                    9.  SUPERVISORS AND EMPLOYEE EVALUATIONS.
        
             As a supervisory tool, employee evaluations serve to
        quantitatively measure an employee's work performance.  As a
        motivational tool, employee evaluations can serve to affirm an
        individual employee's satisfactory, above average, or exceptional
        performance.  The problem with most Performance Evaluations (PE)
        is that they are not done on time, are not objective, and are not
        done, in most organizations, frequently enough to effectively
        motivate individual employees.  
        
             A PE consists of a systematic appraisal of the employee's
        performance and of his or her potential for development and
        training.  It is usually done by the employee's immediate
        supervisor and is then reviewed by the supervisor's superior. 
        Reviewing the PE with the employee, pointing out strengths and
        indicating areas needing improvement, is essential if the
        employee is to improve his or her work performance.
        
             Many methods are used including the Rating-Scale Method,
        Comparison Method, and the Essay Method.  All have their
        advantages and disadvantages.  No matter how much care the
        supervisor gives to evaluating his or her employees, the results
        frequently reflect the supervisor's biases and weaknesses.  
        
             The "halo effect" occurs when a supervisor lets the rating
        he or she gives an employee in one area affect the rating he or
        she gives in another area.  The supervisor may say the employee
        is average in his job skill and then have a tendency to rate
        everything else about the employee as average.  
        
             Some supervisors tend to be too lenient or too strict. 
        Others are tough.  It's difficult to decide on which of two
        employees to promote when each of them has been rated by
        different supervisors--one tough and one lenient in his or her
        appraisal.  
        
             Some supervisors don't know their employees well enough, so
        they don't go out on the limb and say anyone is either superior
        or poor.  Therefore, they rank everyone as average.  Supervisors
        who do this believe they don't hurt anyone this way, but they are
        not helping the deserving ones either.  
        
             Personal biases can cause problems.  A supervisor sometimes
        unconsciously rates an employee according to whether or not he or
        she personally likes the employee.   
        
             The end use of appraisals also materially affects the way
        supervisors rate average employees.  If the supervisor knows the
        appraisals are to be used for wage increases, the ratings will
        tend to be higher than normal so that the employee will get a pay
        increase.  If they are to be used to determine whether or not the
        employee needs training in an area, they are apt to be a little
        on the low side.  
        
             The thrust of the PE interview is for the supervisor to
        review the progress the employee made since his or her last
        evaluation.  Areas in which the employee made significant
        improvement need to be pointed out.  In areas where progress has
        not been shown, the supervisor should make constructive
        suggestions for improvement.  An interview is almost always
        doomed to failure when the supervisor saves up a list of
        shortcomings and unloads them on the employee during the
        interview.  The PE interview should give the employee an
        opportunity to discuss his or her job problems and aspirations
        with his or her supervisor, as well as give the supervisor the
        opportunity to assist the employee become a better worker. 
        Finally, the supervisor needs to make sure that the employee
        clearly understands the ratings and there are no unanswered
        questions.  Given the proper encouragement, most employees will
        emerge from an PE interview with renewed vigor and determination
        to do a better job.  
        
             George (1979) listed several advantages that can be gained
        from using an employee evaluation program:
        
        1.   You have a permanent written record of the relative
             strengths and weaknesses of your employees, which can be
             used for salary changes, promotions, transfers, demotions,
             etc.
        
        2.   It forces you to evaluate an employee's performance and
             potential--forces you as a supervisor to analyze the
             strengths and weaknesses of each of his or her employees. 
             Thus, you know them better, thereby putting you in a
             position to do a better job as a supervisor.  
        
        3.   In case of contention over promotion, pay, and the like, you
             have a sound basis for your decision.
        
        4.   Once an employee comes to understand some of his weaknesses,
             he will be stimulated to set goals to improve him or
             herself.
        
        5.   Areas in which training is needed become more obvious, and
             training courses can be set up.
        
        6.   An individual employee's talents are more apt to be
             recognized and used where they are most needed in the
             organization.
        
        7.   The evaluation serves to help eliminate employees being
             poorly placed or misplaced (p. 198).  
        
             Finally, George (1979) offered the following tips on how to
        effectively use PE's in organizations:
        
        1.   Never let employees evaluate or rate each other.  This is
             management's responsibility and should be done by a member
             of the supervisory staff.
        
        2.   Never discuss one employee's rating with another employee.
        
        3.   Evaluate the employee's performance at least once a year. 
             Twice a year is better.  If you wait too long, you forget. 
             If you rate too often, you see day-to-day occurrences
             instead of the overall picture.
        
        4.   Measure an employee's skill against what the job description
             reads, not what you think he or she can do.  This makes the
             evaluation more accurate.
        
        5.   Take plenty of time for the evaluation interview.  Don't let
             the phone ring during it, or permit other employees come in
             and interrupt.
        
        6.   Always include discussion of goals and mutually agreed upon
             improvement programs for the next appraisal period.
        
        7.   Don't terminate an interview until you have cleared up all
             misunderstandings about the present rating, future goals,
             and what the employee expects.
        
        8.   Be honest and candid in your appraisal.  If an employee's
             work has been poor, say so.  Then assist him or her in
             seeing where and how it can be improved.
        
        9.   Soften your criticism by saying something positive.  Without
             a balanced delivery, the employee may become defensive and
             effectively tune out anything constructive you might say
             later.
        
        10.  Follow up interviews by subsequently checking with your
             employees on how they are performing, the progress they are
             making, and what their problems are.  This demonstrates
             interest on your part and can serve as a stimulus for the
             employees to strive for improvement (p. 199).
        
             It is impossible for a supervisor to accurately evaluate any
        employee unless he or she actually watches the employee perform
        his or her job.  Too often, supervisors are busy and assume they
        can see or hear what an employee is doing, and yet do not. 
        Observing an employee on the job once or twice during an
        evaluation period is not enough.  If PE's are only done once a
        year, then a supervisor needs to observe his or her employees in
        action at least once a month at a minimum to be able to
        objectively evaluate his or her employee.  The surest way to
        create defensiveness in an employee is to evaluate him or her
        when there has been no direct observation on the supervisor's
        part at any time during the evaluation period.  Being able to
        reference observations with the evaluation can and will eliminate
        defensiveness.  
        
             Every effort needs to be made by the supervisor to base
        every evaluation on the context of the employee's overall job and
        on the employee's total job performance.  Basing a rating on only
        one aspect of an employee's performance or on the way he or she
        performed on a particular job would not be fair.  Instead, the
        appraisal needs to be based on the total record of what the
        employee has done, how well he or she has performed, his or her
        total reliability, resourcefulness, and so on.  Evaluations are
        not perfect, but with some thought and work on the supervisor's
        part, they can be fairly objective and can serve useful ends in
        rewarding and ultimately, motivating employees.
