The performance evaluation is probably the tool for managing the most misused and abused in history. When asked, most human resource managers swear blind that it is their most important feature for the review of team members. The reality is that, overall, managers, supervisors and employees hate the thoughts of them and they rarely did. The HR professionals spend a lot of time whipping people into making them, while managers seek a variety of reasons for delaying the process.

The reason for this is that it is often a bad practice to carry people to undertake the performance evaluation for the wrong reasons and wrong perspective. This may end up putting the manager and employee on different “sides”. Evaluations are used to determine pay increases, who gets let go, which is promoted. Most often they are used to focus on what people have done wrong.

So what’s the real point of performance appraisals? Generally, the purpose of the practice is to:

• Provide performance feedback to employees.
• Identify training needs of employees.
• Document criteria used to allocate organizational rewards.
• Form the basis for personnel decisions: salary increases, promotions, discipline, etc.
• Provide an opportunity for organizational diagnosis and development.
• Facilitate communication between employee and administrator.
• Validate selection techniques and human resource policies to meet federal Equal Employment Opportunity

The most important goal or objective of the evaluation is to improve performance in the future, in both employees and team leaders. Managers can get valuable information from staff to help make their jobs more productive. Through the feedback in the evaluations of job performance units can identify problems that interfere with everyone, and take steps to address them. If there is a shift from affixing blame identify obstacles to the performance of the fear and terror associated with assessments will be deleted.

When managers put away the “blaming stick” in the assessments and pass an approach to dialogue, cooperation, the whole process can become more efficient and comfortable. Because it puts the manager and employee on the same hand, and work towards the same goals, getting better.

Performance appraisals are always difficult for everyone. While managers make an effort to be as objective as possible, there are always concerns about specific performance appraisals, and accuracy. When you evaluate your employees, it is wise to be aware of factors that may affect your evaluation. Here are some factors you should be aware, so you can review your evaluation process to ensure they are free from bias as possible.

Generalizing

Generalizing, or the halo effect is the tendency to rate someone high or low in all categories, depending on their performance in other areas. Results of performance appraisals, where the generalization occurs, do not help develop employees because they are inaccurate and imprecise in their overall performance.

Different evaluation standards

Terms of evaluation as fair, good, excellent, etc., are commonly used in performance evaluations, but managers should be aware that the meaning of these words differ from person to person. In any case, the use of these categories is not recommended, they are simply too vague and do little to provide sufficient information to assess individuals and help them develop.

Bias current and indulgent

Bias current is the tendency to evaluate people based on their most recent performances and ignore the previous behavior. Leniency bias occurs when the employee receives a rating higher than justified, it is usually accompanied by a rationalization of why this is appropriate.

Bias Opportunity

This happens because to ignore the notion that factors beyond the control of the employee may restrict or facilitate their performance. In the case of opportunity bias, credit or blame is given to the employee when the real cause of the performance was opportunity.

Errors false attribution

There is often a tendency in performance evaluation, assign success or failure to individual effort and capacity. So when someone does well, we give them credit, and when someone does less well, we suggest it is their fault. Although there is some truth in this, the reality is that performance is a function of both the individual and the system he or she works in. If these two factors are not taken into account, it will be more difficult to improve performance.

While performance reviews are generally feared throughout the organization, team leader of the employees, they are a necessary tool for the development. If conducted in a fair and appropriate information collected can be used to significantly improve the performance of the team.