1. Performance Appraisal
Applicable to Nursing
Administration
Bivin Jose
Department of Psychiatric Nursing
MB CN, Kothamangalam

2. Introduction
• An important function of the managerial
staffing
• Performance appraisal (PA)= staff
evaluation
• It was first used during the first world war
• History roots in the 20th century
• It is the process of determining how the
nurse employees are performing/degrees
of performance standards

3. Definitions

4. Continues…

5. Objectives of PA
1. To determine job competence
2. To select qualified individuals for promotion or
transfer
3. To establish and improve
– Communication between supervisors and
subordinates
– Staff performance
1. To determine
– Training and developmental needs of staff
– Salary standards and to award merit

6. Continues…
5. To discover the aspirations and talents of
staff
6. To check the efficacy of staff development
programmes
7. To identify unsatisfactory staff for demotion
or termination
8. To aid the manager in coaching and
counselling
9. To provide feedback to enhance staff
development and motivate personnel
towards heights of achievement

7. Continues..
10.To identify and remove distracters,
dissatisfies and obstacles as well as
ineffective behaviours
11.To identify areas of growth for employees
and organizations
12.To serve as a check on hiring and recruiting
practices and as validation of employment
tests
13.To provide the staff with recognition for
achievement

8. Main Purposes of PE
• Individual Rewards (Base and Incentive)
• Feedback for Sub-Ordinate (Plus and
Minus)
• Recognition of Superior Performance
• Documentation of Weak Performance
• Personnel Decision-Making
• Future Goal Commitments (Planned
Achievements)

9. Reasons for /
importance of PA
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Compensation "Pay for Performance"
Job Performance Improvements
Feedback to Subordinates
Documentation for Decisions
Goal Setting - Later Evaluation
Promotion Decisions
Identify Training Needs
HR Planning

10. Principles of PA (General)
• Objectives & results of appraisal should be
identified/known to all parties
• The appraisal process & tools are developed
with input from all levels of employees
affected by job responsibilities
• The supervisor has received education &
training in the use of appraisal process & tool
• The appraisal process is valued by
organization
• The appraisal process occurs consistently

11. Principles of PA (Nursing)
• Assess performance in relation to
behaviourally stated work goals.
• Observe a representative sample of
employees’ total work activities.
• Compare supervisor’s evaluation with
employee’s self-evaluation

12. Continues…
• Cite specific examples of satisfactory and
unsatisfactory performance
• Indicate which job areas have highest
priority for improvements
• Purpose of evaluation is to improve work
performance and job satisfaction
• Evaluation interview should be scheduled
in proper time & environment

13. W Performs the Appraisal?
ho
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•
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Immediate Supervisor
Higher Management
Self-Appraisals
Peers (Co-Workers)
Evaluation Teams
Customers
“360° Appraisals”

14. The 360º Appraisal Interview
Supervisor
Other Superiors
Peers
Other Superiors
Individual
Staff
Customers
S
elf-Assessm
ent
Teams
Teams
Sub-Ordinates

15. Characteristics of a good PA
• Based on the philosophy, purpose and
objectives of the organisation
• Job description are written in such a
manner that standards of job performance
can be identified for each job
• The appraisal tool used is suited to the
purposes for which it will be utilized and is
accompanied by clear instructions for its
use

16. Continues…
• Evaluators are trained in
the use of tool
• Plans for policing the
appraisal has the full
support of top
management
• Performance appraisal is
considered to be fair and
productive by all who
participate in it

17. A good PA is…
Supported by the Administrative setup
Related to job description
stated the criteria of evaluation clearly
Applies procedures of appraisal
consistently
• Performed by the person who is
trained/experienced with
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•
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•

18. Process of PA

19. Areas of appraisal
• Performance quality: Quantity and quality
of work, neatness, orderliness, reliability,
accuracy, knowledge of work execution
etc..
• Mental abilities: The ability to learn,
adaptability, reasoning power, judgement,
memory etc
• Supervisory qualities: leadership and
organizational ability, communication skill,
cooperation etc.

20. Continues..
• Personal qualities: honesty, self-control,
self-confidence, initiative, attitude towards
others, team work, appearance etc...
• Capacity for further development:
Intelligence, acceptance of responsibility
and other features, inherent in leadership.

21. Tools & Techniques of
Performance Appraisal

22. Narrative/
Essay technique
• Free form review
• Writes a paragraph outlining an
employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and
potential.
• Write a Behavioral Statement
• Strengths versus Weaknesses
• Describe Selected Traits
• Evaluate Performance

23. Advantages & Disadvantages
• Provide an indepth review of an
employee’s
performance
• Identify problem
areas and areas
on which to focus
on further
development
• Time consuming
• Length and content
vary
• Depends on
evaluator’s ability
to write
• Narrative
evaluations are
difficult to compare

24. Rating scale
• Set of behaviours or characteristics to be
rated on a scale of measurement
• Types: Numerical rating scale, lettered
rating scale, graphic rating scale,
descriptive graphic rating scale
• Trait rating scales: Rating a person
against a set standard, which may be the
job description, desired behaviours or
personal traits

25. Job dimension scale
• Rating scale for each job
classification
• Rating factors are taken
from context of written job
description
• Mainly focus on job
requirements

26. Behaviorally Anchored Rating
Scale (BARS)
• A behavioral approach to
performance appraisal
• Consists of a series of
vertical scales, one for
each important dimension
of job performance.

27. Advantages & Disadvantages
• Reduce the amount • Time consuming
of personal
and expensive
judgement needed
• Applicable only to
by the rater
• Focuses on specific
physically
behaviours and
observable skills not
allows employees to
to conceptual skills
know exactly what is
• Separate BARS are
expected of them
• Reduces rating error
needed for each job
• Many scales can be
purchased

28. Example of BARS

29. Graphic Rating-Scale Method
• Performance appraisal whereby
each employee is rated
according to a scale of predefined characteristics that are
job performance related

31. Behavior observation scales
• It also uses critical incidents of worker
behaviour.
• Evaluator lists a number of critical
incidents for each performance dimension
and rates the extend to which the
behaviour has been observed
• A five point scale ranging from “almost
never” to “almost always” used.

32. Forced-Choice Method
• A trait approach to performance appraisal
• Requires the rater to choose from
statements designed to distinguish
between successful and unsuccessful
performance

33. Checklists
• A series of descriptive statement in
behavioural terms about the standard of
nursing performance of the job expected
of the individual nurse
• Supervisor has to check individual’s
behaviour against a set criteria

34. Simple checklist
• Composed of numerous words or phrases
describing various employee behaviours
or traits.
• These descriptions are often clustered to
represent different aspects of one
dimension of behaviour such as
assertiveness or inter personal skills.
• The rater is asked to check all those that
describe the employee on each checklist.

35. Supervisor Appraisal
• Performance appraisal
done by an employee’s
manager and often
reviewed by a manager
one level higher.

36. Self-Appraisal
• Performance appraisal done by the
employee being evaluated, generally on
an appraisal form completed by the
employee prior to the performance
review.

37. Advantages & Disadvantages
• Promotes dignity and
self respect
• Introspection and self
awareness result in
growth of person
• Employees look
forward to their annual
performance review in
an anticipation of
positive feedback
• Promotes acceptance
of plans for
improvement
• May rate self low to
prevent disagreement
with the boss
• May evaluate self high to
influence the manager
• May undervalue own
achievements
• May feel uncomfortable
giving self high ratings
• Even mature personnel
require external
feedback and
performance validation

38. Subordinate Appraisal
• Performance appraisal of a superior by
an employee, which is more appropriate
for developmental than for administrative
purposes

39. Peer Appraisal
• Performance appraisal done by one’s
fellow employees, generally on forms that
are complied into a single profile for use in
the performance interview conducted by
the employee’s manager

40. Team Appraisal
• Performance appraisal, based on TQM
concepts, that recognizes team
accomplishment rather than individual
performance.

41. Field review method
• Allows the ratings of several supervisors
to be completed for the same employee
• A small group of raters is identified for
each supervisory unit and each rates an
employee
• A member of the administrative staff then
meets with the raters and identifies areas
of agreement

42. Critical incident technique
• Supervisor observe, collect and record
specific instances of the employee
carrying out responsibilities critical to the
job.
• These observations are used to prepare
the evaluation.
• Usually associated to healthcare related
performance appraisal

43. Management by Objectives
(Peter Drucker)
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Integrates performance and goal setting
Frequent intervals
Record maintenance
Objective review jointly
Mutual buy-in

44. Advantages of MBO
• Employees Can Measure
Performance
• Quantifiable Goals
• Joint Effort
• Employee Satisfaction in
Participation

45. Disadvantages of MBO
• Success Not Validates by Research
Studies
• Easy to Set Unrealistic Goals
• Hard to Get Full Commitment to Process
• Difficult to Define Some Goals

46. Appraisal Interviews
• Schedule the interview 10 to 14 days in
advance.
• Provide subordinates with a “guide” to
follow in planning for the interview.
• Consider which of the following
approaches to use:
– Tell-and-sell method
– Tell-and-listen method
– Problem-solving method (generally
preferable)

47. Tell-and-Sell Interviews
•
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Supervisor persuades employee to
change in a prescribed way.
Employees sees how changed behavior
will be of great benefit

48. Tell-and-Listen Interviews
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Supervisor covers strengths/weaknesses
for first half
Solicits employee’s feelings about
comments
Deal with disagreement, non-defensively
Negotiate future concrete objectives

49. The Problem Solving Interview
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Discuss strengths &weaknesses since last
review
Explore feelings of sub-ordinate
Listening, accepting &responding are
essential
Stimulate growth (performance) job
Discuss problems, needs, innovations,
satisfactions & dissatisfactions since last
review
Listen & respond with goal of helping person

50. Problems in Performance
Appraisal

51. General Errors in PA
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Popularity Contest
Punitive Implications
Control Relinquishment
Stereotypes
Poor Training of Raters

52. Rating Errors Issues
• Error of Central Tendency
– Performance-rating error in which all
employees are rated about average
• Leniency or Strictness Error
– Performance-rating error in which the
appraiser tends to give employees either
unusually high or unusually low ratings

53. Continues..
• Recency Error
– Performance-rating error in which the
appraisal is based largely on the
employee’s most recent behavior rather
than on behavior throughout the
appraisal period.

54. Continues..
• Similar-To-Me Error
– Performance-rating error in which an
appraiser inflates the evaluation of an
employee because of a mutual personal
connection.

55. Obstacles to effective PA
• Lack of support from the management
• Evaluate biases and rating errors ,which
result in unreliable and invalid ratings
• Lack of clear & objective standards of
performance
• Failure to communicate purposes and result
of performance appraisal to employees
• Lack of suitable appraisal tool
• Failure to practice the appraisal procedure
effectively

56. Continues..
• Resistance on the part of evaluators
because;
– Demands too much of supervisors’ effort in
terms of time, paper work & periodic
observation of subordinates performance
– Supervisors are reluctant to p la y G o d by
judging others
– Purpose & procedures of performance
appraisal is not known
– Lack skill in appraisal techniques

57. Overcoming these obstacles
• Appraisal should be based on standards
• Employee must know the standards in
advance
• Employee must know the sources of data
gathered for appraisal
• Employee should have input in to
development of standards
• Appraiser should be someone who has
observed employees work
• Appraiser should be someone who the
employ trust and respects

58. References
1. Jogindra Vati (2013). Principles & practice of
nursing management and administration, I
ed., New Delhi, Jaypee Brothers Medical
publishes (P) Ltd. Chapter 42
2. Sullivan EJ & Decker JP (2010). Effective
leadership & management in nursing 6th ed.,
Newjersy, Pearson Prentice Hall. 278-284
3. Deepak K, Chandran S & Kumar M (2013),
A comprehensive textbook on nursing
management, I ed., Bangalore, Emmess
Medical Publishers. 473-489