Total Quality Management

2.0 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS

Performance appraisal performs a very key role in reward systems. It is the process of evaluating the performance of employees, sharing that information with them and searching for ways to improve their performance. It is therefore a systematic approach aimed at evaluating an employee's current and or past performance relative to his or her performance standards against planned target. Performance appraisal is encompassed in management performance. Performance management puts together setting of goals, performance appraisal itself and development into a single common system, the aim of which is to ensure that the employee's performance is supporting the strategic aims of the organization.

Performance appraisal takes several steps. These are;

Establishing job expectations standards.

This is the first step in the performance appraisal process. In Catholic University of Eastern Africa, they set up the standards which they use as the base to compare actual performance of the employees against the set goals and objectives on each department. Being an educational institution, they always come up with objectives and goals that will be towards successful delivery of the quality education with spiritual nourishment. They set up the criteria of the employees to judge the performance by themselves by use of balance score card and the performance appraisal form. The standards set are usually clear, easily understandable and in measurable terms because the employees are actively involved in the process.

Communicating the standards to the right people

The standards are then communicated by the Human Resource Manager to the people who need to get this information so that all can work together towards the achievement of the goals. The employees even though fully involved in the process, are informed of the standards that they need to reach guided by the strategic goals of the organization. They are clearly explained to them and they understand their roles and what is expected of them. The information is communicated to the top management as well and if need be, they can also be modified at this stage according to the relevant feedback from the management.

Measuring the actual performance

The set objectives and goals are a guide to the employee in the process of performance appraisal. Following what is outlined in the targets of the institution, and then the actual performance of the employee is measured against the set targets. This is a continuous process and it involves monitoring the performance for the specified period at which one is expected to reach the target.

Performance Assessment

After measuring how far the employee has gone in their pursuit of goals and objectives, their current and actual performance is compared to the desired performance. This can reveal the gaps in the performance and the objectives set and the necessary caution can be taken to bring the employee at par. There are guidelines on the performance appraisal form where the employee fills in where they think they are at particular times depending on their performance. This enables the employee to be responsible and honest.

Discuss the appraisal with the employee

The manager discusses the whole process with employee in order to be reading from the same page. The supervisor here completes a performance appraisal form and conducts a performance appraisal interview with each employee. This is mutual because the employee will have filled the appraisal form as well. In this regard, employees need to be told how well they are doing and this should be done objectively. There should not be any stereotyping, or passing judgement or attacking the employee. If they are not doing well enough they need to be made aware but in a manner that will still motivate them to continue doing their work enthusiastically. The institution also lets the employees know what they need to do in order to improve or maintain their performance. The interview provides the employee with opportunity to defend himself against allegations of poor performance and also helps the manager to express their opinion to the employee.

Giving feedback

In this step, performance appraisal usually requires one or more feedback sessions. What CUEA does here is discussing the employee's performance and also sees if there is any progress made. As they do this, they look at the set target and see if there is any progress made in the light of emerging issues in the business environment. When performance appraisal targets are set, there is no assumption that they will be achieved easily because businesses do not operate in a vacuum. The external environment may have an impact on the results of the performance.

There is also a need for CUEA community to consider other factors that affect employee in the process of performance appraisal. This is also in line with other challenges an employee may face in the process of discharging their duties. The human resource department ensures that the employees know that there will be a performance appraisal during the year and so they ask the employees to keep the documentation of their work and the manager also does the same. When it comes to the time when they do performance appraisal they use the documents and other tools like interview to show how they fared.

Rewarding performance.

By this time, the organization is already aware of the employees who have probably met their target and these are reinforced with a reward. The highest performers get a reward and those who hit below target get a small reward or none at all. Either way, there need to be appreciation of the employee's effort. The institution also embarks on the challenges that might have made some employees to fail to meet the targets and provide training and development.

3.0 CHALLENGES THE ORGANIZATION FACES IN IMPLEMENTING THE PROCESS

Resistance from employees

The HR said that even though CUEA is a Christian institution, an appraisal process can make employees uncomfortable, as they may not enjoy the close scrutiny of the whole procedure and they might take it as a negative endeavour. Therefore, it is important to explain the procedure at the beginning of the appraisal. They need to understand the need for appraisal performance as a way of helping to identify the gaps and finding ways to close those gaps by offering development training to the employees.

Lack of experience for the manager

The human resource