Performance appraisals are a useful and necessary tool for maintaining a prosperous workforce. Completing this process incorrectly, however, can be just as detrimental as not attempting one at all. It’s important to be aware of the common errors made during the performance appraisal process and how assessments can help so you can avoid falling victim to those same errors.
Halo Effect/ Single Deficiency Bias
An evaluator may be so focused on one positive characteristic or trait that they incorrectly judge a person’s performance to be higher than it actually is—this is called the halo effect. On the other hand, an evaluator may be too focused on a candidate’s deficiency to give an unbiased performance review, causing their scores to be lower than they should be—this is a single deficiency bias. An assessment is able to evaluate a candidate’s performance without any biases affecting the results.
No Baseline
A candidate’s results must be compared to a baseline in order to understand where their performance levels lie. With assessments, you can measure your top performers and use those results to see if the rest of your team is performing up to your standards.
Ignoring the Whole Timeline
Some performance reviews only focus on a short time span, making the outcomes less reliable. Assessments focus on the candidate’s performance over a longer time frame, providing a more accurate representation of their performance on the job in general rather than just their performance in the last few months.
No Direction
Evaluating your employees’ performance is only half the battle. The information you obtain is only useful if you know how to act on it. Our assessments not only illustrate an employee’s performance, but they also include pointers on what to do with that information to help the employee make improvements.
When executed correctly, a performance appraisal can be one of the most useful ventures for your business. Make sure you’re maximizing the success of this process by using the best tools to get the best results.
