Performance Appraisal, Limitations of

Performance Appraisal, Limitations of advert image shown if present

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Appraisals do need to be carried out in a well-considered manner, otherwise negative perceptions about them will often be aired by employees. Limitations, and disadvantages, might include some of the following:
1. They can be seen as a tick-box exercise, without any medium to long term interest by managers or measurable benefits by an employee. If feedback and actions are limited, then the impact on the employee’s future performance can be negligible, resulting in a lack of motivation or benefit seen from an appraisal.
2. They can be undertaken without adequate preparation time, for both manager and employee, thereby being seen as rushed and of little importance.
3. If an employee feels there they have had been limited or very negligible involvement and it has been mostly a one-sided process lead and driven by the manager then this will not adequately capture or reflect the employee’s requirements.
4. Bias might be reflected by managers and documented without the approval of an employee, who is intimidated or coerced into signing an appraisal form which doesn’t reflect their true feelings or understandings.
5. Consistency of appraisals can vary within an organisation, with questions of reliability, robustness and validity being asked by employees.
6. The appraisals can be relatively subjective, being influenced more by opinion and perception of the manager, rather than objective well-informed decisions.
7. There can be a lack of praise and recognition within appraisals, with too much focus on problems, actual or perceived, by managers, as well as too much talking and little active listening by managers.
8. They can be seen as time consuming and less of a priority than other day-to-day work activities, often being carried out when time permits, thereby reinforcing a perception of them not being particularly important.
9. There can be too much attention to past performance, creating a more backward-looking appraisal, rather than being forward looking and discussing future potential and progress.
10. Where they are carried out at irregular, ad hoc, intervals this can reinforce perceptions of them not being particularly important. The timeliness of appraisals may not align with other organisational objectives, thereby missing being able to influence some outcomes, for example training budgets.