Performance is what we are all about. Our performance is our identity; it is because we perform that we are recognized, learn and grow. But the question that arises is: ‘how can it be judged whether or not a person is performing, or if s/he really is all about what the level of their performance says?’ It is for this purpose that there are certain performance evaluation tools. By using these, one can calculate and accordingly reward a person’s performance at the work place. Performance evaluation is quite a necessary and beneficial process which can help the organisation have an annual report of their employees’ work. It is beneficial because it helps in determining goals, stating expectations and boosting the employee’s morale to work efficiently ad be more productive. This article will provide you with some of the most used employee evaluation tools and the method of evaluation applied by each, to give you a better understanding of the process and get acquainted with it.

Employee Evaluation Tools

Rating Scales
Rating scales are one of the commonly used evaluating tools used in organisations. In this measuring scale, different attributes are listed down with 3 to 5 or more points given to the category. The evaluator is given a sheet and asked to evaluate and mark an employee based on his performance. But the problem with this method of evaluation is that the more vague the scale of attributes, the more biased the evaluator’s judgement can get. However, even after this disadvantage of the method, it is used at certain times because it is quick to complete and can be used to make evaluations on a quarterly basis so that the employees get a timely feedback. There is no problem in calculating the results also, as it is quantifiable in nature. It is a great tool to ideally define or segregate average from poor performance. Make sure that you set the scale to 3 points while evaluating multiple competencies and also remember to attach a blank writing space where evaluators can pen down the incidents that support the ratings.

Continuous Rating Scale
The continuous rating scale, as the name suggests, gives a continuous series of numbers like 0,1,2,3,4 ... which act like different degrees of performance. The evaluator can judge the employees on different degrees of performance, or to put it in a simpler way, on each aspect of the employee’s performance. Employees are then ranked on the basis of the total points that are added up to find out the overall performance of the employee. One reason why this rating scale is so popular is because of the simple mechanisms that it involves, making it easier for the management to assess many employees in a short time span. These scales are also economical as they have low design cost involved.

Long Answer Questions
In this method of evaluation, the employees need to go through a question answer session. They are asked open-ended questions, the answers of which are noted down by the evaluator, who rates the employees based on the answers given. This method is again a time consuming one and is also daunting for the employees, affecting their answers. It is a lot of work for the employer who can find it difficult to assess all the forms with the same objectivity. Apart from all the disadvantages and apprehensions attached to this form of evaluation, there are certain benefits for which it can be used. This method provides more qualitative information about each employee, giving a better insight into the employee’s perspective, role, the team that the employee works in and the company s/he belongs to.

Management By Objectives (MBO) Or Goal Setting Exercises
This method is more famous among the sales team or the departments that measure performance in numericals. In this method, both the supervisor and the subordinate of the department need to pen down their specific goal statements that are measurable, in order to create a visible commitment towards the goal. However, this form of evaluation can also lead to confusion and miscommunication about the expectation if the supervisor or the subordinate fails to be clear in their communication here. Another disadvantage that can be associated with this method is that it can initiate the employees to perform and attain quantity and not quality because numbers are the deciding factor. The success of this method depends solely on the clarity of the mentioned goal and the adaptation to the measurements applied to calculate the result.

360 Degree Feedback
This method of performance review takes feedback from the entire system, i.e., the feedback of the employees themselves, from their subordinates, superiors and co-workers. This method can be put to use to get a detailed and holistic review of an employee’s performance. However, this method is time consuming and costly, as you will have to generate many measuring scales for it to be available to all the employees to give their feedback.

Employee Ranking
Employee ranking is another effective tool used by the management to measure an employee’s performance. There are certain defined characteristics and guidelines under which the employees are marked from best to worst. The evaluator finds out the employee with the highest and the lowest performance in a particular job profile and then ranks them best and worst respectively.