Who Are the Customers of Performance Appraisals?

HR management gives rise to what is probably one of the most niggling questions ever: Why are we doing what we’re doing, and for whom? CEOs or managers are advised to direct this question to their HR managers whenever there are HR activities or measures looming. The answers are particularly exciting when it comes to the annual performance appraisal. You could also ask the more specific question here of: Who would have a problem if we didn’t do it? You would receive a response listing a whole number of points. And who benefits? “Somehow, everyone does. The employees, the managers, the company”. It is common for these sorts of answers to be met with caution. At the end of the last chapter, the goals and purposes usually associated with annual performance appraisals were briefly outlined. This chapter will now pick up on these and discuss them in more detail. The benefit categories play a key role in the general argument raised by this book. It becomes clear that any thoughts regarding implementation must start with the intended benefit. Later in the book, I attempt to illustrate that, depending on the framework conditions at the company, alternative approaches may even seem a more appropriate way of achieving the benefits explored below.