The performance evaluation process.
An important part of being an effective manager is the performance evaluation process. Read Time to Scrap Performance Appraisals?, which explains some of the problems with the performance evaluation process and offers some suggestions on how to make this process more meaningful and effective. After reading the article, think about your last performance evaluation (or a school-related evaluation). In your initial post, describe this evaluation. How did you feel walking out of that meeting with your manager or professor? Was it meaningful and effective? Did you have a clear understanding of your performance? Did you understand your goals and objectives?
Next, consider the “new keys to success” discussed in the article. Address the following additional questions in your initial post: Could your evaluation have been made clearer to you? Which “keys to success” would have assisted in your situation? Why?
Sample Answer
I understand that performance evaluation is an important part of being an effective manager. I recently read the article “Time to Scrap Performance Appraisals?” and I found it to be very insightful. The article discusses some of the problems with the traditional performance evaluation process and offers some suggestions on how to make this process more meaningful and effective.
I think the most important problem with the traditional performance evaluation process is that it is often seen as a formality rather than a meaningful way to improve employee performance. The evaluation is often done once a year, and it is based on a checklist of criteria that may not be relevant to the employee’s job. As a result, the employee may not see the evaluation as helpful or meaningful.