A performance appraisal in healthcare settings
A performance appraisal is an evaluation of an employee's job performance over a specific time period (Truss et al., 2012). It is analogous to a worker's report card and how their supervisor evaluated their performance over the previous year. Many research have been carried out to investigate the usefulness and downsides of performance appraisal in healthcare settings (Jiang et al., 2012).
The importance of performance appraisals
Some performance evaluations are poorly constructed, resulting in a bad experience for both the employee and the boss. As a result, while performance appraisals are important in healthcare settings, they might have unintended consequences if not correctly constructed. According to Flynn et al., (2015), performance appraisals are important components in the healthcare settings because they offer status reports on the job performance of staff. The researchers suggested that the workforce accept the process of appraisal in order to understand where they are in terms of their job performance and their responsibilities within the healthcare facility (Flynn et al., 2015). The study concurs with other empirical evidence, which noted that a periodic performance appraisal enables the manager to deliver a positive feedback and detect the departments, which needs further improvement. In addition, it argued that they could act as a foundation for a development strategy so that health practitioners can enhance their skills (Kim, Farmer & Porter, 2013).
Establishing rapport through performance appraisals
Performance appraisals are also crucial in health care facilities because they assist in establishment of rapport. According to Jiang et al., (2012), performance appraisal offers an opportunity to have a candid discussion with the workforce. In so doing, it permits the manager the manager to create a rapport with the employees. The research pointed out those avenues improves communication between the workers and the management. In most cases, it solves problems associated with lack of proper communication because it opens up process to explain the standards on which performance is assessed. In this regard, the workforce will gain higher understanding on the best way to execute their mandate (Jiang et al., 2012). For instance, they learn new ways of being patient-focused when interacting with them. Therefore, it ultimately contribute in the improvement of the quality of service.
Performance appraisals and career pathway
In the health care setting, performance appraisal is beneficial tool, which play a major part in the career pathway. Scholars such as Flynn et al., (2015) revealed out that it assist in addressing long-life goals in the worker's career on the daily basis. In this way, it creates an opportunity for the worker to be of beneficial use to the health facility as he/she feels valued and pleased. Opening a way toward an effective career path motivates stability and loyalty. Additionally, it can enhance the bottom-line particularly when the first priority of the employee is well-being of the patient and ultimately his or her career (Flynn et al., 2015).
Quality services and improvements through performance appraisals
Moreover, performance appraisal is advantageous to the healthcare facility because it leads to quality services and improvements. In most cases, when they are properly planned and implemented they inspire good services to the patients from the staff. Similarly, it can be used to highlight areas that require areas that require more improvement (Kim, Farmer & Porter, 2013).
Negative impacts of poorly designed performance appraisals
On the flipside, they can be a source of negative impacts in the health organization especially when poorly designed. Truss et al., (2012) suggested that performance appraisal could erode the motivation of health practitioners because of increased rate of conflict between subjects and supervisors. ultimately, it reduces their inspiration. Furthermore, such processes are likely to increase appraiser bias because of subjective concepts (Truss et al., 2012). Bias can also influence the outcome of objective peer reviewed processes on performance appraisals. Consequently, most employees have lost faith in performance appraisal hence they do not consider them as credible performance measure (Kim, Farmer & Porter, 2013).
Conclusion
Scholars have argued that performance appraisal systems have a wide range of benefits and drawbacks. They are beneficial to the health care organizations because they provide status reports, helps to establish rapport or communication, and identify opportunities. They are important components in the healthcare settings because they offer status reports on the job performance of staff (Flynn et al., 2015). They also create an opportunity to provide quality services for the patients in hospitals. On the other hand, they can be a source conflicts between employees and the management, which affects their morale.
References
Flynn, W. J., Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., & Valentine, S. R. (2015). Healthcare human resource management. Nelson Education.
Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., & Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of management Journal, 55(6), 1264-1294.
Kim, J. Y., Farmer, P., & Porter, M. E. (2013). Redefining global health-care delivery. The Lancet, 382(9897), 1060-1069.
Truss, C., Mankin, D., & Kelliher, C. (2012). Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
