Essay Sample on Why Some Managers Hate Performance Evaluation

Leaders must display some key attributes which help them in leading their followers towards the achievement of their companies or organizations with short-term and long-term objectives. One of these attributes is the willingness and capability of setting clear goals and priorities (Bowes, 2010). From the followers' point of view, this is one of the most crucial leadership skills that a leader or a manager must possess. This is because the failure of the leader or the manager to know what to expect from his or her subordinates and how to evaluate the performance and progress of the subordinates towards meeting the organizational goals results in confusion and frustration among the followers. According to Bowes (2010), an effective leader should have three to four goals.

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Apart from setting clear goals, an effective leader must show determination and purpose in accomplishing these goals. To achieve these goals, a leader should demonstrate self-confidence, be enthusiastic, and be excited about what he or she is tasked with doing. Enthusiasm at work also positively impact on the relationship between the leader and the followers. It is also worth noting that writing down of goals for the company is key, but achieving the goals requires the leader to be determined and persistent in the face of challenges (Patel, 2017).

Thirdly, effective leaders have good working relationships with their subordinates. As a result, these leaders establish connections with assistants and regularly talk with them. To promote good interpersonal relationships with their troops, effective leaders make themselves accessible and do not distance themselves from their followers. The third critical attribute of effective leadership is excellent communication skills (Grossman & Valiga, 2016). These skills enable the leader to communicate the objectives and goals of the organization to the employees. Additionally, such skills enable the leaders to effectively communicate the challenges faced by the organization and engage them in coming up with the strategies needed to counter the problems.

Another critical personal attribute of effective leadership is excellent interpersonal skills. According to Ledlow and Coppola (2013), excellent interpersonal skills is manifested through a clear understanding of human behaviour and interpersonal relationships; capacity to know employee motivation, attitudes, and beliefs; competence in problem-solving; and ability to nurture effective working relationships.

Another key attribute of a good leader is the ability to self-manage. According to Patel (2017), it is difficult for a leader to manage his or her followers, he or she cannot manage himself or herself. A person who self-manages himself or herself is capable of prioritizing goals and is responsible for ensuring that the objectives are met. A self-managing leader is characterized by the ability to manage time well; ability to regulate emotions and attention; ability to identify own strengths, weaknesses, and possible sources of bias. Highly effective leaders show the capacity to handle stress and to balance their personal and their work lives. These leaders should also be able to compassionate and be responsive to other people's needs.

Effective leadership is also characterized by accountability and responsibility. Success in leadership is manifested through a leader's ability to use power and authority in such a way that the subordinates do not feel overwhelmed or overpowered. Effective leaders must take responsibility and accountability for their own failures and should also encourage their followers to do the same (Patel, 2017).

Profile of Managers who Struggle with Performance Evaluation Process

Even though performance evaluation process has been hailed as one of the most important ways of ensuring that the company or the organization tracks its journey towards the achievement of the goals, some of the managers have been reported to struggle with the evaluation process. These group of managers have a distinct profile from those who strongly believe in performance evaluation. According to Kamat (2017), one of the attributes of these managers is fear of providing negative feedback. Providing feedback is difficult for these managers because they fear to disturb the current situation of the company or upsetting his or her subordinates. Additionally, the manager may avoid the performance evaluation process because of the desire to avoid giving negative feedback that may create a hostile working environment for his or her subordinates (Landy & Conte, 2016).

The avoidance of performance evaluation by some of the managers has also been linked to the fear of causing dissatisfaction among the incumbents. Also, managers may fear that the outcomes of the evaluation process may be challenged by the employees in courts and thus try to avoid them as much as possible (Landy & Conte, 2016). It is also important to note that managers who dislike performance evaluation fear negative consequences such as allegations of aggression, harassment, and harassment that may result from negative feedbacks (Furnham, 2008).

Another common trait of leaders who hate performance evaluation is that they are unapproachable. Kamat (2017) noted that for an employee, manager's feedback is essential. This is because it helps in keeping the employees on toes in their journey towards accomplishing the objectives and the goals of the organization. To these employees, motivational talk from the manager positively affects their performance. However, when the manager is unapproachable, fear of appraisals arises because of lack of professional rapport.

Managers' struggle with performance evaluation may also be linked to incompetence in setting deliverables. The task of coming up with deliverables may prove difficult for novice managers and even their seasoned counterparts. Managers who do not have adequate knowledge and skills freak at the mere thought of creating key responsibility areas (KRAs) for their employees (Kamat, 2017). Furthermore, managers' lack of enthusiasm for performance evaluation may be associated with failure to invest enough time in setting deliverables. When a manager fails to develop a detailed list of deliverables, he or she will not have the key expectations and indicators to appraise their employees (Kamat, 2017).

Lastly, managers' avoidance of performance appraisal may be linked to inadequate preparation to review. This is especially the case when the manager has a big team to handle and thus fear not having enough time to evaluate each of the employee's performance. However, according to Kamat (2017), such an excuse is unwarranted because it is the role of the manager to check the progress of each of his or her subordinates towards meeting the objectives and goals of the organization.

Key Elements of a Successful Employee Evaluation Process

Performance evaluation process generates anxiety and suspicion and anxiety in both the employees and the managers. The anxiety and suspicion that characterizes these appraisals can be alleviated by ensuring that the employees and the managers have a clear understanding of their purpose. One approach of making performance appraisal effective and useful is by ensuring that they meet six basic elements needed for Successful employee evaluation process. These elements include clarity of appraisal process; objectivity and equality in the applying standards; appraisal process as a review; use of appraisal for employee development; room for employee feedback; and the inclusion of action plan in the appraisal (Skinner & Green, 2010).

Clarity of appraisal process is one of the critical elements of the performance evaluation process. The managers should ensure transparency of the performance evaluation process. Increased transparency of the performance evaluation helps in alleviating the anxiety as well as in enhancing the effectiveness of the performance appraisal tool. If the tool is made secret and ambiguous, mistrust develops between the managers and their subordinates. This is because the subordinates may think that the appraisal system is meant to punish them whenever they make mistakes. Ambiguity can be alleviated by making the performance appraisal tools easily accessible to employees. Clarity in appraisal process can further be enhanced by incorporating the input of the employees in the evaluation process. This is essential in ensuring that the standards set in the appraisal are objective and attainable. Additionally, by involving the employees in developing the appraisal system, employee ownership of the process is enhanced (Skinner & Green, 2010).

The second important element of the appraisal process is objectivity and equality in the applying standards. The inclusion of clear objectives is critical in the appraisal process is because it allows for measurable standards to be developed, which are not based on the subjectivity of the manager (Skinner & Green, 2010). The use of measurable standards also ensures that the manager does not use employees past performance in evaluating his or her current performance.

How a Manager Should Prepare For Evaluation

In order to ensure successful performance evaluation, the manager should ensure that he or she is well prepared for evaluation. One of the ways of preparing for a performance review is through setting of clear goals and objectives. Clarity of objectives and goals help the employees to know what is expected of them. Additionally, the manager should ensure that the corresponding performance indicators are well stated. These indicators are helpful in measuring the progress and the extent to which the employees have met or are working towards the achievement of the objectives.

Another way in which a manager ought to prepare for performance evaluation of his or her employees is by finding out how to evaluate, when to evaluate, whom to evaluate, and when to evaluate the employees (Martin, 2005). When preparing to evaluate employees, the manager should also ensure that the calendar date and time for performance evaluation is set in advance. The date and time should be convenient for both the manager and the employee to allow time for both of them to adequately prepare for evaluation.

Sample Performance Evaluation Form

Six-Month Objectives:

What are the key objectives for this employee for the six-month period?

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Results:

Generally, what was the employee performance relative to the objectives in the six-month period?

Give examples of specific accomplishments and achievements realized by the employee and during the six-month review period.

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Describe employees' performance strengths and specific contexts of situations where these strengths were manifested.

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References

Furnham, A. (2008). Management intelligence: Sense and nonsense for the successful manager. Springer.

Kamat, S. (2017). 5 Reasons why some managers dread performance appraisals. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.in/work-better-training/5-reasons-why-some-managers-dread-performance-appraisals_a_21719978/

Landy, F. J., & Conte, J. M. (2016). Work in the 21st century, Binder ready version: An introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. John Wiley & Sons.

Patel, D. (2017). 11 powerful traits of successful leaders. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/03/22/11-powerful-traits-of-successful-leaders/#4e31b629469...