PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL EVALUATION

Performance Appraisal Evaluation

Performance Appraisal Evaluation

Introduction

A study of the introduction and development of performance appraisals in the healthcare industry shows that performance appraisals were brought forth in the public sector in the 1980s. Critics and gurus were skeptical about the efficacy of using performance appraisals and did not believe that the techniques would last for long. This paper will attempt to shed light on the performance appraisal system brought into use by the NHS. The NHS has been chosen because it is a well known and developed healthcare system with advanced dynamics (Chan & Chan, 2006). The paper will shed light on the performance appraisal system employed by NHS while identifying the type of performance measurement system used , the advantages and disadvantages of the current model, the effects on employees and the effects on departmental performance. The paper will also provide suggestions for improvement.

The NHS has been struggling to develop an adequate and effective performance appraisal for many years now. However, this struggle has not always led NHS to the desired outcomes. Furthermore, the performance appraisal tools in the NHS make performance evaluation a complex task. Constraints on time and resources can have major influences on the development and conduction of performance appraisals (Chen & Huang, 2007). The monitoring of performance perimeters is crucial for healthcare facilities because a deficiency in the performance of an employee in such a facility can translate in the loss of life. As a result, it is common for healthcare organizations such as NHS to engage in performance appraisals on a frequent basis (Zimmerman, 2002). Often the healthcare organizations design their own performance evaluation systems so that they can ensure adherence to their particular standards.

Type of appraisal tool used

The performance appraisal system brought into use in the NHS is commonly referred to as the Individual Performance Review. The origins of the Individual Performance Review can be traced back to the Griffiths inquiry into the management principles exercised in NHS. The Individual Performance Review system was brought forth as a performance appraisal tool in an attempt to respond to the organizational culture prevailing in NHS (Dey, 2002). The Individual Performance Review was designed to bring about a change in the managerial culture by bringing forth areas that required improvement in order to do so. This alignment of the Individual Performance Review can be observed to be in adherence to the objective of the NHS to bring about staff development (Chan & Chan, 2006). However, the Individual Performance Review has been subjected to extensive criticism on account of the disadvantages of the appraisal tool.

In order to understand the Individual Performance Review adequately, it is necessary to come to terms with the constituents of the Individual Performance Review. The Individual Performance Review is based on four key stages (Dey & Hariharan, 2006). The first stage is a self-assessment that is carried out by each individual. The next stage of the Individual Performance Review is the face-to-face interview, after which the appraiser takes the Individual Performance Review to ...