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Checklist of 50+ Common Errors in Performance Appraisals

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Performance Management (Appraisals)
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84
Martin Dale, USA

Checklist of 50+ Common Errors in Performance Appraisals

I was asked to make a list of common mistakes by managers in performance appraisals.
G.T. Milkovich and J.M. Newman report the following ones (Compensation, 2002):
1. Halo Effect: a favorable rating for all job duties based on performance in one duty in which the employee is a 'saint'. In general the halo effect is defined as an immediate judgement discrepancy, or cognitive bias, where a person making an initial assessment of another person, place, or thing will assume ambiguous (Editor: ~open to more than one interpretation; not having one obvious meaning) information based upon concrete information.
2. Central Tendency: rating all employees close to the midpoint of the scale (irrespective of their actual performance).
3. Recency Effect: judging overall effectiveness on the basis of recent experience.
Some others I found:
4. Subjectiveness: based on gut feeling
5. No/Poor Follow-up
6. Improper Preparation
Who can help me and provide further common mistakes or biases in employee appraisals? Thanks!
 

Rating

 
4
Michel Lemieux, Canada
 

Performance Appraisal Errors

You could add 7. Lack of preparation of evaluators (training, behaviours to evaluate, what is poor ... Sign up

 
2
Runyararo Chimwanda, Netherlands
 

Common Perfomance Management Errors

8. Cultural aspects prevent an objective rating: in some cases the way organisations view performanc... Sign up

 
2
Oosterhof, Netherlands
 

Common Performance Appraisal Mistakes

9. Making appraisals too complicated is a common mistake too (e.g. too many dimensions). Look at the... Sign up

 
2
David McAra
Consultant, United Kingdom
 

Performance Appraisal is a Big Mistake

The biggest mistake is imagining that performance appraisal is a useful idea and that organisation b... Sign up

 
4
shaikh husnuddin nooruddin, Qatar
 

Mistakes by Managers in Appraisal

10. Not considering the period of service and education level of the employee.... Sign up

 
1
Mauro Piccone, Italy
 

People are Different

11. Not being adaptive in the appraisal. People are different and so the assessor has to be able to ... Sign up

 
5
Ugeux, Belgium
 

Common Mistakes in Appraisals

12. Use of a Gauss curve based on budget availability: whatever the actual performance level of the ... Sign up

 
2
ATBA Bouchaib
Technical Studies Service Manager, Morocco
 

Common Errors in Performance Appraisal

13. Overemphasizing negative aspects of the performance and neglecting positive ones. See Horn Effec... Sign up

 
1
NAVIN, India
 

Common Error Made Deliberately in Performance Appraisal.

14. Biasing deliberately towards employees is the most common error in performance appraisals.... Sign up

 
5
Gerald Abeyawardena
Singapore
 

Performance Appraisal Errors

15. Leniency: giving higher marks than the individual's performance deserves. Usually because a) no ... Sign up

 
3
Joseph Sghendo
Director, Malta
 

Importance of the Person

17. Treating employees as assets: employees should not be viewed merely as an asset to the organisat... Sign up

 
3
Gana Cisse
P&CM, Senegal
 

Other Mistakes in Performance Appraisal

18. Projection Effect: when the appraiser projects himself, emphasizing his own experience or trying... Sign up

 
0
H P JANI, India
 

Frequent Performance Appraisal Mistakes

21. Impatience: an appraisal must be followed by hard work by the employee. Often it takes a lot of ... Sign up

 
4
Ngosa Mubanga, Zambia
 

Frequent Mistake by Managers in Appraising Surbordinates

22. Wait for the final appraisal to point out employee weaknesses.... Sign up

 
2
Philip Oldfield
Project Manager, United Kingdom
 

Frequent Performance Appraisal Errors

23. Lack of effort and viewing the appraisal as a purely annual activity. This is especially evident... Sign up

 
5
MARIA DOLORES MIRANDA
HR Consultant, Nicaragua
 

Frequent Performance Appraisal Errors

24. Lack of a Rational Technique to analyze the appraisal. There are several good ones, like the Cap... Sign up

 
0
Marcel Wiedenbrugge
Consultant, Netherlands
 

Performance Appraisal Purpose and Targets

26. Not clearly defining purpose and targets. Adding value is imho the sole and only purpose of each... Sign up

 
2
Jayaram
Project Manager, India
 

Performance Appraisal Errors

27. Annual meeting only: performance appraisal should not be limited to discuss across once in a ye... Sign up

 
4
Rev. Joseph Ubom, USA
 

Performance Appraisal Structure and Reward System

Organizations should create a more structured system of performance appraisal to avoid bias within t... Sign up

 
3
Fariborz
Manager, Iran
 

Frequent Performance Appraisal Flaws

29. Unqualified appraiser: since performance appraisal is playing an important role in both the empl... Sign up

 
3
Ray Hager, USA
 

Frequent Performance Appraisals Faults

30. (Un)pleasant surprises: nothing in a performance appraisal should be a surprise to the receiving... Sign up

 
3
Nirmala Herrkaur Strange
CxO / Board, United Kingdom
 

SMART Performance Appraisals

31. Objectives not SMART: discerning which employees are likely to take on board constructive feedba... Sign up

 
2
mthembu
Civil Engineering , South Africa
 

Common Performance Appraisal Fallacies

32. Rigid appraisal formats: the appraisal system is many organizations is based on a standardised f... Sign up

 
2
TOM BARASA
Lecturer, Kenya
 

Problems with Perfomance Appraisals

The performance appraisal system is good in improving organizational achievement of goals. If used w... Sign up

 
2
Ismail Sahabodien, South Africa
 

Performance Appraisals Problems

34. Poor Identification of Objectives of Organization: the objectives were not properly identified i... Sign up

 
2
Ahmed N. Qeshta, Palestine, State of
 

Performance Evaluation System

35. The performance evaluation system itself is bad: it could be that the performance evaluation sys... Sign up

 
1
sujata
freelance trainer - soft skills, India
 

Biases and Grudges During Appraisal Time

36. Time to get even: a lot of supervisors wait for the appraisal to square up the pent up grudges. ... Sign up

 
3
Dodi Gunawan, Indonesia
 

Strictness in Performance Appraisal

37. Strictness. This "strictness" is subject to the tendencies to give low scores in performance app... Sign up

 
2
Y.S.Ganesh, India
 

Errors in Appraisals in Multinationals due to Cultural Differences

In case of multinational companies: 38. Lack of cross culture understanding by the manager of one c... Sign up

 
0
Hor Kam Peng
Business Consultant, Malaysia
 

On 10: Years of Service and Education Level

@shaikh husnuddin nooruddin: Years of service and education level do not count for much if the emplo... Sign up

 
0
Simon Lum
Consultant, Australia
 

On 4. Performance Appraisal Being Too Subjective

It is a "performance appraisal", therefore a big part of this exercise must be based on assessing th... Sign up

 
1
Jozef Van Giel
Strategy Consultant, Belgium
 

The Main Mistake is Organizing Appraisals

The most important mistake of performance appraisals is 39. That they are being organized. You shou... Sign up

 
2
Jesu
Teacher, India
 

Crucial Error in Performance Reviews

41. Not using the review for capacity building and training, but rather for withdrawing oneself by h... Sign up

 
1
Zinnia Umana
Manager, El Salvador
 

Mistakes when Conducting Performance Appraisals

Another common mistake is 42. Not having set basic rules and limits from the beginning. You may thi... Sign up

 
0
Mohammed Ishag Altaib
Strategy Consultant, Somalia
 

On 4. Use of Feelings Instead of Facts and Truth

I agree facts and the truth are the areas the evaluator needs to focus on when giving the feedback.... Sign up

 
1
THEOPHILUS AKITA
Manager, Ghana
 

On 23. Lack of effort to Prepare Appraisal

In most cases, one does not even critically examine the output of the persons over a time frame and ... Sign up

 
1
Paolo Pozzi
Business Consultant, Italy
 

Question to To David McAra on Performance Appraisal Itself as a Mistake

@David McAra: I strongly agree that performance evaluation should not be only a hierarchy exercise. ... Sign up

 
1
Graham Blowers
Consultant, Mexico
 

Performance Appraisal is an Opportunity

The PA is an opportunity to review the progression and achievements of team members, to identify the... Sign up

 
2
Sally Abdel Raouf
Management Consultant
 

Problems in Performance Appraisal

43. Improper formulation of the appraisal form can increase the subjectivity in the appraisal proces... Sign up

 
1
Charles P. Keith
Management Consultant, United States
 

Problem with Performance Appraisals

Most performance appraisals are based on an agreed list of activities that the employee was to have ... Sign up

 
1
Nirmala Herrkaur Strange
CxO / Board, United Kingdom
 

Problems with Performance Appraisals

The emphasis is on agreed objectives/deliverables and more than a cursory understanding of functions... Sign up

 
1
THEOPHILUS AKITA
Manager, Ghana
 

On 44. Impact Statements

@Charles P. Keith: that one agrees with his supervisor on impact statements to which the employee mu... Sign up

 
1
asada raymond
Accountant, Nigeria
 

Another Frequent Error in Performance Appraisals

46. Appraisers often lack adequate knowledge of the circumstances of the performance of the appraise... Sign up

 
2
P.R.RAVINDRAN
Partner, India
 

Using Performance Appraisal for Victimizing or

47. Using Performance Appraisal to settle scores or victimize a sub-ordinate who does not toe the li... Sign up

 
0
David McAra
Consultant, United Kingdom
 

Why Conducting a Performance Appraisal is a Mistake

@Paolo Pozzi: Thanks for your question. My concern is that it puts our energy and attention in the w... Sign up

 
1
Syed Arifulla MBA, PMP, Prince2
Project Manager, United Kingdom
 

On 23: DELIBERATELY Not Informing the Employee with Proper Expectations and Metrics

Sometimes 49. Managers deliberately do not set up the proper expectations and metrics of the perfor... Sign up

 
1
Mark Fuller
Director, South Africa
 

Errors in Performance Appraisals

50. Not measuring against the appraisee's previous performance for sustainable performance growth. A... Sign up

 
0
Yashashree Borges
Manager, India
 

Errors in Performance Appraisals

51. Business heads not taking performance appraisals seriously. 52. Complicated or tedious performa... Sign up

 
0
Jozef Van Giel
Strategy Consultant, Belgium
 

Stop Appraisal Interviews

@Paolo Pozzi: Well, instead of relying on experience, we should rely on scientific evidence. Among o... Sign up

 
1
Briolett, Canada
 

On 4: Subjective Appraisals

WHAT IS A SUBJECTIVE APPRAISAL? In subjective appraisals the opinion of the appraiser is given with... Sign up

 
2
Simon Lum
Consultant, Australia
 

On 27: Appraisal is not an Annual Affair

@Jayaram: I agree constant feedbacks and reinforcement from the immediate supervisor will have more ... Sign up

 
1
Ling CHONG, Singapore
 

On 26: Performance Appraisal Purpose and Targets

@Marcel Wiedenbrugge: I agree for any appraisal to be meaningful, the key performance indicators mus... Sign up

 
1
Javier Elenes
Business Consultant, Mexico
 

2 More Mistakes to Avoid in Performance Evaluation

There are 2 more common BIG mistakes that you should avoid in performance evaluations: 53. Blaming ... Sign up

 
0
Bad Spot
Consultant, Canada
 

Performance Management Bad Practices

For a long time, I've been wondering why do some organizations, usually with a very poor organizatio... Sign up

 
0
Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands
 

Relying on Hearsay

@Bad Spot: See #4, #6, #24, #36 and #47.... Sign up

 

More on Performance Management (Appraisals):
Summary
Discussion Topics
👀Checklist of 50+ Common Errors in Performance Appraisals
topic How to Give Constructive Feedback? Models and Tips
topic How to Achieve Fair Performance Appraisals?
topic Avoid Routine Annual Performance Appraisals
topic Concerns not Previously Discussed During Performance Reviews
topic How to Deal with Average Performers?
topic How to Get Employees to Improve? Issues with Feedback
topic Open Communication? Try Coffee Talks
topic Wrong Use of Employee Appraisals
topic Three Types of Performance Appraisals
topic Obsession with Quantifying Human Performance
topic Broken Confidentiality of Performance Appraisals
topic Don't Forget Practical Appraisal Follow-up
topic How to Deal with Poor Performers and Non Performers?
topic Conditions for Successful Performance Appraisals
topic Outcomes of Performance Appraisals
topic How to Receive Personal Feedback? Tips
🔥 What to do if NO Annual Appraisal Interview is Scheduled?
topic How to React When You are Undervalued?
topic The Performance-Values Match Matrix (Jack Welch)
topic Appraise the Past, Develop for the Future
topic How to Prepare for a Performance Appraisal as Appraiser
topic Tips for Ensuring Performance Appraisals Hold Up in Court
topic Appraisal for Future Job?
topic Avoiding Biases in Performance Appraisals
topic How to Identify and Manage Workplace Favoritism
topic Consider the Job Situation in Appraisals
topic Post COVID-19 Performance Evaluations
topic Decentralized Performance Appraisals
topic Cascading the Business Objectives to Performance Appraisals
topic Disparaging Appraisal Terms
topic Performance Appraisals versus Student Examinations. A Comparison
topic Bonuses.. what is Fair to All Within Large Corporations
topic Feedback Should be Like a Mirror: Neutral
topic How Role Clarity and Employee Performance Management can help with Strategic Focus
topic Mismatch in Performance Appraisals: Actions from Last Year are Rewarded/Punished This Year
topic Optimize on the Strengths of your Employees
topic Use of Of Employee Appraisals to Validate the Remuneration System
Special Interest Group

SIG Leader

Do you know a lot about Performance Management (Appraisals)? Become our SIG Leader



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More on Performance Management (Appraisals):
Summary
Discussion Topics
👀Checklist of 50+ Common Errors in Performance Appraisals
topic How to Give Constructive Feedback? Models and Tips
topic How to Achieve Fair Performance Appraisals?
topic Avoid Routine Annual Performance Appraisals
topic Concerns not Previously Discussed During Performance Reviews
topic How to Deal with Average Performers?
topic How to Get Employees to Improve? Issues with Feedback
topic Open Communication? Try Coffee Talks
topic Wrong Use of Employee Appraisals
topic Three Types of Performance Appraisals
topic Obsession with Quantifying Human Performance
topic Broken Confidentiality of Performance Appraisals
topic Don't Forget Practical Appraisal Follow-up
topic How to Deal with Poor Performers and Non Performers?
topic Conditions for Successful Performance Appraisals
topic Outcomes of Performance Appraisals
topic How to Receive Personal Feedback? Tips
🔥 What to do if NO Annual Appraisal Interview is Scheduled?
topic How to React When You are Undervalued?
topic The Performance-Values Match Matrix (Jack Welch)
topic Appraise the Past, Develop for the Future
topic How to Prepare for a Performance Appraisal as Appraiser
topic Tips for Ensuring Performance Appraisals Hold Up in Court
topic Appraisal for Future Job?
topic Avoiding Biases in Performance Appraisals
topic How to Identify and Manage Workplace Favoritism
topic Consider the Job Situation in Appraisals
topic Post COVID-19 Performance Evaluations
topic Decentralized Performance Appraisals
topic Cascading the Business Objectives to Performance Appraisals
topic Disparaging Appraisal Terms
topic Performance Appraisals versus Student Examinations. A Comparison
topic Bonuses.. what is Fair to All Within Large Corporations
topic Feedback Should be Like a Mirror: Neutral
topic How Role Clarity and Employee Performance Management can help with Strategic Focus
topic Mismatch in Performance Appraisals: Actions from Last Year are Rewarded/Punished This Year
topic Optimize on the Strengths of your Employees
topic Use of Of Employee Appraisals to Validate the Remuneration System
Special Interest Group

SIG Leader

Do you know a lot about Performance Management (Appraisals)? Become our SIG Leader

Knowledge Center

Performance Management (Appraisals)
Knowledge Center



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