Performance appraisal is one of the most common management practices around. But I’m always surprised that so few people know the answer to the simple question, “What is a performance appraisal?”

Here’s the answer: A performance appraisal is a formal record of a supervisor’s opinion of the quality of an employee’s work.

The operant word here is opinion. A performance appraisal records the opinion of Harry’s boss about just how well Harry has performed over the past year. A performance appraisal isn’t a document that can be empirically tested and proven. It’s not a negotiation between the manager and the individual to come up with something that both agree on. It’s a record of the manager’s judgment about how well the individual is performing.

Of course that opinion needs to be supported by facts. It must be objective. But one of the requirements of leadership is that the leader must assess just how well each of his or her people has done. And that’s what a performance appraisal is — a record of the opinion of the leader about just how well each team member has performed.

About the Author

Dick Grote is one of America’s most successful and best-known authors, consultants, and business keynote speakers on employee performance management consulting. He is the Chairman and CEO of Grote Consulting Corporation – www.GroteConsulting.com. 

Here’s why comparing an organization’s 5-level rating scale to the A-B-C-D-F grading system used in schools is wrong. A school district can’t exercise any selectivity in choosing its students. They can’t choose to accept some kids (the smart ones, for example) and reject others (the dull ones). The school has to accept every kid who lives in the school district.  

Organizations aren’t like that. They don’t hire people at random — every tenth applicant, for example. And they don’t promote people at random. They hire and promote the best talent they can find. Companies exercise a great deal of selectivity. So a middle rating in the performance appraisal system of a company with tough and demanding standards isn’t comparable to being a C student in school.  

If you want a good analogy for what a middle rating represents, think about shooting par in golf. Par doesn’t mean perfect. Par also doesn’t mean average or mediocre or middle-of-the-road, run-of-the-mill. What par represents is the play that’s expected of an expert. A pro golfer can often do better, but par represents expert play. The same thing is true in companies — the middle rating represents the performance and behavior of an expert.

About the Author

Dick Grote is one of America’s most successful and best-known authors, consultants, and business keynote speakers on employee performance management consulting. He is the Chairman and CEO of Grote Consulting Corporation – www.GroteConsulting.com.