Alternative Performance Rating Systems

Nearly every aspect of business has a “gold standard”—a practice that’s considered the best of the best. But, all too often, those same standards become outdated or simply irrelevant for the times.

In HR, the “behavioral anchored rating system” (BARS), which works by assigning a numerical value to specific behaviors needed for individual job duties, is often considered king. BARS helps ensure that both the general and specific duties of an employee are assessed in a quantitative and qualitative way.

Although BARS is an industry-leading appraisal tool, the system has some significant drawbacks. BARS demands a time and financial commitment that many smaller organizations simply can’t meet. Supervisors sometimes find rating certain aspects of an employee’s performance difficult, since the listed behaviors do not always include the required actions of the employee—and re-development is challenging.

BARS may be deemed the best by many, but there are several alternatives to the traditional performance rating systems that may better fit your company:

Mentoring/Coaching Sessions

Some companies have scrapped performance reviews all together. In their place, the company works to match its employees with a career coach who can help solve problems one-on-one, and offer advice about best practices within the job. These coaches also try to target and fix an employee’s deficiencies. Often the coach is a respected leader within the organization, or a manager from another department.

The coach system works best when it’s an ongoing practice, optimizing both contiguous (ie. constant) and continuous (ie. with breaks between sessions) evaluations. Coaches may report back to the employee’s direct supervisor with evaluations and recommendations.

360-Degree Feedback Appraisals

Teamwork is a critical aspect in every organization, so utilizing the members of the team is considered an accurate and credible technique for conducting appraisals. Although not a new strategy, the 360-degree feedback appraisals allow the entire team, including peers, subordinate and superiors, to weigh in on the performance evaluations. Since these evaluations come from several different sources, employees often feel they are more accurate and credible.

According to a study by the National Fire Academy that examined the functionality of 360-degree feedback, employees are more likely to change their work habits in order to gain respect from their colleagues than they are from their supervisors.

Self-Appraisals

We all know that you are your harshest critic. That’s why self-appraisals work. Performance evaluations conducted by the employee can provide honest and constructive feedback to managers. Employees know where they have succeeded, and where they have run into obstacles (both internally and externally).

Utilizing self-appraisals often helps employees define clear and realistic goals for progress and improvement. But beware: employees have to be motivated to take the exercise seriously, and some overly confident employees may miss the mark completely, giving themselves much higher rankings than they deserve.

Peer Evaluations

Some organizations have moved to 100% peer-based evaluations. Taskforces of six to eight employees are selected to develop and implement the evaluation process. Peer reviews have a high level of acceptance within the working environment, and are viewed as stable, task-relevant and accurate.

Many systems also allow for open communications between task force members and employees. This creates a more worker-friendly environment by providing a safe and non-threatening forum to discuss grievances and other organizational concerns. Most peer review evaluations, however, do not affect pay raises or incentive bonuses.

Regardless of the evaluation system that your company implements, it's essential that employee feedback be taken seriously. Workers want to know if they are meeting expectations. They want to know where they can improve, and where they excel. They want to know what skills they need to develop or enhance. They want to know if, quite simply, they're doing a good job or not.

Clearly communicating employees' strengths and weaknesses creates a more productive and more efficient working environment.

Have you adopted a unique evaluation system that works for your company? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment or send us a message.

 

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