We all are aware of different appraisal systems that are used to evaluate the skills and performance of staff. Well, appraisals develop the skills of an employee by improving the organizational performance of the employee. 360degree performance appraisal is one of those appraisals that improve the managerial effectiveness by conducting an assessment of the overall improvement in the performance of the employee and developmental needs of the company. It is a multi-rated feedback process from an employee and its colleagues and fellow workers. It is multi-source feedback or multi-source assessment process through which the employee’s subordinates and supervisors can provide a self-evaluation, as well as a self-evaluation by the employee themselves is gathered. In a 360 degree performance appraisal, an employee’s work for a certain time period is over the discussion and is analyzed as well as criticized, let say for over a year. The process is very unique from different processes. It often requires co-workers feedback as well. So, it may hold the co-workers, also subordinates, instead of the supervisor only.
Therefore, one can say that this is a systematic evaluation of the work performance of the employees in an enterprise. It will help the organization to expand and grow in statistics of the profit graph using this method. The method is considered very unique. Also, it will help in data maintenance of the system of the organization. It will assist and control the decisions based on salary packages. Affirmative outcomes for an employee can lead to an increase in salary or pay structure. We cannot easily analyze the benefits or losses behind a certain input unless we see the physical outcomes ourselves. But, 360 degree performance appraisal will help us to map the strengths and weaknesses of the resources that have been input and can rightly place a person at the most appropriate post that he or she deserves. That will regulate a justice within the system. It is also important to understand the probable interests of the employees of your organization and what they can do to work more productively for you in future development. This feedback will assist the manpower in that institute to work better as it will enhance their performance from that feedback at a given point of time. 360 degree performance appraisal will help you get hold of good employees for your system as you can know and track the work performances of a good employee regularly. Hence this unique process will assist the team to analyze and keep hold of the training programs for his faster promotion. HR managers will get an easy scale to measure the strengths and weaknesses of the employees selected by them. So, the process is really crucial in validating the selection made by them. It makes them clear as to these strengths which is the need of the hour. Also, it can be clearly used for the later phases as a sample study for a future selection process.
Appraisal system not only helps in merit rating but also for good pay and bonus for that individual as well. It will mark you at a spot from where a good compensation program can be chalked out. A system which has good pay, bonuses, variable allowances and benefits is predominantly dependent on these performance appraisals. It helps in deciding promotion programs for the competing employee. From this process, people who are actually not working or are not productive or cannot meet the company’s deadlines can be easily dismissed. This will keep the mass working and productive. All the rest inefficient workers can also be demoted from the company. At the same time, one’s interests and talent can be recognized and appreciated. There are a lot of appraisal processes for assessing these. 360 degrees performance appraisal is one of these effective tools.
An appraisal can be recognized as a motivational tool for the employees that will keep them exciting and challenging to prove themselves at all the points of competition. Ultimately, it will add to the benefit by giving bigger output. By setting standards to achieve the targets, the employees of the organization can be motivated to perform as well as to develop their performances accordingly in the future. I short, both employee and the company are at the benefits.
There are different methods linked to the 360 appraisal method. They are:
Rating Scale Method: It is the most common method used by almost all enterprises for the assessment of the employee’s work. A scale is created, numbered from 1 to 10. The factors used to judge in this type of method are characters or traits like attitude, performance, regularity as well as accountability of the person. Everyone will be numbered within 1 to 10 on the scale and based on that numbering you will be rated and judged. Innumerable telecommunication companies in India are using this method in the appraisal. It is helping them to evaluate their employees effectively. The competent is also assessed according to its nature of the job, workload and output he or she has to provide to the company. The ratings given to the employee are summed up at the end. The one employee who scores the most is regarded as the best performer than the employee who has a descending score.
Essay Appraisal Method orFree Form Method: It provides superior details of manpower’s traits. Because of this, it will help the supervisor to have a detailed description of its manpower’s performance. This will include supporting documents of the performance. However, the process can also be unfair. It can lead to influencing the supervisor. However, the rater under this method can be found using a rating scale method also to rate the weaknesses and strengths of its employee. It will lead to better validation of his appraisal. This method is very time consuming. It requires the supervisor to collect a lot of details and documents before rating the competent and this takes up a lot of time. Hence, the free form method is a non-quantitative evaluation method used in the appraisal process.
Ranking Method: All employers at the same job level or work level are compared and judges. The supervisor or the rater looks for competent of same job level and workload and rates them in the most effective way. The manager compares the performance of employees with other employees by rating them with different categories like in excellent category or average/ below average/poor categories and so on. This process is good when a decision is made for the most deserving or the best worker, who has to be promoted, which employee is being laid off, for a given period. The circumstances become easy when the ranking method comes in the hands of HR Managers for the most appropriate and correct evaluation.
There are innumerable rating methods in 360 degree performance appraisal and different companies find their most appropriate ones for ranking these employees. These motivational tools used, have enhanced the working performance of employees. The productivity of the workforce has accelerated to great heights. Therefore, it has laid a positive effect on our economy.