How to Evaluate Employee Performance

The evaluation of an employee's performance is one of the most important jobs of the management of a company. It is a necessary step that they need to take in order to gauge which employees perform as per the standards set by the company and which employees take their work and their evaluations lightly.

It helps the company decide the steps that need to be taken to ensure that the employees perform and/or their future within the company. Hence, an employee evaluation is one of the most awaited and sometimes dreaded routines in an organization. This story will help you with some simple tips and techniques on how to evaluate an employee's performance.

Having a performance evaluation plan in order is beneficial to both, the evaluator and the one getting evaluated. It gives the evaluator a platform from which he can judge the working abilities of the person, and by extension, the compensation that the employee should receive.

The person getting evaluated gets to know what is expected from him, exactly where he needs to improve, and also what his strengths are. Hence, ideally, it is a two-way process which benefits both the parties. Given below are the basic steps towards evaluation of an employee based solely on his professional productivity.

The first thing that you need to do before you get to the evaluation of the employee is set the basic standards and norms down. A set of instructions should inform the employee about what exactly is expected of him. These standards are two-fold.

You need to set quantity standards as well as quality standards. Every organization's perception of quality can differ. So you have to make it very clear to the employees that you have a set way of working that they are required to follow.

On the basis of various parameters within the quantity and quality of their work, you have to evaluate them. While setting these standards and goals, make sure that they are realistic and can be achieved by your workforce.

Once you have laid down the ground rules about how you need the work to be done, you hand over the floor to the employees. Fix a stipulated time period for evaluation and during this period, watch them closely. The most important aspect of conducting an employee evaluation is to have a record of the entire time frame that has been chosen for evaluation.

Don't take for granted that you'll get time to review their performance in the last 10 to 15 days of a 2 month evaluation period. If you make an evaluation based on such reviews, it is not fair to the employee. And you might easily overlook some important tasks that an employee may have performed or underperformed.

Once you have all the matter for the evaluation ready, you begin reviewing and scrutinizing each and every single tiny detail of an employee's work. Remember, your evaluation is bound to affect not only the employee, but also the organization and in turn, you. Be honest with the reviewing. Be objective and unbiased.

Review the work to meet the technical and other specifications laid down at the onset of the evaluation process. Ideally, have different evaluators to assess the quantity and the quality of the work.

Quality should be assessed only by someone who has a thorough knowledge of the intricacies involved in doing the job and is also abreast with the latest advancements and techniques used for it.

After having reviewed in detail the performance of the employee comes the task of sitting down and actually formulating the evaluation. Most organizations have a set form to evaluate the employee's performance, on which they just need to make entries and print them out.

However, make sure that you have a verbal discussion with the employee about his strengths and weaknesses. Also, encourage the employees to discuss and share any grievances that they may have. Encourage suggestions and take those suggestions seriously and check how feasible they are.

While formulating the evaluation, use phrases that are simple, to the point and give a clear picture about the employee. There's no need for flowery and diplomatic language. Just give it to them and improving their work is up to them.

An interactive session to evaluate an employee's performance is the best kind. This is because both sides of the story are heard and spoken about. It gives a chance to tell the employee where there's scope for improvement and also tells the evaluator about what the employees need and expect from them. So it works out best for both the parties.