OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE APPRAISAL

The main barriers to effective performance appraisal are as follows:
Faulty Assumptions
Very often performance appraisal is not effective due to unrealistic assumptions on the part of both superiors and subordinates. Some of these assumptions are given below:
(a) The assumption that managers desire to make accurate and fair appraisals is not always true. Many a time they want to avoid formal appraisal. They assume that personal opinion is better than formal appraisal.
(b) Some managers consider the appraisal system as perfect and expect too much from it. They rely too much on it. In reality no appraisal system is absolutely perfect.
(c) The assumption that subordinates want to know frankly where do they stand and what their superiors think about them are not valid. In fact subordinates resist to be appraised and their reaction against appraisal is often strong.
20.7.2. Psychological Barriers
The effectiveness of appraisal depends upon the psychological characteristics of managers to a great extent. Managers' feeling of insecurity, their being excessively modest or sceptical, the tendency to consider appraisal as extra burden, disliking or resentment to subordinates, etc., are the principal psychological characteristics that inhibit appraisal. These factors make the appraisal biased or subjective thereby defeating the basic purpose of appraisal.
20.7.3. Technical Pitfalls
The main technical difficulties in performance appraisal are as follows: (a) Lack of clear-cut or unambiguous criteria for appraisal. (V) Errors and bias in appraisal due to human weakness, e.g., halo effect, constant error, central tendency, liking or disliking for people, etc.
20.8. ESSENTIALS OF EFFECTIVE APPRAISAL
The following steps may be taken to make performance appraisal accurate, objective and reliable:
(1) Before an appraisal system is established, its objectives should be defined clearly. The specific objectives may be pay increase, promotion, transfer, training and development. The objectives will reveal whether emphasis should be placed on measuring performance on the current job or on potential for higher jobs.
(2) The raters should be carefully selected and trained. They must be familiar with the job and the person to be rated. Two independent persons (one immediate supervisor and the other staff expert) may appraise each employee and their ratings may be averaged. This will help to reduce bias and subjectivity in appraisal.