doing right and wrong. Even though employee training should be an ongoing process, the semiannual performance appraisal review is an excellent time to meet with employees to discuss their strengths and weakness. But more important, it is the time to determine how weaknesses can be corrected.
Another use of performance appraisal data is in training-needs analysis, If many employees score poorly on a performance appraisal dimension, an increase or change in training is probably necessary for all employees. If only a few employees have low scores, training at an individual level is indicated. Thus, performance appraisal can provide useful information about an organization’s strengths and weaknesses.
Making Termination Decisions: -
Unfortunately, providing feedback, counseling, and training to employees does not always increase performance or reduce discipline problems. When performance management techniques are not successful, the results of a performance review might suggest that the best course of action is to terminate the employee.
Conducting Personnel Research: -
A final reason for evaluating employees is for personnel research. Eemployment tests must be validated, and one way this can be done is by correlating test scores with some measure of job performance. To do this, however, an accurate and reliable measure of job performance must be available. The same is true in evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. To determine effectiveness, an accurate measure of performance must be available for use in determining whether performance increases as a result of training.
Although not the most important reason for evaluating employee performance, personnel research is still important, especially in organizations where union contracts forbid the use of performance evaluations in personnel decisions. In those situations, performance evaluations are still needed for effective personnel research.
Q.2 How we can motivate employee to attend the training.
Ans. Motivating Employees to Attend Training: -
The most obvious way to “motivate” employees to attend training is to require them to attend training “on the clock.” However, the majority of training opportunities are optional, and 10% of training opportunities take place on the employee’s own time. Here are some strategies to motivate employees to attend training:
- Relate the training to an employee’s immediate job. Employees are more likely to attend when the material covered in training will directly affect their immediate job performance. For example, employees would be more motivated to attend a training session on a computer program that the organization will begin using in two weeks than a training session on “Future Trends in Office Automation.” Thus, training should be provided “just in time” rather than “just in case.”
- Make the training interesting. Employees are more likely to attend when they know they will have a good time as well as learn something useful.
- Increase employee buy- in. When employees play a role in choosing and planni†ng the types of training offered, they are more likely to attend. Baldwin, Magjuka, and Loher (1991) found that employees given a choice about training programs were more motivated than employees not given a choice. Employees given a choice, but then not given the program they chose, were the least motivated.
- Provide incentives. Common incentives for attending training include certificates, money, promotion opportunities, and college credit. Microsoft increased employee participation in voluntary training by 2,000% when it created a program, “Ready, Set, Go,” in which employees who participated in voluntary training received points that could be exchanged for merchandise, travel, and gift certificates (Rank, 2004).
- Provide food. Medeco Security Locks in Salem, Virginia, has optional monthly training sessions in which a topic is presented while the employees eat lunch provided by the company. Consultants Bobbie Raynes and Ge Ge Beall both have used free pizza as incentives to get employees to attend short training sessions during lunch or dinner.
- Reduce the stress associated with attending. Frequently, employees want to attend training but don’t because they can’t afford to take time away from their scheduled duties. To encourage employees to attend training, organizations should provide workload reductions or staffing assistance.
