by Keen Johns

Created on: October 07, 2008

Unfortunately it seems general practice for employers to overlook the importance of maintaining a positive workforce.

There can be nothing worse for an employer than a workforce which is demoralised, or heading towards a state of negativity because they are quite simply lost in the abyss of ignorance. This leads to a state of low self esteem, in other words it is a morale killer and is also infectious, it will spread throughout the workforce like a dose of influenza if it is not identified and addressed at an early stage.

I do not hesitate to assume that more than 50 percent of any workforce has one thing in common, that is they need to be needed they have a driving desire to be a part of the productive picture, and will give all to achieve this status given the opportunity. A significant percentage of these employees will quickly become disillusioned if left to their own thought processes.

A good employer will very carefully aim before shooting. If an employee errs the employer should weigh up the situation. Has the employee received appropriate training for the task that has proven problematic? Is the work station appropriately set out for the task in hand, in accord with the needs of the individual employee? By not taking these considerations into the equation an employer can sow the seed of negativity, thereby making themselves the root of the problem.

There is a simple solution however.

The performance appraisal. Let's look at the advantages of the appraisal process from both perspectives.

For the employee:

It will no longer be a guessing game for the employee as to where their involvement fits within the organisation's ultimate objective, even if a positive outcome ultimately depends upon a little corrective therapy such as training or a change of occupational direction.

For the employer:

The information resulting from the application of the appraisal will give the employer valuable information concerning the progress and needs of the employee, thereby outlining areas of the operation that need fine tuning in order to improve the efficiency of the organisation.

The ultimate benefit from utilising the performance appraisal is that all parties stand to gain considerably from the process because everyone knows exactly where they stand in the eyes of the other, eliminating guesswork from the equation.

Until recently the performance appraisal has been used effectively for the upstairs' employee. It is surely now time to present the shop floor with this effective tool.

How does it work?

Generally the employee is given a self assessment form with graded tick boxes, a typical question on the form would be similar to, How do you feel that your employer values your input to the company' there would be a number of tick boxes numbered 1 to 5, the employee ticks the box that fits their estimation, say 1 for poor to 5 very good. When it comes to the meeting the employer will discuss the rating, and a realistic value will be determined.

If the agreed figure falls short of the employers expectations, this can be addressed by either training the employee further, or by determining a position that suits the employee's skills and abilities to better effect.

The outcome:

A workforce that knows for sure their value within the organisation, and a company with a positive and efficient workforce.

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