Performance Appraisal &Training - Human Resources Interview Questions & Answers

What are the objectives of performance appraisal system? The main objectives of a performance appraisal system are: i.) To increases the employee effectiveness by helping them understand their role better. ii.) To help the employees understand their strengths and weakness in the current role. iii.) To help the managers in identifying the training needs of their sub-ordinates. iv.) To improve the relationship between the line manager and his team members by making them realize that they are dependent on each other for better performance. v.) To help the line mangers and their team members in improving the communication by discussing the problem in achieving the targets and finding the potential solutions. vi.) To provide the employee an opportunity for self evaluation and self development which are important to achieve the goals. vii.) To prepare the employees for higher roles. viii.) To create a positive work atmosphere. ix.) To collect the information about each employee through personal meeting which is useful in making managerial decisions.

Why do performance appraisal systems fail? Many a times the performance appraisal system tries to assess the personality traits of its employees through their line manager. There are two types of problems in this: a.) The employees do not open up as they do not want any negative personality trait to be recorded in official records. b.) The line managers are not fully trained and capable of assessing the personality traits of employees.

What are the important components of a performance appraisal system format? The important components of a comprehensive performance appraisal system format are: i.) Identification of KPIs and target setting – periodically through a discussion between the employee and his line manger ii.) Identification of personal qualities required for the current and higher roles and developing them iii.) Self appraisal – by the appraisee iv.) Identification of factors which have helped and hindered in achieving the set goals. v.) Discussion about the performance and counselling of the appraisee by the appraiser vi.) Identification of training needs for current and higher role. vii.) Setting up the goals and plan of action viii.) Assessment by the superior – training and development needs, any rewards or punishments.

What are KPIs? KPI – Key performance indices, as the name suggests is a list of parameters against which the performance of an employee is measured. These indices are usually quantifiable in nature.

What are major criteria to assess the performance of employees? The major criteria to assess the performance of employees are: i.) Job Knowledge ii.) Planning iii.) Ability to organise and utilize resources iv.) Communication skills v.) Relationship with superiors, peers, subordinates & associates vi.) Ability to make decisions vii.) Winning instinct – Can do attitude viii.) Team working capabilities

How is appraisal system used as a tool to chalk out employee's career progression? - Performance appraisal system assesses the candidate’s performance in various areas. - It also helps in identifying the training needs of an employee - The line manager gets an idea about the area of interest of the candidate in which he wants to grow, his ability to take more responsibilities etc. All these put together help in chalking out the employee’s career progression in the organization.

How does appraisal help in counselling interview? The purpose of the counselling interview conducted by the line manager is to help his subordinate in objectively analyzing his performance. The information collected through the performance appraisal form and interview helps the manager in conducting this counselling interview. It helps the employee in: i.) Understanding himself. ii.) Improving his behaviour which helps his professional and interpersonal competence. iii.) Setting future goals and formulating an action plan. iv.) Finding out the alternatives to deal with problems.

Explain: a.) 180 degree performance appraisal system. b.) 360 degree performance appraisal system. a.) 180 degree performance appraisal system. - It is single-tier appraisal and feedback system. - Candidate performs the self appraisal separately - His line manager performs the appraisal separately - They hold an appraisal meeting to discuss their reviews and agree on the ratings in various areas. - This is followed by identifying the training and development needs and an action plan to improve the performance. b.) 360 degree performance appraisal system. - It is a multi-rater appraisal and feedback system. - The individual is assessed by a number of people – superiors, subordinates, peers, customers etc. - The assessment is performed on a specially designed questionnaire which measures behaviours critical for the performance in the role. - The appraisal is performed anonymously by various people - The assessments are consolidated and shared with the candidate.

What can you aim to achieve through 360 degree performance appraisal system? We can aim to achieve the following through 360 degree performance appraisal system: i.) Information about the strengths and weaknesses of an employee in a particular role ii.) Identification of training and development needs to perform better in the current role and prepare for the higher role. iii.) Collect data as an objective basis for rewards and other decisions iv.) Basis for performance based pay or awards v.) Aligning individual and organizational goals

What are the pre-requisites of a 360 degree appraisal system? The main pre-requisites of a 360 degree appraisal system are: i.) Commitment from the top management to continuously develop the competencies of the employees ii.) Proper implementation of various HR systems iii.) Willingness of the management to let the employees learn from each other and their own mistakes. iv.) Willingness of the management to spend time in providing feedback to their sub-ordinates v.) Willingness of the management to accept the feedback from their sub-ordinates and peers. vi.) Not too many status barriers and ego issues vii.) Openness of the people to accept feedback and use it for development viii.) Feedback is not used for political advantage ix.) Emphasis on teamwork in the organization x.) HR department is highly credible xi.) High degree of process orientation in the organization xii.) High value to the values in the organization xiii.) Emphasis on building competencies

What are the main phases of a 360 degree appraisal system? Following are the main phases of a 360 degree appraisal system: i.) Orientation – Information about the importance and details of the process is passed on to the participants. Ii.) Questionnaire distribution iii.) Monitoring and follow up iv.) Data feeding and report generation v.) Conducting the workshop vi.) Counselling of employees

What do you know about following appraisal systems? a.) Graphic Rating Scales - This method is also called as linear rating scales or simple rating scales method - Judgement about the performance are recorded on a scale - The appraisers are given the forms which carries the various criteria on which the employees are to be rated - It is a simple and quick method, which makes it popular b.) Ranking method - The employees are rated from best to worst on some characteristics - The rater chooses the best and the worst employees from a group and rates them. -He then chooses the second best and worst set and goes on - The reliability and validity of this method is under doubt as it may suffer from rater’s bias, fluctuating performances or varying standards. c.) Paired comparison method - Under this method each employee is rated against all the members in the group. - It could be fairly applied where the number of employees are less. - This method is time consuming. - The performance is compared to other employees rather than specific job criteria d.) Forced distribution method - This method is developed to prevent the raters from rating too high or too low. - In this method, the raters are required to spread their employee evaluations in a prescribed distribution. - It eliminates central tendency and leniency biases. What is training? Training an erudition process that embroils the procurement of knowledge, honing of skills, rubrics, or change in insolences and components to enhance the employees performance. List out steps to make Training Effective for Employees. i.Training Need Analysis: The first step to make training effective for your employees is to make an analysis on the skills that need to be trained on. Comprehensive need and skills analyses will help you define the needs of your employees, which will assist you in knowing what kind of training program you need to define for them. ii.Why do they need training: You need to make your employees aware on the reasons as to why they require that particular training? Once they will be convinced for the reasons they require training, they will take more interest in the training. iii.Contents of the training program: Once you have determined the needs and defined the training program as per the needs analysis; you need to introduce the content of the training to the employees. iv.Relevance of the training: There is enough workload on an employee, we all agree to that. So, if an employee feels during the training session that it will not be advantageous for him in anyway, he will feel frustrated to attend the training. v.Meticulous training: The training provided to the employee should be exhaustive so that it trains the employee to deal with every small and big situation in an effective manner. vi.Evaluating the training: Once the training is over, you need to evaluate the effects of training on the employees, i.e., you need to see whether the training improved the job performance of the employee or not. What is the difference between Training and Learning? Training: The emphasis of training is on the development of skills. Training is about divulging new information and making us cognizant on how to make use of the information. Training is also hooked on to the awareness of the trainer. Learning: Learning is focused on how an individual smears to the new information that he has received from training. Learning is the course of altering people’s understanding and slant to organizational as well as personal vagaries. Learning is an elongated process that often integrates training, evolving and preparing individuals with the tools to be competent enough to handle both known as well as unknown challenges. Difference between Training and Development? Training: The emphasis of training is on the development of skills. Training is about divulging new information and making us cognizant on how to make use of the information. Training is also hooked on to the awareness of the trainer. Development: Development is an incessant, general and vigorous expansion of skills and knowledge. Development is targeted at long-term career growth rather than instantaneous performance. How are training needs identified? The training needs can be identified in a number of ways, they are: - During interviews - By taking feedback from the employees colleagues, business partners or through clients - By conducting competency or knowledge tests - While conducting performance appraisals - If the employees have demanded for training from the management - Based on industry specific research, for example, due to new additions in the industry. How are performance appraisal and training need assessment related? One of the ways to identify the need for training is through performance appraisal. The motive of performance appraisal is to not only judge the performance of the employee but also on the skills of the employee. While conducting a performance appraisal you not only check whether the employee has been able to achieve his targets but also a 360 degree feedback is taken from his colleagues, clients as well as other business delegates with whom he is interacting with on a daily basis. Based on the evaluation of the performance appraisal as well as the feedback forms his colleagues and other people involved for businesses purposes you can identify the area on which the employee needs training. How would you evaluate the results of training? Evaluating training is a continuous process. You need to keep evaluating the process right from analysing the training need to the completion of training. i. Participant satisfaction as well as reaction: This is the basic way of evaluating the results of training. Often this is the starting and ending way to evaluate the results of training. How satisfied the participants are from the training is the main criteria of evaluation and the positive results of the training are based on the satisfaction of the employees. ii. How much knowledge has been acquired from the training: The second stage of evaluating result is how much knowledge has been imparted to the participants from the training. This is usually measured through a questionnaire as well as how they are performing post the training. iii. Behavioural Application: If the subject of the training is based on behavioural aspect, then post the training the behaviour of the employee is tested to see how effective the training has been. The behaviour of the employee could be based on the job front or basis on the relations with his contemporaries. iv. Business improvement: From the training, how much has the business been profited? In other terms, it is calculating the Return on Investment. Not only is the Return on Investment calculated but also has the performance of the employee improved? Explain following training models: i. System Model: The system model consists of 5 phases which should be repeated on a regular basis to make further improvements. Below given are the 5 steps in system model: a. Analyse and Identify: You need to scrutinize the department, job, prerequisites of the employees, who amongst the lot of employees entail for the training program, theme of training, expenditures involved in the training. b. Designing and providing the training: This step embroils categorising and developing the objectives of training c. Developing: Once you designed the objectives of the training, now is the time when you got to list down the activities that you would be carrying forward in the training sessions. d. Implementing: The most difficult part of the entire training process is this, the implementation. If you make one small mistake and you entire planning will go for a toss and your training program will not be able to reach its goal. e. Evaluating: Evaluating each step is necessary. If you falter anywhere you will be able to rectify it on an early stage hence reducing the chances of failure on each stage. ii. Instructional System Development Model: Often referred to as the ISD model. A widely used model in the organizations as this particular training model is in conjunction with performance and responsibilities of the employee. This model also comprises of 5 phases, they are as follows: a. Analysis: In this phase you analyse the key responsibilities as well as your target audience who will be receiving the training. The analysis is done in three phases, they are: - Needs assessment – related to problem faced while performing on the job - Job analysis – analysis of the key responsibilities involved to complete your job - Target audience analysis – the prospective people who can be elected for the training b. Design: This is the planning stage of this model. The main purpose of this model is to transmute appropriate content into succinct, behavioural objectives, generating the instructional design or commonly known as “blue print” that will direct the development of all training resources, quizzes and approaches. The design elements are: - Goals statement – describing the desired outcome of the training - Instructional Objectives – measuring the behaviour level of the employee post training including the performance of the employee post training - Instructional strategies: arranging the instructional objectives in the order of performing on the job, ease of performance, complexity of the task. - Evaluation Methods: Deciding on how you will be evaluating the employee during the training as well as post training. - Types of training material: includes texts, guides, workbooks, training aids, visual aids and case studies - Media Selection: How will you be imparting the training keeping in account the number and characteristic of trainees? For example, any of the media options, or will it be an interactive session. - Design Document: a document that will guide you in the development, implementation and evaluation of the training. c. Development: In this phase you translate the design into training materials. Using the elements from the design phase you create your training material, i.e., - Course material for the trainer - Course material for the trainee - Evaluation instruments d. Implementation: This is the phase where you are implementing by taking into consideration all the points mentioned above. The implementation phase involves the logistical arrangements such as which place will the training be conducted, setting the location as per the training environment, setting up and using the equipment’s, etc. And then finally you do the delivery part of training, the most important and deciding factor for the success or failure of the training. e. Evaluation: Evaluation is necessary as you ought to know whether you have reached the desired goals or not. Has the training put some effect on the trainees? You need to know all these details and hence evaluation is necessary. iii. Transitional Model: the transitional model is based on the vision mission and values of the organization. Hence the attention is more on the organizational goals. Explain following job training methods: a. Coaching – The goal of coaching is to improve the performance of the employee. Coaching focuses on the individual needs of an employee and is considered to be less formal than any other type of training. b. Mentoring – There is a very thin line to differentiate between coaching and mentoring. Where coaching is done online, mentoring is done offline and is just a help offered by one person to another in carrying out the work without any hurdles. c. Job rotation – Job rotation is usually done to give an enlarged perspective of the business or to give global opportunities to the employee. It is mostly used for junior employees who can prospectively replace senior level employees. d. Job Instruction Technique – This training method focuses on knowledge, skills and attitude development. It consists of 4 steps, i. Plan – Making the trainer aware of the kind of work you carry. ii. Present – the trainer presents the synopsis as well as the different aspects of the work iii. Trial – You actually step into the shoes of the other person and perform the chores to gain practical experience before taking over completely iv. Follow up – the trainer follows up with the employee so as to avoid any kind of mistakes made by the trainee. Explain following forms of training done with games and simulation: a. Behaviour Modelling – In this kind of training the trainees are usually shown a video of a prospective person, in which the behaviour or any particular process is video – taped for the trainees to learn from that video and behave accordingly. b. Business Games – are based on the rules, procedures, plans, relationships and functions performed by the organization. This kind of training is usually imparted when any new employee joins the organization. In the business games, the trainees are provided with restricted data on a precise circumstance and are probed to make pronouncements in errand of the organization. c. Case Studies – In this the trainees are provided with certain case studies, which the top management either from the same organization or from any other organization in the same business must have dealt with. Based on the case studies, the trainees are supposed to give their solutions on the same problem. The main motive of this is to acquaint the trainees with the problem rather than the solution. d. Equipment Stimulator - Equipment simulators are the mechanical devices that compel the novices to use some actions, strategies, methods, trials, activities, or decision procedures they would use with apparatus back on in the organizations. e. In – basket technique – In this, some material in form of text or memos is given to the trainee. The text or memos include information about the responsibilities to be carried out by the trainee. And with the data available the trainee is supposed to respond to the questions posed by the trainer within a limited time frame. Following which the trainer provides a feedback with the suitable options. f. Role Plays – It is a technique in which the trainees are given certain roles to be enacted. This technique helps in developing interpersonal as well as communication skills, team building skills as well as group decision making skills amongst the employees. What do you know about following in Computer Based Training? a) Intelligent Tutorial System – This system makes use of artificial intelligence in training. In this, the system acquires through the rejoinders of the trainee. b) Programmed Instruction - Programmed instruction is the technique of guiding the accomplices deliberately through the information in a way that expedites the most operative and effective learning. It provides the participant with content, material, probes queries, and based on the response it goes to the next level of information. c) Virtual Reality – As the name suggests, this method puts the trainee into a 3-D environment, wherein the environment stimulates situations that an employee can face while on the job – front. With this kind of training the employee can learn about the potential dangers or situations that he could face on the job front. What do you know about following traditional methods of training? a. Demonstration – The trainer demonstrates the way an employee can perform his regular chores at the work place while avoiding any complex situation. In case faced with any complex situation, the trainer also helps in dealing those complex situations. b. Discussions – In this, both the trainer as well as the trainee discusses the problems an employee faces on the job front and the trainer then provides a solution to deal with the problems. The discussion could be relating anything, problems while performing on job, interacting with colleagues, lack of confidence. c. Lectures – It is the oldest form of imparting training. In fact no training can be complete without a part of lecture in it. This form of training is usually imparted when there is no scope or very little scope of argument amongst the trainer and the trainee. Lecture system is used when the trainer just has to impart certain information to the trainee, i.e. may be about the vision, mission, and policies of the organization. d. Management Development – Management Development plays an imperative role in making the organization more competitive. In this the management align their employees with strategical planning in order to be more competitive. Especially this kind of a training is of high importance as competition os very high in all the sectors.