essay in performance appraisal

What is the Essay Method for Performance Appraisals?

While some would label it as the “grandfather” of performance appraisal methods, the essay method is still a commonly used appraisal method in a variety of business models. The essay method, sometimes known as the “free-form method,” is a performance review system where a superior creates a written review of the employee’s performance.

These essays are meant to describe and record an employee’s strengths and weaknesses in job performance, identifying problem areas and creating a plan of action to remedy them. Whether the essay is written by the appraiser alone, or in collaboration with the appraisee, essays provide supervisors the opportunity to assess behaviors and performance with greater complexity and attention to detail.

There are many reasons that the essay method--which was one of the first methods used to evaluate performance--is still effective today.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of essay appraisals is their free-form approach to performance reviews. Whereas some employers can feel limited by rigid performance appraisal criteria, the essay method takes a far less structured stance than typical rating scale methods. In so doing, the appraiser is able to examine any relevant issue or attribute of performance that is pertinent to an employee’s job description or overall company growth.

The essay method assumes that not all employee traits and behaviors can be neatly analyzed, dissected, and rated--instead, it allows appraisers to place varied degrees of emphasis on certain qualities, issues, or attributes that are appropriate. Rather than being locked into a fixed system, this open-ended method gives supervisors the freedom of expression and critical thought. For appraisers, there exist special services such as StudyCrumb , which help in writing accurate essays.

When preparing an essay, a supervisor may consider any of the following factors of an employee as they relate to the company and employee relationship: potential and job knowledge, understanding of the company’s policies, relationships with peers and supervisors, planning and organization, and general attitudes and perceptions. This thorough, non-quantitative assessment provides a good deal more information about an employee than most other performance appraisal techniques.

However, as with all performance appraisal methods, there are a few limitations that the essay method suffers from that are worth examining.

One of the major drawbacks of the essay method is its highly subjective nature--they are often subject to bias, and it can be difficult to separate the assessment of the employee from the bias of the evaluator. While the essay can provide a good deal of information about the employee, it tends to tell more about the evaluator than the one being evaluated.

Another element that essays leave out (that other appraisal methods rely heavily on) is comparative results. Instead of utilizing standardized, numeric questions, these appraisals rely only on open-ended questions. While the essay method gives managers the ability to provide detailed and circumstantial information on a specific employee’s performance, it removes the component of comparing performance with other employees. This often makes it difficult for HR to distinguish top performers.

Overall, the appraisal method’s greatest advantage--the freedom of expression for the evaluator--can also serve as its greatest handicap. Even the actual writing of the reviews can upset or distort the process of employee appraisals, as the introduction of inconsistent, unorganized, or poor writing styles can distort and upset the review process. An employee may be unfairly helped or harmed by an evaluator’s writing ability. An evaluator can also find themselves lacking sufficient time to prepare the essay, and can write an essay hurriedly without accurately assessing an employee’s performance.

What is the essay method best used for?

Appraisal by essay is generally most effective in performance reviews for employees with atypical job descriptions or non-numerical goals. While other appraisals work well in analyzing performance for jobs that are subject to goals based on numbers, essays offer a more subjective analysis of performance for employees with managerial or customer service positions.

When analyzing production, the essay method is most effective in combination with another appraisal method. Using a graphic rating scale along with essay appraisals allows one method to focus solely on numbers, while the essay portion can be used to analyze other performance goals.

Doing essay appraisals right

Here are 3 things to strive for in order to set your company up for success in essay performance appraisals:

• Consistency.

Keeping a standard for style and length of essay appraisals can make the biggest difference in ensuring that your reviews are effective. Essays that are unstructured and unnecessarily complex can be detrimental to an employee’s rating, as well as using unspecific, flowery language that is not relevant to the employee’s performance. In order to remain efficient and effective, today’s evaluators should focus on making appraisal essays short and specific, ensuring that the entire review reflects the performance of the employee.

The appraiser should also ensure that they are making sufficient time in their schedule to prepare the essay. A busy evaluator may compromise an employee’s performance rating by writing a hurried essay, or running out of time to thoroughly assess employee performance. It’s important for all participants of essay appraisals to take enough time to write a consistent, accurate, and succinct review in order to set employees up for success.

2. Proficiency.

If you’ve chosen to use essay appraisals in your organization, it’s important to ensure that your appraisers possess the ability to write well. Even if an essay contains detailed, circumstantial information, it becomes difficult to extract valuable data from a poorly written essay. To ensure that nothing stands between an HR professional’s ability to assess an employee’s performance, evaluators should be trained as well-equipped writers.

Giving writing assistant tools or tips to supervisors can make all the difference in the accuracy and efficiency of an employee’s performance review.

2. Objectivity.

Subjectivity is both a strength and a weakness in essay appraisals. Not only are essays themselves often biased, but the misinterpretation of essays can even further distance the main evaluator from an accurate portrayal of an employee’s performance. Including objective standards in a performance review results in a more balanced and productive review process, and helps to eliminate the forming of incorrect conclusions about an employee’s behavior and performance.

Organizations often implement this goal by pairing essay appraisals with another appraisal method, such as graphic scale ratings, to draw more accurate conclusions and performance data. In so doing, evaluators can utilize all of the free expression and open-ended characteristics of an essay appraisal, while still maintaining accurate, easily translated results that are effective for the overall organization.

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11.2 Appraisal Methods

Learning objective.

• Be able to describe the various appraisal methods.

It probably goes without saying that different industries and jobs need different kinds of appraisal methods. For our purposes, we will discuss some of the main ways to assess performance in a performance evaluation form. Of course, these will change based upon the job specifications for each position within the company. In addition to industry-specific and job-specific methods, many organizations will use these methods in combination, as opposed to just one method. There are three main methods of determining performance. The first is the trait method , in which managers look at an employee’s specific traits in relation to the job, such as friendliness to the customer. The behavioral method looks at individual actions within a specific job. Comparative methods compare one employee with other employees. Results methods are focused on employee accomplishments, such as whether or not employees met a quota.

Within the categories of performance appraisals, there are two main aspects to appraisal methods. First, the criteria are the aspects the employee is actually being evaluated on, which should be tied directly to the employee᾿s job description. Second, the rating is the type of scale that will be used to rate each criterion in a performance evaluation: for example, scales of 1–5, essay ratings, or yes/no ratings. Tied to the rating and criteria is the weighting each item will be given. For example, if “communication” and “interaction with client” are two criteria, the interaction with the client may be weighted more than communication, depending on the job type. We will discuss the types of criteria and rating methods next.

Graphic Rating Scale

The graphic rating scale , a behavioral method, is perhaps the most popular choice for performance evaluations. This type of evaluation lists traits required for the job and asks the source to rate the individual on each attribute. A discrete scale is one that shows a number of different points. The ratings can include a scale of 1–10; excellent, average, or poor; or meets, exceeds, or doesn’t meet expectations, for example. A continuous scale shows a scale and the manager puts a mark on the continuum scale that best represents the employee’s performance. For example:

The disadvantage of this type of scale is the subjectivity that can occur. This type of scale focuses on behavioral traits and is not specific enough to some jobs. Development of specific criteria can save an organization in legal costs. For example, in Thomas v. IBM , IBM was able to successfully defend accusations of age discrimination because of the objective criteria the employee (Thomas) had been rated on.

Many organizations use a graphic rating scale in conjunction with other appraisal methods to further solidify the tool’s validity. For example, some organizations use a mixed standard scale , which is similar to a graphic rating scale. This scale includes a series of mixed statements representing excellent, average, and poor performance, and the manager is asked to rate a “+” (performance is better than stated), “0” (performance is at stated level), or “−” (performance is below stated level). Mixed standard statements might include the following:

• The employee gets along with most coworkers and has had only a few interpersonal issues.
• This employee takes initiative.
• The employee consistently turns in below-average work.
• The employee always meets established deadlines.

An example of a graphic rating scale is shown in Figure 11.1 “Example of Graphic Rating Scale” .

Essay Appraisal

In an essay appraisal , the source answers a series of questions about the employee’s performance in essay form. This can be a trait method and/or a behavioral method, depending on how the manager writes the essay. These statements may include strengths and weaknesses about the employee or statements about past performance. They can also include specific examples of past performance. The disadvantage of this type of method (when not combined with other rating systems) is that the manager’s writing ability can contribute to the effectiveness of the evaluation. Also, managers may write less or more, which means less consistency between performance appraisals by various managers.

Checklist Scale

A checklist method for performance evaluations lessens the subjectivity, although subjectivity will still be present in this type of rating system. With a checklist scale , a series of questions is asked and the manager simply responds yes or no to the questions, which can fall into either the behavioral or the trait method, or both. Another variation to this scale is a check mark in the criteria the employee meets, and a blank in the areas the employee does not meet. The challenge with this format is that it doesn’t allow more detailed answers and analysis of the performance criteria, unless combined with another method, such as essay ratings. A sample of a checklist scale is provided in Figure 11.3 “Example of Checklist Scale” .

Figure 11.1 Example of Graphic Rating Scale

Figure 11.2 Example of Essay Rating

Figure 11.3 Example of Checklist Scale

Critical Incident Appraisals

This method of appraisal, while more time-consuming for the manager, can be effective at providing specific examples of behavior. With a critical incident appraisal , the manager records examples of the employee’s effective and ineffective behavior during the time period between evaluations, which is in the behavioral category. When it is time for the employee to be reviewed, the manager will pull out this file and formally record the incidents that occurred over the time period. The disadvantage of this method is the tendency to record only negative incidents instead of postive ones. However, this method can work well if the manager has the proper training to record incidents (perhaps by keeping a weekly diary) in a fair manner. This approach can also work well when specific jobs vary greatly from week to week, unlike, for example, a factory worker who routinely performs the same weekly tasks.

Work Standards Approach

For certain jobs in which productivity is most important, a work standards approach could be the more effective way of evaluating employees. With this results-focused approach, a minimum level is set and the employee’s performance evaluation is based on this level. For example, if a sales person does not meet a quota of $1 million, this would be recorded as nonperforming. The downside is that this method does not allow for reasonable deviations. For example, if the quota isn’t made, perhaps the employee just had a bad month but normally performs well. This approach works best in long-term situations, in which a reasonable measure of performance can be over a certain period of time. This method is also used in manufacuring situations where production is extremely important. For example, in an automotive assembly line, the focus is on how many cars are built in a specified period, and therefore, employee performance is measured this way, too. Since this approach is centered on production, it doesn’t allow for rating of other factors, such as ability to work on a team or communication skills, which can be an important part of the job, too.

Ranking Methods

In a ranking method system (also called stack ranking), employees in a particular department are ranked based on their value to the manager or supervisor. This system is a comparative method for performance evaluations.The manager will have a list of all employees and will first choose the most valuable employee and put that name at the top. Then he or she will choose the least valuable employee and put that name at the bottom of the list. With the remaining employees, this process would be repeated. Obviously, there is room for bias with this method, and it may not work well in a larger organization, where managers may not interact with each employee on a day-to-day basis.

To make this type of evaluation most valuable (and legal), each supervisor should use the same criteria to rank each individual. Otherwise, if criteria are not clearly developed, validity and halo effects could be present. The Roper v. Exxon Corp case illustrates the need for clear guidelines when using a ranking system. At Exxon, the legal department attorneys were annually evaluated and then ranked based on input from attorneys, supervisors, and clients. Based on the feedback, each attorney for Exxon was ranked based on their relative contribution and performance. Each attorney was given a group percentile rank (i.e., 99 percent was the best-performing attorney). When Roper was in the bottom 10 percent for three years and was informed of his separation with the company, he filed an age discrimination lawsuit. The courts found no correlation between age and the lowest-ranking individuals, and because Exxon had a set of established ranking criteria, they won the case (Grote, 2005).

Another consideration is the effect on employee morale should the rankings be made public. If they are not made public, morale issues may still exist, as the perception might be that management has “secret” documents.

Fortune 500 Focus

Critics have long said that a forced ranking system can be detrimental to morale; it focuses too much on individual performance as opposed to team performance. Some say a forced ranking system promotes too much competition in the workplace. However, many Fortune 500 companies use this system and have found it works for their culture. General Electric (GE) used perhaps one of the most well-known forced ranking systems. In this system, every year managers placed their employees into one of three categories: “A” employees are the top 20 percent, “B” employees are the middle 70 percent, and “C” performers are the bottom 10 percent. In GE’s system, the bottom 10 percent are usually either let go or put on a performance plan. The top 20 percent are given more responsibility and perhaps even promoted. However, even GE has reinvented this stringent forced ranking system. In 2006, it changed the system to remove references to the 20/70/10 split, and GE now presents the curve as a guideline. This gives more freedom for managers to distribute employees in a less stringent manner 1 .

The advantages of a forced ranking system include that it creates a high-performance work culture and establishes well-defined consequences for not meeting performance standards. In recent research, a forced ranking system seems to correlate well with return on investment to shareholders. For example, the study (Sprenkel, 2011) shows that companies who use individual criteria (as opposed to overall performance) to measure performance outperform those who measure performance based on overall company success. To make a ranking system work, it is key to ensure managers have a firm grasp on the criteria on which employees will be ranked. Companies using forced rankings without set criteria open themselves to lawsuits, because it would appear the rankings happen based on favoritism rather than quantifiable performance data. For example, Ford in the past used forced ranking systems but eliminated the system after settling class action lawsuits that claimed discrimination (Lowery, 2011). Conoco also has settled lawsuits over its forced ranking systems, as domestic employees claimed the system favored foreign workers (Lowery, 2011). To avoid these issues, the best way to develop and maintain a forced ranking system is to provide each employee with specific and measurable objectives, and also provide management training so the system is executed in a fair, quantifiable manner.

In a forced distribution system, like the one used by GE, employees are ranked in groups based on high performers, average performers, and nonperformers. The trouble with this system is that it does not consider that all employees could be in the top two categories, high or average performers, and requires that some employees be put in the nonperforming category.

In a paired comparison system, the manager must compare every employee with every other employee within the department or work group. Each employee is compared with another, and out of the two, the higher performer is given a score of 1. Once all the pairs are compared, the scores are added. This method takes a lot of time and, again, must have specific criteria attached to it when comparing employees.

Human Resource Recall

How can you make sure the performance appraisal ties into a specific job description?

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management by objectives (MBOs) is a concept developed by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management (Drucker, 2006). This method is results oriented and similar to the work standards approach, with a few differences. First, the manager and employee sit down together and develop objectives for the time period. Then when it is time for the performance evaluation, the manager and employee sit down to review the goals that were set and determine whether they were met. The advantage of this is the open communication between the manager and the employee. The employee also has “buy-in” since he or she helped set the goals, and the evaluation can be used as a method for further skill development. This method is best applied for positions that are not routine and require a higher level of thinking to perform the job. To be efficient at MBOs, the managers and employee should be able to write strong objectives. To write objectives, they should be SMART (Doran, 1981):

• Specific. There should be one key result for each MBO. What is the result that should be achieved?
• Measurable. At the end of the time period, it should be clear if the goal was met or not. Usually a number can be attached to an objective to make it measurable, for example “sell $1,000,000 of new business in the third quarter.”
• Attainable. The objective should not be impossible to attain. It should be challenging, but not impossible.
• Result oriented. The objective should be tied to the company’s mission and values. Once the objective is made, it should make a difference in the organization as a whole.
• Time limited. The objective should have a reasonable time to be accomplished, but not too much time.

Setting MBOs with Employees

(click to see video)

An example of how to work with an employee to set MBOs.

To make MBOs an effective performance evaluation tool, it is a good idea to train managers and determine which job positions could benefit most from this type of method. You may find that for some more routine positions, such as administrative assistants, another method could work better.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

A BARS method first determines the main performance dimensions of the job, for example, interpersonal relationships. Then the tool utilizes narrative information, such as from a critical incidents file, and assigns quantified ranks to each expected behavior. In this system, there is a specific narrative outlining what exemplifies a “good” and “poor” behavior for each category. The advantage of this type of system is that it focuses on the desired behaviors that are important to complete a task or perform a specific job. This method combines a graphic rating scale with a critical incidents system. The US Army Research Institute (Phillips, et. al., 2006) developed a BARS scale to measure the abilities of tactical thinking skills for combat leaders. Figure 11.4 “Example of BARS” provides an example of how the Army measures these skills.

Figure 11.4 Example of BARS

Figure 11.5 More Examples of Performance Appraisal Types

How Would You Handle This?

Playing Favorites

You were just promoted to manager of a high-end retail store. As you are sorting through your responsibilities, you receive an e-mail from HR outlining the process for performance evaluations. You are also notified that you must give two performance evaluations within the next two weeks. This concerns you, because you don’t know any of the employees and their abilities yet. You aren’t sure if you should base their performance on what you see in a short time period or if you should ask other employees for their thoughts on their peers’ performance. As you go through the files on the computer, you find a critical incident file left from the previous manager, and you think this might help. As you look through it, it is obvious the past manager had “favorite” employees and you aren’t sure if you should base the evaluations on this information. How would you handle this?

Table 11.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Performance Appraisal Method

Key Takeaways

• When developing performance appraisal criteria, it is important to remember the criteria should be job specific and industry specific.
• The performance appraisal criteria should be based on the job specifications of each specific job. General performance criteria are not an effective way to evaluate an employee.
• The rating is the scale that will be used to evaluate each criteria item. There are a number of different rating methods, including scales of 1–5, yes or no questions, and essay.
• In a graphic rating performance evaluation, employees are rated on certain desirable attributes. A variety of rating scales can be used with this method. The disadvantage is possible subjectivity.
• An essay performance evaluation will ask the manager to provide commentary on specific aspects of the employee’s job performance.
• A checklist utilizes a yes or no rating selection, and the criteria are focused on components of the employee’s job.
• Some managers keep a critical incidents file . These incidents serve as specific examples to be written about in a performance appraisal. The downside is the tendency to record only negative incidents and the time it can take to record this.
• The work standards performance appraisal approach looks at minimum standards of productivity and rates the employee performance based on minimum expectations. This method is often used for sales forces or manufacturing settings where productivity is an important aspect.
• In a ranking performance evaluation system, the manager ranks each employee from most valuable to least valuable. This can create morale issues within the workplace.
• An MBO or management by objectives system is where the manager and employee sit down together, determine objectives, then after a period of time, the manager assesses whether those objectives have been met. This can create great development opportunities for the employee and a good working relationship between the employee and manager.
• An MBO’s objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time limited.
• A BARS approach uses a rating scale but provides specific narratives on what constitutes good or poor performance.

Review each of the appraisal methods and discuss which one you might use for the following types of jobs, and discuss your choices.

• Administrative Assistant
• Chief Executive Officer
• Human Resource Manager
• Retail Store Assistant Manager

1 “The Struggle to Measure Performance,” BusinessWeek , January 9, 2006, accessed August 15, 2011, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_02/b3966060.htm .

Doran, G. T., “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives,” Management Review 70, no. 11 (1981): 35.

Drucker, P., The Practice of Management (New York: Harper, 2006).

Grote, R., Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2005).

Lowery, M., “Forcing the Issue,” Human Resource Executive Online , n.d., accessed August 15, 2011, http://www.hrexecutive.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=4222111&query=ranks .

Phillips, J., Jennifer Shafter, Karol Ross, Donald Cox, and Scott Shadrick, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales for the Assessment of Tactical Thinking Mental Models (Research Report 1854), June 2006, US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, accessed August 15, 2011, http://www.hqda.army.mil/ari/pdf/RR1854.pdf .

Sprenkel, L., “Forced Ranking: A Good Thing for Business?” Workforce Management, n.d., accessed August 15, 2011, http://homepages.uwp.edu/crooker/790-iep-pm/Articles/meth-fd-workforce.pdf .

Human Resource Management Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

The Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

Unleashing the Power of Narrative: A Comprehensive Guide to the Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

In today's dynamic work environment, performance appraisals play a crucial role in driving employee engagement, development, and overall organizational success.  choosing the right appraisal method is essential to ensure insightful feedback, clear goal setting, and a productive dialogue between managers and employees..

This guide delves into the Essay Method of Performance Appraisal, a narrative-based approach that offers a flexible and in-depth way to evaluate employee performance. We'll explore its core principles, advantages and disadvantages, best practices for implementation, and how it compares to other popular appraisal techniques.

Understanding the Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

Definition and core principles.

The Essay Method, also known as the Free-Form Method, is a qualitative performance appraisal approach where the manager writes a narrative description of the employee's performance during the review period. This description typically focuses on the employee's strengths, weaknesses, achievements, contributions, and areas for improvement. Unlike structured methods with predetermined rating scales, the Essay Method allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of an employee's performance.

Here are the core principles of the Essay Method:

• Focus on narrative: The appraisal is written as a story that details the employee's performance journey.
• Emphasis on specific examples: Concrete examples of behaviors, actions, and results support the evaluation of strengths and weaknesses.
• Holistic perspective: The essay considers not just job duties but also the employee's overall contribution to the team and organization.
• Development-oriented: The appraisal should identify areas for improvement and provide actionable plans for growth.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Essay Method

The Essay Method offers several advantages:

• Flexibility: It adapts to any role and allows for a tailored evaluation based on specific job requirements.
• Richness of detail: Managers can delve deeper into specific achievements, challenges, and areas for development.
• Open communication: The narrative format encourages a more open and conversational dialogue between managers and employees.
• Focus on potential: The essay can explore the employee's developmental potential and future aspirations.

However, the Essay Method also has some disadvantages:

• Subjectivity: Evaluations can be subjective and prone to bias if not conducted carefully.
• Time-consuming: Writing a well-crafted essay appraisal can be time-consuming for both managers and employees.
• Lack of standardization: Without clear guidelines, essays might lack consistency across the organization.
• Potential for bias: Unconscious biases can influence the way managers write the essay, impacting its fairness.

When to Use the Essay Method

The Essay Method is well-suited for situations where:

• A holistic evaluation is needed: The appraisal needs to consider not just job duties but also the employee's broader contribution to the team and organization.
• Development is a key focus: The emphasis is on identifying areas for growth and providing a clear roadmap for improvement.
• Roles are complex and multifaceted: The job description is nuanced and requires a more detailed evaluation than a simple rating scale can provide.
• Open communication is desired: The organization prioritizes fostering an environment of open communication and feedback.

Crafting Effective Essay Appraisals

Setting clear expectations and goals.

The foundation of a successful essay appraisal lies in establishing clear expectations and goals at the beginning of the review period. This can be achieved through:

• Performance agreements: Develop a formal document outlining key performance indicators (KPIs), objectives, and expected behaviors for the employee throughout the review period. This agreement serves as a reference point for the essay appraisal, ensuring alignment between expectations and performance evaluation.
• Regular check-ins: Schedule regular one-on-one meetings throughout the review period to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide ongoing feedback. These check-ins provide valuable insights and specific examples that can be woven into the essay appraisal later.

Structuring the Essay Narrative

‍ The structure of your essay appraisal should be clear and easy to follow. Here's a recommended approach:

‍ Introduction:

Briefly introduce the employee and the review period.

‍ Strengths and Achievements:

• Highlight the employee's key strengths and achievements during the review period.
• Use specific examples to showcase how their skills and actions contributed to positive outcomes.
• Quantify achievements whenever possible (e.g., "increased sales by 15%").

Areas for Development:

• Identify areas where the employee can improve.
• Focus on specific behaviors, not personality traits.
• Offer constructive feedback and suggestions for development, outlining potential training opportunities or resources.

Contributions and Teamwork:

• Discuss the employee's contributions to the team and overall organizational goals.
• Describe how they collaborated effectively with colleagues and fostered a positive work environment.
• If applicable, highlight instances where the employee demonstrated leadership or initiative.

Overall Performance:

• Provide a concise summary of the employee's overall performance based on the previous sections.
• Tie back to the established performance agreements or goals set at the beginning of the review period.

Development Plan:

• In collaboration with the employee, outline a clear and actionable development plan for the next review period.
• Specify concrete goals, learning objectives, and resources (e.g., attending workshops, mentoring programs) to support professional growth.

Conclusion:

• Briefly summarize the key takeaways from the appraisal.
• Reiterate the employee's value to the team and organization.
• Express positive support for their continued development and future success.

Focusing on Specifics and Behaviors

‍ The strength of your essay appraisal lies in its ability to move beyond generalities and focus on specific details.  Here's how:

• Example-driven evaluation: Support your evaluation of strengths and weaknesses with concrete examples of the employee's behaviors, actions, and results.
• Quantify whenever possible: When describing achievements, use quantifiable data to illustrate the impact of the employee's work.
• Focus on observable behaviors: Describe the employee's actions and how they played out in specific situations, rather than subjective interpretations of their personality.

Integrating Strengths and Weaknesses

‍ An effective essay appraisal seamlessly integrates the employee's strengths and weaknesses.

• Leveraging strengths: Highlight how the employee's strengths can be applied to address their areas for development.
• Development through strengths: Frame development plans around building on existing strengths to overcome weaknesses.
• Holistic view: Presenting a balanced picture of strengths and weaknesses allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the employee's performance.

Providing Actionable Development Plans

‍ The essay appraisal should not simply identify areas for improvement; it should also provide a clear roadmap for the employee's development.

• SMART goals: Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals for improvement.
• Collaborative planning: Work with the employee to develop the development plan, ensuring their buy-in and commitment to achieving the goals.
• Resource identification: Identify specific resources like training programs, mentoring opportunities, or online courses that can support the employee's development journey.

Remember, a well-crafted development plan fosters a sense of ownership and empowers the employee to take charge of their professional growth.

8 performance appraisal methods you should be aware of

Performance Reviews

Performance appraisals form an essential part of the HR department as they provide important and useful information for the assessment of employee’s performance, skill, knowledge, and overall ability. These appraisals are not only used to eliminate behavior and productivity issues, but also to motivate employees to contribute more. There are many modern performance appraisal methods that organisations can implement depending on their preference: most have their specific advantages as well as limitations. Let us have a look at some of them in more detail.

What are the different performance appraisal methods?

Graphic Rating scale:

A graphic rating scale lists the traits each employee should have and rates workers on a numbered scale for each trait. The scores are meant to separate employees into tiers of performers, which can play a role in determining promotions and salary adjustments.  The method is easy to understand and quite user friendly. It allows behaviors to be quantified making appraisal systems much easier.

What are the methods of performance evaluation in Graphic rating scale?

However, the scale has disadvantages that make it difficult to use as an effective management tool. Even with intense training, some modern performance appraisal methods will be too strict. Some will be too lenient, and others may find it hard to screen out their personal agendas. Although it is good at identifying the best and poorest of employees, it does not help while differentiating between the average employees.

Analyse performance of employees working on Project A from April to June 2017

Essay Performance Appraisal method:

Essay Appraisal is a traditional form of Appraisal also known as “Free Form method.” It involves a description of the employee’s performance by his superior which needs to be based on facts and often includes examples to support the information. Under this method, the rater is asked to express the strengths and weaknesses of the employee’s performance.

What are the techniques of performance appraisal in the Essay Performance Appraisal method?

This technique is normally used with a combination of the graphic rating scale in one of the modern methods variants, because the rater or feedback giver can present the scale in more detail by also giving an explanation for his rating. While preparing the essay on the employee, the rater also needs to consider specific job knowledge, understanding of the company’s policies and objectives, relations with peers, ability to plan and organize, attitude and perception of employees in general.

The Essay performance appraisal methods are non-quantitative and highly subjective. While it provides a good deal of information about the employee, it takes a lot of time of the appraiser which is not always feasible.

Checklist Scale performance appraisal method:

Under this method, a checklist of statements of traits of the employee in the form of Yes or No based questions is prepared. If the person giving the feedback believes strongly that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he checks the item; otherwise, he leaves the item blank. Here the rater only does the reporting or checking and the HR department does the actual evaluation after observing details over a period of time – and it does not allow detailed analysis of the overall performance.

Critical Incidents method:

In this method, managers prepare lists of statements of very effective and ineffective behavior of an employee. These critical incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behavior of employees on the job. The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers behavior.

What is a performance appraisal in Critical Incidents method

At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the evaluation of the workers’ performance. It provides an objective basis for feedback and conducts a thorough discussion of an employee’s performance appraisal process – hence also known as cost accounting method.

Although this method avoids recency bias , there is a tendency for manager and employee both to focus more on the negative incidents than otherwise.

Work Standards performance appraisal method:

In this technique, management establishes the goals openly and sets targets against realistic output standards. These standards are incorporated into the organizational performance appraisal system . Thus each employee has a clear understanding of their duties and knows well what is expected of them. Performance appraisal and interview comments are related to these duties. This makes the appraisal process objective and more accurate. It works best in long-term situations for human resources teams, as it considers performances during that duration and eliminates time consuming processes.

However, it is difficult to compare individual ratings because standards for work may differ from job to job and from employee to employee. It does not allow for reasonable deviations.

Ranking Appraisal:

Here the manager compares an employee to other similar employees, rather than to a standard measurement predefined for employee productivity. The employees are ranked from the highest to the lowest or from the best to the worst. The problem here is that it does not tell how much better or worse one is than another. Also it cannot be used for a large number of employees, or feedback.

Attention to detail

Management by objectives (MBO) methods of performance review are results-oriented. That is, they seek to measure employee performance by examining the extent to which predetermined work objectives have been met. Usually the objectives are established jointly by the supervisor and subordinate. Once an objective is agreed, the employee is usually expected to self-audit; that is, to identify the skills needed to achieve the objective. Typically they do not rely on others to locate and specify their strengths and weaknesses. They are expected to monitor their own development and progress, and drive their future performance. The MBO method of performance review concentrates on actual outcomes.

What makes MBOs efficient is the ability to set SMART Goals i.e. set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant and Time-bound.

The problem of judgmental performance evaluation inherent in the traditional methods of employee performance appraisal process led to some organisations to go for objective evaluation by developing a technique known as “Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)” around the 1960s. This performance appraisal method is considered better than the traditional ones because it provides advantages like a more accurate gauge, clearer standards, 360 degree feedback, and consistency in evaluation.

The BARS method is designed to bring the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative data to the employee appraisal process. It compares an individual employee’s performance against specific examples of behaviour that are anchored to numerical ratings.

Although even this method has its limitations as it is often accused of being subject to unreliability and leniency error.

Performance appraisal process is already being considered a necessary evil . Thus companies need to be careful while selecting out of these appraisal methods and accept feedback on improving the process. The method should be able to provide value to the company starting from the review period as well as the employees and managers.

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How to Conduct a Great Performance Review

• Frank V. Cespedes

What to do before, during, and after the meeting.

The purpose of performance reviews is two-fold: an accurate and actionable evaluation of performance, and then development of that person’s skills in line with job tasks. For recipients, feedback has intrinsic and extrinsic value. Across fields, research shows that people become high performers by identifying specific areas where they need to improve and then practicing those skills with performance feedback.

Dissatisfaction with performance appraisals is pervasive. They are seen as time-consuming, demotivating, inaccurate, biased, and unfair. A McKinsey survey indicates most CEOs don’t find the appraisal process in their companies helps to identify top performers, while over half of employees think their managers don’t get the performance review right. A Gallup study is more negative: Just one in five employees agreed that their company’s performance practices motivated them.

• Frank V. Cespedes is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and the author of Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021).

Partner Center

Performance Appraisal

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist, Valamis

October 24, 2018 · updated April 5, 2024

12 minute read

What is a performance appraisal?

The purpose of a performance appraisal.

• How to organize a performance appraisal process

Performance appraisal examples

Performance appraisal methods.

• 5 Modern method of performance appraisal

A performance appraisal is the periodic assessment of an employee’s job performance as measured by the competency expectations set out by the organization.

The performance assessment often includes both the core competencies required by the organization and also the competencies specific to the employee’s job.

The appraiser, often a supervisor or manager, will provide the employee with constructive, actionable feedback based on the assessment. This in turn provides the employee with the direction needed to improve and develop in their job.

Based on the type of feedback , a performance appraisal is also an opportunity for the organization to recognize employee achievements and future potential.

The purpose of a performance appraisal is two-fold: It helps the organization to determine the value and productivity that employees contribute, and it also helps employees to develop in their own roles.

Benefit for organization

Employee assessments can make a difference in the performance of an organization. They provide insight into how employees are contributing and enable organizations to:

• Identify where management can improve working conditions in order to increase productivity and work quality.
• Address behavioral issues before they impact departmental productivity.
• Encourage employees to contribute more by recognizing their talents and skills
• Support employees in skill and career development
• Improve strategic decision-making in situations that require layoffs, succession planning, or filling open roles internally

Benefit for employee

Performance appraisals are meant to provide a positive outcome for employees. The insights gained from assessing and discussing an employee’s performance can help:

• Recognize and acknowledge the achievements and contributions made by an employee.
• Recognize the opportunity for promotion or bonus.
• Identify and support the need for additional training or education to continue career development.
• Determine the specific areas where skills can be improved.
• Motivate an employee and help them feel involved and invested in their career development.
• Open discussion to an employee’s long-term goals.

Career development plan template

This template helps employees and bosses plan together for career growth: set goals, assess skills, and make a plan.

How to organize a performance appraisal process

Conducting a performance review with an employee requires skill and training on the part of the appraiser. The negative perception that is often associated with the performance appraisal is due in part to a feeling of being criticized during the process.

A performance appraisal is meant to be the complete opposite. Often, the culprit is in the way the appraisal is conducted via the use of language.

The way the sender of a message uses language determines how the other person interprets the message once received. This can include tone of voice, choice of words, or even body language.

Because a performance appraisal is meant to provide constructive feedback, it is crucial that appropriate language and behavior are used in the process.

Human Resources (HR) are the support system for managers and supervisors to be trained in tactfully handling the appraisal process.

The performance appraisal process:

• The assessment process is usually facilitated by Human Resources, who assist managers and supervisors in conducting the individual appraisals within their departments.
• An assessment method should be established.
• Required competencies and job expectations need to be drafted for each employee.
• Individual appraisals on employee performance are conducted.
• A one on one interview is scheduled between the manager and employee to discuss the review.
• Future goals should be discussed between employee and manager.
• A signed-off version of the performance review is archived.
• Appraisal information is utilized by human resources for appropriate organizational purposes, such as reporting, promotions, bonuses or succession planning.

Let’s take a look at one example of a Manager speaking to an employee during a performance appraisal. Below are three versions of the same example.

Compare the difference in language and behavior and how it can change the end-result:

1. An appropriate appraisal example with mixed feedback

“We can start the review by looking at how each project went for you this quarter. Does that sound OK? First, every project you have worked on in the last four months has met the expected deadline and were all within their budgets. I see one project here was even early. They were all implemented successfully. Well done. You have succeeded in the criteria expected of a Project Manager here at ABC Company. Let’s take a look at a few areas where you might be able to develop your project management skills further. In Project A, B, and C, a few team members expressed that they were unsure what to begin working on in the first few meetings and felt that they were engaging in their tasks a bit late. When they tried to express this in later meetings, they felt there was hostility towards them. For upcoming Projects D, E, and F, is there anything that can be done to get team members up and running more quickly? Could more detailed task planning be completed prior to the project kick-off?”

Debrief : This example removes the errors from the first example and puts them in a more constructive light.

• The appraisal begins by involving the employee and making them feel like a valued part of the process.
• The appraiser focuses on measurable outcomes, such as each individual project, instead of broad, baseless generalizations.
• Positives are the focus of the assessment.
• Areas for improvement are offered in a constructive and neutral format by referring to specific events in the employee’s day-to-day tasks.
• The employee is given the opportunity to problem-solve the situation and contribute to their own sense of self-development.
• Constructive solutions are offered so the employee has a clear idea on what they can do better next time.

2. An inappropriate negative appraisal example

“Let’s talk about some of the problems. You are never proactive when it comes to the start of a new project. Things are left too late and there are often complaints. I have heard that your attitude has been less than positive during project meetings. You seem to have things going on at home right now, but they shouldn’t be intruding on your work.”

This example is extreme, but it conveys most of the errors that can occur in a performance review.

• The appraisal begins with a negative. It has been shown that starting with the positives can set the tone for the appraisal and helps employees feel more receptive to feedback.
• The appraiser speaks in a negative, accusatory language and bases the assessment on assumption instead of measured facts. An appraisal needs to be based on measured facts.
• The appraiser makes the discussion personal; a performance review should remain focused on the contributions of the employee to the job and never be about the individual as a person.
• Phrases like “ you are ” or “ you always ” are generalizations about the employee; a performance appraisal needs to be about specific contributions to specific job tasks.

3. An appropriate appraisal example for underperformers

“I wanted to talk to you today about your performance during the last quarter. Looking at the completed project schedules and project debriefs here, I see that each of the five projects was kicked off late. Team members reported having trouble getting the resources and information they needed to start and complete their tasks. Each project was delivered a week or more late and had considerable budget creep. Project A was over by $7000. Project B was over by $9,000, for example. These budget overages were not authorized. I think we really have potential to turn this around and I really want to see you succeed. The role of Project Manager requires you to kick-off projects on-time, make sure your team members have the resources they need, and it’s crucial that any budget issues or delays are discussed with myself or the other Manager. For the upcoming projects this month, I’d like you to draft a project plan one week prior to any project kick-off. We can go over it together and figure out where the gaps might be. Did you have any suggestions on how you might be able to improve the punctuality of your projects or effectiveness of how they are run?”

Debrief : This example deals with an employee who seems to be struggling. The appraiser unfortunately has a lot of negative feedback to work through, but has successfully done so using appropriate language, tone and examples:

• The feedback does not use accusatory language or tone, nor does it focus on the person. This is especially important at the start of a performance review when the topic is being introduced. Being accusatory can make an employee feel uncomfortable, upset or defensive and set the wrong tone for the rest of the review. Comments should remain focused on the employee’s work.
• The comments are constructive and specific. The appraiser uses specific examples with evidence to explain the poor performance and does not make general, unsubstantiated comments. Making general, broad comments like “Your projects have a lot of problems and are always late” are unfair as they cannot be proven. The tone also creates hostility and does not help the employee to solve the problem.
• The appraiser offers a positive comment about improving the situation and also a specific solution to improve the performance. The point of a performance review is to motivate and help an employee, not cut them down.
• The appraiser asks for the input of the employee on how to solve the problem. This empowers the employee to become more involved in their skill development and ends a negative review on a positive note.

4. The inflated appraisal example

“I don’t think we have too much to talk about today as everything seems just fine. Your projects are always done on time and within budget. I’m sure you made the right decisions with your team to achieve all of that. You and I definitely think alike when it comes to project management. Keep up the great work.”

Debrief : This example appears like a perfect performance appraisal, but it’s actually an example of how to inappropriate:

• The feedback glosses over any specifics regarding the employee’s actual work and instead offers vague, inflated comments about everything being great. Feedback needs to refer to specific events.
• Any mention of trouble on the team is ignored. A performance review needs to discuss performance issues before they become serious later on.
• The appraiser compares the employee to himself. This could be referred to as the “halo effect”, where the appraiser allows one aspect of the employee to cloud his or her judgement.
• Nobody is perfect; every appraisal should offer some form of improvement that the employee can work towards, whether it is honing a skill or learning a new skill.

There are many ways an organization can conduct a performance appraisal, owing to the countless different methods and strategies available.

In addition, each organization may have their own unique philosophy making an impact on the way the performance assessment is designed and conducted.

A performance review is often done annually or semi-annually at the minimum, but some organizations do them more often.

5 Modern methods of performance appraisal

There are some common and modern appraisal methods that many organizations gravitate towards, including:

1. Self-evaluation

In a self-evaluation assessment, employees first conduct their performance assessment on their own against a set list of criteria.

The pro is that the method helps employees prepare for their own performance assessment and it creates more dialogue in the official performance interview.

The con is that the process is subjective, and employees may struggle with either rating themselves too high or too low.

2. Behavioral checklist

A Yes or No checklist is provided against a series of traits. If the supervisor believes the employee has exhibited a trait, a YES is ticked.

If they feel the employee has not exhibited the trait, a NO is ticked off. If they are unsure, it can be left blank.

The pro is the simplicity of the format and its focus on actual work-relate tasks and behaviors (ie. no generalizing).

The con is that there is no detailed analysis or detail on how the employee is actually doing, nor does it discuss goals.

3. 360-degree feedback

This type of review includes not just the direct feedback from the manager and employee, but also from other team members and sources.

The review also includes character and leadership capabilities.

The pro is that it provides a bigger picture of an employee’s performance.

The con is that it runs the risk of taking in broad generalizations from outside sources who many not know how to provide constructive feedback .

4. Ratings scale

A ratings scale is a common method of appraisal. It uses a set of pre-determined criteria that a manager uses to evaluate an employee against.

Each set of criteria is weighted so that a measured score can be calculated at the end of the review.

The pro is that the method can consider a wide variety of criteria, from specific job tasks to behavioral traits. The results can also be balanced thanks to the weighting system. This means that if an employee is not strong in a particularly minor area, it will not negatively impact the overall score.

The con of this method is the possible misunderstanding of what is a good result and what is a poor result; managers need to be clear in explaining the rating system.

5. Management by objectives

This type of assessment is a newer method that is gaining in popularity. It involves the employee and manager agreeing to a set of attainable performance goals that the employee will strive to achieve over a given period of time.

At the next review period, the goals and how they have been met are reviewed, whilst new goals are created.

The pro of this method is that it creates dialogue between the employee and employer and is empowering in terms of personal career development.

The con is that it risks overlooking organizational performance competencies that should be considered.

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Understanding Performance Appraisal

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• First Online: 01 January 2023
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Employee appraisal; Performance assessment; Performance evaluation

Introduction

Human resources are a relevant productive factor within any organization, whether public or private (Boudreau and Ramstad 2007 ). That is why the improvement of employee’s performance is a crucial issue in management science. Performance appraisal (PA), the formal management system that provides for the evaluation of the quality of an individual’s performance in an organization, is a fundamental step along this path. In concrete terms, PA is the process by which an observer, often a supervisor, assesses an employee’s work performance (DeNisi et al. 1984 ), comparing current performance with explicit or implicit standards, and then providing feedback.

PA is a key tool used in public or private companies to measure employee performance and ensure proper and efficient personnel management. The first experiences of performance appraisal are very old and can be traced back to the Chinese Han dynasty...

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The Essay Method of Performance Appraisal

by Danielle Smyth

Published on 9 Aug 2019

The question of how to effectively gauge an employee’s performance on the job has been answered many times in many different ways, but there’s certainly no one agreed-upon method recommended by the human resources industry. Most experts agree that performance management is a critical part of having a successful business in today’s world and that effectively managing, developing and evaluating employees leads to a more efficient workforce and better company culture.

However, it’s deciding how to implement it within a certain company structure that can be challenging, and implementation is key to keeping the process effective rather than disruptive. The essay method of performance appraisal can be a great choice due to its thorough, thoughtful and unobtrusive nature.

Secrets to Effective Performance Appraisals

The truth is that effective performance appraisals take time. They take up the manager’s time, the employee’s time and the time of human resources, and they can potentially take up the time of teammates and co-workers who are asked about projects and collaboration.

For them to mean something, the process needs to be taken seriously, but that always must be balanced against the forward motion of the company and the day-to-day workloads of the employees in question.

Methods of Performance Appraisal

There are a number of methods used in today’s industries to evaluate employees. All of them require some sort of performance standard to be set at first and then an evaluation over a set period of time against that standard.

Some methods of review can be more effective than others, but some also require more dedicated time and thought from the manager or other evaluator. Some of the more common methods include the checklist method, the comparison or forced distribution method and the essay method.

Checklist Method of Performance Appraisal

With the checklist method, an employee is judged against a list of criteria. The criteria have been developed for the level or job of the employee, and usually all employees at similar levels are evaluated against it.

• Yes/no checklists simply ask the evaluator to determine whether the employee exhibits the behavior defined in each criterion: for example, “comes to work on time,” “frequently contributes to group discussions” or “meets daily safety requirements.” It’s important to make sure that all criteria are phrased so that a "yes" is the desired answer because it can be very easy to confuse an evaluation when this isn’t the case. This provides a very simple and straightforward way of judging performance but won’t get into much nuance of individual strengths and weaknesses and may not do much to differentiate one employee from another.
• Leveled checklists ask the evaluator to rate the employee on some sort of scale for each criterion. This could be a scale from one to five where five is optimal, or it could be a verbal scale with levels like “needs improvement,” “meets expectations” and “exceeds expectations.” Criteria might be “completes work within the timeline,” “collaborates with other departments” or “shows technical expertise.” These scaled ratings provide more nuance into each individual employee and should help highlight strengths as well as areas for improvement, but they require the manager to take more time to understand the performance within the department.

Comparison or Forced Distribution Methods

Comparison or forced distribution methods rate employees comparatively and against each other. This can be done in cases where an organization is rather flat, and it makes sense to compare a collection of employees together. The downside is that it can create a false sense of competition within employee groups or can result in bad attitudes.

• Paired evaluations give the evaluator a set of employee comparisons and asks him to choose who is the better employee. This is normally done within a department. For example, a department of four employees would end up with six pairs for comparison, and the evaluator (or team) would then select the best employee within each pair. For larger departments, this can be time consuming for the evaluators.
• Rankings simply ask the evaluator to rank employees from best to worst. This method is fully based on the perception of the evaluator and is not entirely popular because it is not systematic and can be easily affected by undiscovered bias on the part of the evaluator. It is, however, relatively easy to do for any manager who knows the team well.
• Forced distribution methods focus on the fact that most evaluators tend to rate their employees well. It requires the evaluators to meet a set distribution within their evaluations such that each evaluation finds poor performers as well as excellent ones. While this can be a way to identify areas for improvement, it can also be read as having to meet a quota with ratings, which can lead to dissent.

Essay Evaluation Method

The essay method is a fairly straightforward approach in which the manager or evaluator writes a descriptive essay about each employee. The essay would cover the employees' achievements throughout the evaluation period as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The essay format gives the evaluators the flexibility to focus on whatever they personally find important about the individual’s performance.

However, the essay method can be time consuming for the manager, and it requires a certain level of writing skill for the evaluation to be meaningful. It also is unlikely to be systematic, which can make it difficult to compare evaluations from person to person.

Performance Appraisal Essays

The performance evaluation essay is maybe the most interesting of the methods, as it allows a manager to genuinely express thoughts about the employee in question rather than having to work with a template or list of criteria or comparisons.

There are advantages to this, mainly in allowing the appraisers to focus on what they feel is important for each individual whom they are evaluating. The downside of this apparent freedom is because the entire essay is subjective based on the evaluator’s approach, it becomes difficult to obtain any big-picture conclusions about the department, and it can be difficult to compare employees within a certain group.

The key to a successful performance appraisal essay is the writing skills of the person assembling it . Her attention to basic essay structure and her descriptions of the behaviors on which she focuses will determine whether the right message will get across during the evaluation, both to the employee and to the team of other managers and human resources employees who may be involved with ratings, promotions and improvement plans. Some attention to basic essay-writing principles should help the evaluator construct an essay that will be meaningful to all parties involved.

" id="basic-essay-writing " class="title"> Basic Essay Writing

The following are essential to the writing of an effective performance appraisal essay:

• Preparation: For any essay, the first step is to gather information about the topic at hand. In this case, the manager should take the time to review past performance, current expectations and future needs for each employee whom he intends to evaluate. Review the employee’s achievements this year and examine reports and project records to get a full picture of performance.
• Evaluation: Once the information is at hand, it’s important to spend time connecting the dots to figure out what story the essay needs to tell about the employee’s performance. Identify any changes in the employee’s performance over the evaluation period and establish a list containing the behaviors that have been commendable and in which areas the employee could use improvement.
• Creation: Construct the essay in a manner that suits the manager’s writing style. Be sure to use professional, fair language and describe in words the successes and challenges of the employee’s work over this time period. 

Writing the Essay

The essay should open with an introduction summarizing the work completed by the employee during the evaluation period. Be sure to note key projects and pay attention to ongoing work as well as completed jobs. This is the time to discuss what the employee has done and recognize his overall contribution to the business. For example:

Jon successfully supported the infrastructure team, the McAce project and the office renovations project with technical drawings and materials lists as requested. He personally was able to complete the ventilation upgrade project, which ran over schedule but came in under budget. He submitted all monthly reports on time and took a training course this year to improve his skills at AutoCAD.

Highlight Employee Successes

The next portion of the essay should highlight some real successes for the employee. Mention his strengths and any areas where he has shown visible improvement over past performance. In this portion, focus less on what was done and more on how it was done. To continue the example:

Jon’s skill at estimation has improved greatly over the past year, with only one of his personal projects running over budget (as compared to at least 50 percent the previous year). This makes it much easier for the department to manage our overall budget appropriately and is greatly appreciated. Jon has been described as “friendly” and “personable” by his teammates, who have no problem approaching him when they need a drawing or have a question. He also had huge success with his contributions to the McAce project, which would have fallen behind schedule without his work.

Outline Areas for Improvement

After calling out successes, take some time to consider areas in which the employee needs improvement. For employees currently meeting all expectations, consider their future career path: Are there areas they need to develop in order to move into a new position? For employees whose performance may not be up to par, try to address it fairly and be straightforward and logical.

A number of Jon’s projects ran over schedule this year. It appears that Jon’s technical understanding of the work at hand could perhaps use some development. One such corrective action might be making sure to check with operators and maintenance personnel before launching a new project concept to make sure the problem at hand is actually being solved. Also, while Jon’s open personality makes him approachable, it can also lead to Jon taking extra-long breaks for conversation throughout the day, which can disturb some employees from their work.

Note that the criticisms are couched calmly in specific language that isn’t accusatory or angry and that the behaviors described correlate to an undesirable outcome. In some cases, a corrective action should be suggested. In other cases, it’s best to wait until the final step and develop a path forward with the employee in question.

" id="create-a-forward-plan " class="title"> Create a Forward Plan

The essay should end with a forward plan for the employee, involving any additional training or development she may need to meet current expectations as well as some sort of idea of the next step in her career.

The final step in the performance assessment essay is, of course, reviewing the essay with each employee. It’s best to give the employee a chance to read the evaluation and then open the floor to any questions the employee might have about what’s been written.

If an employee wants to challenge an assertion, she can be encouraged to write a short essay in return discussing why she might disagree with the essay. It’s important to discuss the successes and give recognition where it’s due as well as the challenges in order to ensure the employee understands.

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What Is a Performance Appraisal?

What is the purpose of performance appraisals, types of performance appraisals, what are some criticisms of performance appraisals.

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The Bottom Line

Performance appraisals in the workplace: use, types, criticisms.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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The term “performance appraisal” refers to the regular review of an employee’s job performance and overall contribution to a company. Also known as an annual review, employee appraisal, performance review or evaluation, a performance appraisal evaluates an employee’s skills, achievements, and growth, or lack thereof.

Companies use performance appraisals to give employees big-picture feedback on their work and to justify pay increases and bonuses, as well as  termination decisions. They can be conducted at any given time but tend to be annual, semiannual, or quarterly.

Key Takeaways

• A performance appraisal is a regular review of an employee’s job performance and contribution to a company.
• Performance appraisals are also called annual reviews, performance reviews or evaluations, or employee appraisals.
• Companies use performance appraisals to determine which employees have contributed the most to the company’s growth, review progress, and reward high-achieving workers.
• Although there are many different kinds of performance reviews, the most common is a top-down review in which a manager reviews their direct report.
• Employees who believe that the evaluation’s construction isn’t reflective of their company’s culture may feel dissatisfied with the appraisal process.

Performance appraisals are usually designed by human resources (HR) departments as a way for employees to develop in their careers. They provide individuals with feedback on their job performance, ensuring that employees are managing and meeting the goals expected of them and giving them guidance on how to reach those goals if they fall short.

Because companies have a limited pool of funds from which to award incentives, such as raises and  bonuses , performance appraisals help determine how to allocate those funds. They provide a way for companies to determine which employees have contributed the most to the company’s growth so that companies can reward their top-performing employees accordingly.

Performance appraisals also help employees and their managers create a plan for employee development through additional training and increased responsibilities, as well as to identify ways that the employee can improve and move forward in their career.

Ideally, the performance appraisal is not the only time during the year that managers and employees communicate about the employee’s contributions. More frequent conversations help keep everyone on the same page, develop stronger relationships between employees and managers, and make annual reviews less stressful.

Most performance appraisals are top-down, meaning that supervisors evaluate their staff with no input from the subject. But there are other types:

• Self-assessment : Individuals rate their job performance and behavior.
• Peer assessment : An individual’s work group or co-workers rate their performance.
• 360-degree feedback assessment : Includes input from an individual, supervisor, and peers.
• Negotiated appraisal : This newer trend utilizes a mediator and attempts to moderate the adversarial nature of performance evaluations by allowing the subject to present first. It also focuses on what the individual is doing right before any criticism is given. This structure tends to be useful during conflicts between subordinates and supervisors.

There are many performance appraisal apps that have been developed to help companies automate the evaluation process.

Performance appraisals are designed to motivate employees to reach and/or exceed their goals. But they do come with a lot of criticism.

An issue with performance appraisals is that differentiating individual and organizational performance can be difficult. If the evaluation’s construction doesn’t reflect the culture of a company or organization, it can be detrimental. Employees may report general dissatisfaction with their performance appraisal processes. Other potential issues include:

• Distrust of the appraisal can lead to issues between subordinates and supervisors or a situation in which employees merely tailor their input to please their employer.
• Performance appraisals can lead to the adoption of unreasonable goals that demoralize workers or incentivize them to engage in unethical practices.
• Some labor experts believe that the use of performance appraisals has led to lower use of merit- and  performance-based compensation.
• Performance appraisals may lead to unfair evaluations in which employees are judged not by their accomplishments but by their likability. They can also lead to managers giving underperforming staff a good evaluation to avoid souring their relationship.
• Unreliable raters can introduce a number of biases that skew appraisal results toward preferred characteristics or ones that reflect the rater’s preferences.
• Performance appraisals that work well in one culture or job function may not be useful in another.

What Are Performance Appraisals Used For?

Performance appraisals are used to review the job performance of an employee over some period of time. These reviews are used to highlight both strengths and weaknesses to improve future performance.

What Are the Benefits of a Performance Appraisal?

When executed correctly, performance appraisals can pay off significantly. Among other things, they are capable of boosting employee morale and engagement, clarifying expectations, helping to get the best out of staff, and incentivizing hard work and dedication.

It’s not just companies that benefit, either. Open lines of communication make it easier for employees to raise concerns, express themselves, find their right path, feel appreciated, and be rewarded when they do a good job.

When Should a Performance Appraisal Take Place?

Performance management is an ongoing process. Throughout the year, managers are encouraged to engage with employees to establish goals, note progress, and provide feedback. Formal reviews or appraisals often take place on a yearly or quarterly basis.

What Is a 360-Degree Appraisal?

Standard performance reviews include an employee and their manager or supervisor. The 360-degree version also solicits input from the employee’s colleagues or co-workers.

Communication between employees and their manager or supervisor can be very rewarding. Performance appraisals are capable of boosting morale and output, benefiting all parties.

That’s assuming they go well, though. Sadly, many performance appraisals aren’t executed in the most effective way. In many cases, they may be rushed or simply follow a set framework that perhaps doesn’t always benefit every type of industry or person. Poorly handled appraisals can be counterproductive. Without a bespoke approach and careful consideration of how to structure meetings and set reasonable targets, the performance appraisal process can have its drawbacks.

Harvard Business Review. “ Appraisal of What Performance? ”

Mint HR. “ Performance Appraisal .”

University of California, Rausser College of Natural Resources. “ Performance Appraisal .”

Regent University. " Why Employees Dislike Performance Appraisals ."

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “ Appraising the Performance of Performance Appraisals .”

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26 Example Paragraphs for Performance Reviews [Positive & Negative Feedback]

By Status.net Editorial Team on April 8, 2023 — 15 minutes to read

Performance reviews play an essential role in employee growth and development. Effectively conveying praise and guidance facilitates open communication and contributes to a positive work environment. This article provides example paragraphs for performance reviews, focusing on various skills and including both positive and negative examples; each skill is addressed separately, with example paragraphs demonstrating how to effectively communicate strengths or areas for improvement.

See also: 2000+ Performance Review Phrases: The Complete List (Performance Feedback Examples)

How to Give Effective Feedback (and Avoid Mistakes)

Communication Skills

Positive feedback example for communication skills.

“Emma consistently demonstrates strong communication skills, both in writing and speaking. Her emails are clear, concise, and always contain all necessary information, making it easy for colleagues to understand her messages and respond promptly. Additionally, her ability to intertwine detailed explanations with relevant examples allows her to convey complex ideas in an easily digestible manner.

During team meetings, Emma is an active listener, giving her undivided attention to the speaker and providing thoughtful input on the topic at hand. Notably, she has shown tact and empathy when mediating team discussions, diffusing tense situations effectively. As a result, she contributes to a positive and inclusive work environment.”

Negative Feedback Example for Communication Skills

“John has room for improvement in his communication skills. His written correspondence tends to be disorganized and lacking in detail, creating confusion for the recipients. It is recommended that John proofread his messages carefully and ensure that they include all necessary information before sending them.

In team meetings, John often interrupts his colleagues and speaks over them, making it difficult for others to express their thoughts or complete their points. To improve, John should practice active listening, allowing his team members to speak uninterrupted and demonstrate respect for their opinions.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for communication skills : Performance Review Phrases for Communication

Leadership Skills

Positive feedback example for leadership skills.

“Emma has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills by fostering a positive work environment where team members feel valued and engaged. She leads by example and creates an atmosphere that encourages open communication, collaboration, and continuous learning. Her team consistently meets and often exceeds their goals, reflecting her ability to delegate tasks effectively and provide constructive feedback to drive improvement.

During challenging times, Emma maintains a calm and collected demeanor, serving as a source of support and reassurance for her team. She has been instrumental in implementing team-building exercises that have helped improve overall team performance and cohesion.”

Negative Feedback Example for Leadership Skills

“While George has demonstrated strong technical skills, his leadership abilities require improvement. He tends to micromanage tasks, which can undermine team members’ confidence and limit their opportunities for growth. In addition, rather than proactively addressing issues and conflicts, George often disregards them, leading to a tense work environment.

Team members have reported feeling unsupported and disengaged, impacting their overall motivation and productivity. To enhance his leadership skills, George should focus on developing better communication and delegation abilities, as well as providing timely and constructive feedback to foster a more supportive and collaborative team dynamic.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for leadership skills : 169 Performance Review Feedback Phrases for Planning, Leadership, Management Style

Teamwork Skills

Teamwork skills are essential for employees to effectively work together, achieve common goals, and create a positive workplace environment.

Positive Feedback Example for Teamwork Skills

“John demonstrates a strong work ethic and a commitment to the team. He actively collaborates with colleagues and willingly offers his support in any way needed. John’s ability to give and receive constructive criticism has helped the team maintain a healthy working relationship. John respects and values the opinions of his team members. He also communicates his ideas and opinions clearly to other team members, which has greatly improved the group’s overall efficiency. John’s teamwork skills include: effective communication, open-mindedness, active listening, conflict resolution.”

Negative Feedback Example for Teamwork Skills

“Jane shows a lack of teamwork skills that have impacted her team’s performance. She tends to work in isolation and does not openly communicate her ideas or opinions with others. This has led to misunderstandings on several occasions and increased the risk of project delays.

Jane also tends to dismiss the feedback and input of other team members, which has negatively impacted overall morale. She struggles to accept constructive criticism and has shown resistance to change. This behavior hinders the team’s ability to optimize processes and achieve common goals.

Areas for improvement in Jane’s teamwork skills include:

• Area of improvement: Communication Suggested action: Participate in training sessions focused on communication skills.
• Area of improvement: Listening Suggested action: Attend workshops on active listening and open-mindedness to better understand the value of diverse perspectives.
• Area of improvement: Conflict resolution Suggested action: Seek guidance from a mentor or coach to improve conflict resolution skills.
• Area of improvement: Collaboration Suggested action: Connect with colleagues regularly and engage in team-building activities to strengthen bonds among the team members.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for teamwork skills : 150+ Performance Appraisal Phrases (Teamwork, Technical Skills, Time Management)

Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving skills are essential for employees to effectively tackle challenges and find solutions in their daily tasks.

Positive Feedback Example for Problem Solving Skills

“Jane has consistently showcased her exceptional problem-solving skills throughout her time on the customer support team. When faced with complex customer issues, she is able to quickly identify the root cause of the problem and implement an effective solution. For example, when a recent escalation arose involving a client’s recurring billing discrepancy, Jane swiftly analyzed the situation and discovered an error in the system settings. She then collaborated with the IT department to address the glitch, resulting in a prompt resolution for the client and preventing further issues.”

Negative Feedback Example for Problem Solving Skills

“While Mike is a valuable team member in our IT department, his problem-solving skills require improvement. When confronted with multiple issues during the recent network updates, Mike appeared overwhelmed and struggled to make problems more manageable. For instance, he failed to prioritize tasks, which led to delays in addressing critical system vulnerabilities. Additionally, his communication with colleagues was less than satisfactory, making it difficult for others to assist and collaborate on finding solutions.

Improving his problem-solving skills would enable Mike to respond more effectively to challenges and contribute significantly to the success of future projects. We encourage him to seek additional training and to collaborate more closely with colleagues to help break down complex tasks into more manageable, actionable steps.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for decision making and problem solving : 174 Performance Feedback Examples (Reliability, Integrity, Problem Solving)

Time Management Skills

Effective time management is essential for success in the workplace. Employees who excel in managing their time are able to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and complete work efficiently.

Positive Feedback Example for Time Management Skills

“During the past year, Jane has demonstrated exceptional time management skills by consistently completing projects ahead of schedule. She is able to create realistic time estimates for tasks and allocate her work hours effectively to ensure her goals are met. An example of her strong time management skills is her work on the ABC project, where she successfully managed multiple tasks and deadlines within tight time constraints. Jane’s excellent time management has allowed her to excel at prioritizing work and increase overall productivity in the team.”

Negative Feedback Example for Time Management Skills

“Over the last year, John has struggled with managing his time effectively, which has resulted in missed deadlines and low-quality work. Despite being provided with clear project timelines, John often underestimates the time required to complete tasks and is unable to prioritize his workload appropriately. One notable example is his involvement in a recent project, where he failed to meet several deadlines and did not effectively communicate his progress to the team. This lack of time management skills has negatively impacted the team’s overall performance and must be addressed in order to improve John’s productivity.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for time management skills : 150+ Performance Appraisal Phrases (Teamwork, Technical Skills, Time Management)

Creativity Skills

Creativity skills are essential for problem-solving and generating new ideas in the workplace.

Positive Feedback Example for Creativity

“John consistently demonstrates his ability to think outside the box. He is excellent at brainstorming sessions, frequently contributing innovative ideas and solutions. For instance, during a recent project, John developed a creative marketing strategy that increased engagement on social media by 30%. Thanks to his unique perspectives, John has helped drive successful outcomes and boost department performance.”

Negative Feedback Example for Creativity

“Though Jane has strong technical skills, she struggles with adapting to new challenges and situations. She often gets stuck in traditional ways of thinking and is hesitant to propose innovative solutions. This has, at times, limited the team’s ability to overcome obstacles and move forward with projects.

For Jane to improve their creativity skills, she should actively participate in brainstorming sessions, share her thoughts and ideas, and engage in exercises designed to promote out-of-the-box thinking.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for creativity and innovation : 242 Examples

Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are essential in the workplace to build healthy relationships and work collaboratively. These skills also help to manage conflicts effectively and cultivate a positive work environment.

Positive Feedback Example for Interpersonal Skills

“Jane has demonstrated excellent active listening skills during team meetings and while working on projects. She effectively listens to her colleagues’ ideas and provides thoughtful feedback, which has improved overall team communication. She consistently fosters an environment of collaboration and cooperation and readily offers her assistance to colleagues.”

Negative Feedback Example for Interpersonal Skills

“During the last quarter, Susan failed to take responsibility for the deadlines and often blamed her team members. She struggles with clearly conveying her ideas and thoughts to others, leaving her colleagues confused and unsure of their tasks or objectives. To improve her interpersonal skills, Susan needs to work on her communication abilities and practice being more concise and clear with her instructions.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for communication skills : Performance Review Phrases for Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Customer Service Skills

Effective customer service skills are crucial to providing an exceptional experience for customers.

Positive Feedback Example for Customer Service Skills

“Anna consistently demonstrates outstanding customer service skills. She is known for her empathy and active listening, allowing her to effectively understand and address customer concerns. As a result, Anna has been able to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction. She was attentive to customer needs and swiftly addressed their concerns, resulting in repeat business. Her excellent communication abilities enabled her to provide clear instructions, helping to avoid any misunderstandings. Anna’s problem-solving skills allowed her to quickly find solutions to customer issues, ensuring their satisfaction.”

Negative Feedback Example for Customer Service Skills

“Tom struggles in providing satisfactory customer service, because he is often more focused on completing tasks than actively listening to customers, which leads to misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. His lack of empathy prevents Tom from building rapport with customers, which negatively impacts their experience. Tom’s problem-solving skills are limited; he usually needs assistance from a manager to handle complicated customer issues.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for customer service skills : Examples for Customer Focus and Customer Satisfaction

Technical Skills

Positive feedback example for technical skills.

“Alice has consistently demonstrated exceptional technical skills in her role. She exhibits a deep understanding of the latest software and tools, being proficient in their usage. Alice’s ability to troubleshoot complex technical issues and offer effective solutions showcases her strong problem-solving skills. Her mastery of technology has been pivotal in the successful completion of multiple projects, such as collaborating with team members to create a new app.”

Negative Feedback Example for Technical Skills

“Bob has been struggling to keep up with the technical demands of his role. He frequently requires assistance when working with new software or tools, causing delays in project completion. Bob’s inability to learn new technical skills quickly has hindered his effectiveness and impacted the overall team productivity. It is recommended that Bob invests more time in training and development to become proficient in essential technical skills.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for technical skills : 150+ Examples (Teamwork, Technical Skills, Time Management)

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is a critical skill that reflects an employee’s ability to achieve accuracy and focus in their job. This skill significantly contributes to their overall performance and helps reduce mistakes in their work.

Positive Feedback Example for Attention to Detail

“Bob consistently demonstrates exceptional attention to detail in his assignments. He has been able to deliver outstanding results in his projects while maintaining high levels of accuracy. His commitment to ensuring all tasks are thoroughly completed before moving on to the next has contributed to a more efficient workflow. Some specific instances of his excellent attention to detail include: Identifying and correcting a crucial error in a report that could have led to inaccurate conclusions being drawn; Meticulously tracking and documenting project progress to ensure all stakeholders were kept informed and up-to-date; Proactively preventing potential misunderstandings by carefully reviewing and proofreading all communication materials before distribution.”

Negative Feedback Example for Attention to Details

“Alice has struggled with attention to detail in her performance. Her work has been marked by occasional errors and oversights, which have led to lost time and resources in correcting these issues. Despite her best efforts, Alice has not shown improvement in this area, and it has negatively impacted her overall performance. Some examples of her lack of attention to detail include:

• Failure to review and double-check calculations, resulting in inaccurate financial reports that needed to be reworked.
• Missing important deadlines due to overlooking key tasks on her project plans.
• Communicating unclear or incorrect information to team members, leading to confusion and lost time in seeking clarification.

In order to improve her attention to detail, Alice could benefit from implementing strategies such as creating detailed checklists, setting aside dedicated review time for her work, and seeking feedback from colleagues to identify potential areas for improvement.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for attitude : 100+ Performance Evaluation Comments for Attitude, Training Ability, Critical Thinking

Adaptability

Adaptability skills are critical for thriving in fast-paced and ever-changing work environments. It is important for employees to be able to handle change effectively, stay composed under pressure, and swiftly adjust to new situations.

Positive Feedback Example for Adaptability

“Jane has consistently showcased her adaptability skills throughout the past year, particularly during the company-wide shift to remote work. Despite the unexpected challenges, she quickly embraced the new work environment and made necessary adjustments to maintain her productivity levels.

She demonstrated her ability to handle new software tools effectively and collaborated well with her team, ensuring everyone stayed connected and informed. Jane’s proactive approach to learning and embracing change sets a positive example for her peers and has been instrumental in keeping her department running smoothly.”

Negative Feedback Example for Adaptability

“John has struggled with adaptability throughout the year. He often appears resistant to changes implemented within the organization, avoiding new processes and tools. As a consequence, he has fallen behind on multiple projects, causing delays and additional work for his team. John’s inability to cope with change effectively and maintain a positive attitude has raised concerns among his managers and colleagues.

In order to improve his adaptability skills, John should seek opportunities to enhance his flexibility and openness towards new challenges. He should work on developing a proactive mindset, embracing changes within the workplace, and learning new skills. Successfully doing so will contribute to both his personal growth and his team’s success.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for adaptability : Performance Review Phrases for Quality of Work, Adaptability, Communication

Reliability and Dependability

Positive feedback example for reliability.

“Heather consistently demonstrates a high level of reliability and dependability in her role. She can be trusted to complete tasks accurately and on time, even when faced with tight deadlines. She is often the first one in the office and the last one to leave, working diligently to ensure her projects are completed thoroughly and without errors. In fact, her dependability has made her a go-to person for her teammates, who know they can count on her assistance and collaboration.”

Negative Feedback Example for Reliability

“Although Michael is talented in many aspects of his job, he struggles with reliability and dependability. He is frequently late to work and has missed several deadlines, leaving his team members struggling to finish their tasks. Additionally, Michael has had difficulty in communicating effectively with his team, making it difficult for them to plan reliance on his contributions. This lack of reliability has had a negative impact on overall team performance, and Michael must focus on improving his time management and communication skills to become a reliable and dependable team member.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for reliability : Performance Feedback Examples for Reliability and Dependability

Organizational Skills

Organizational skills are essential for employees to effectively manage their time, energy, and resources.

Positive Feedback Example for Organizational Skills

“Jane has consistently demonstrated excellent organizational skills throughout the past year. She meticulously plans her daily tasks using a digital task manager, which allows her to prioritize her workload efficiently. This has greatly impacted her ability to meet deadlines and deliver high-quality work.

Jane’s attention to detail has improved the workflow within her team. By implementing a shared calendar, Jane has facilitated better communication and coordination among team members, resulting in fewer scheduling conflicts and improved project efficiency. Her documentation practices have also contributed to a more organized and accessible repository of project files.”

Negative Feedback Example for Organizational Skills

“John has been struggling with organizational skills for several months. He often arrives at meetings unprepared, leading to lost time and decreased productivity. His disorganized workspace has caused difficulty for his coworkers when they need access to shared resources.

John’s inability to prioritize tasks has led to missed deadlines and a decline in the quality of his work. He would benefit from leveraging available tools, such as digital task managers and shared calendars, to develop a system that helps him stay on top of his responsibilities.

By improving his organizational skills, John can increase his overall efficiency, contribute more effectively to team projects, and achieve better results in future performance reviews.”

See also: Performance feedback phrases for planning skills : 169 Performance Review Feedback Phrases for Planning, Leadership, Management Style

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Performance Evaluation Essay

Have you ever wondered how to evaluate someone to see if they are still up to their worth? For students and employees, a performance evaluation may sound terrifying but it is actually far from it. A performance evaluation is used to see and to target out the person’s difficulty and to make it all the better. In this article, we have 3+ performance evaluation essay examples in PDF. Some samples you may download to use. Check it out now.

3+ Performance Evaluation Essay Examples

1. performance evaluation essay template.

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2. Business Performance Evaluation Essay

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3. Work-Based Performance Evaluation Essay

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4. Performance Evaluation Narrative Essay

Definition of Performance

To execute something . To be able to act out what is being given as a form of a task. The promise of doing an action.

Definition of Evaluation

Evaluation as defined is to determine whether the individual’s worth and significance is still followed by a certain criteria. The use of an evaluation is to understand and correct an individual shortcomings and prevent any other issues that may undermine the individuals’ significance.

Definition of Evaluation Essay

An evaluation essay is also called a report essay or a critical essay. This essay is the type that may lead to an argument between the writer and their audience. This is also the essay that needs critical and analytical thinking. The writer must also provide evidence and extensive research to support the case or the topic they choose to write about. These evidences are based on facts.

Definition of Performance Evaluation Essay

The process of evaluating students or employees. To show them their weaknesses and address them in a polite and professional manner. To target the issues and resolve them to get a better outcome.

Tips for Writing Evaluation Essays

Here are some useful tips to help you write an evaluation essay.

• Choose your Topic: Like in any other essay writing, choose the topic you wish to discuss. Once you have done that, do your research and give out some evidence to support your topic.
• Write the Statement: The most important part of your essay is always your statement. This is where the narrative comes in. Write about your topic, discuss in your narrative about your chosen topic, as well as the key points. 
• Search for Supporting Evidence: When writing this type of essay, evidence is key. Do your research, look for information that supports your evaluation. 
• Make a Copy: Make a copy of your essay. Whether it is a draft or your final paper. This way, you can compare and find some loopholes in your document and change that.
• Review, Rewrite, Revise: Review your work. Look for some grammatical errors that you may have forgotten and rewrite them. Check your spelling and correct punctuation marks. Revise the parts that need revising.

What makes a good performance evaluation essay?

A performance essay must have the following information. The narrative, the methods and the objectives. It must also follow a format and a rubrics for it to be considered a performance essay.

Is there an easier way to conduct a performance evaluation?

You may use an essay type to conduct your evaluation or you may use a table type to conduct. All these would still depend on the rubrics that you made to evaluate your employees’ performances .

Is rubrics necessary to evaluate my employees’ performance?

A rubrics is simply there as a guide to evaluate but if you choose to use another, that is fine as well.

A performance evaluation essay should start and end with the target topic of what the author intends to write about. The extensive research and evidence should also be present as this is the type of essay where hard facts are based on. Assumptions of any sort should be avoided.  As this is seen as something to evaluate students or employees welfare, it should be used as such. The rubrics for the essay is merely a guide and should not be used as a means of judging a person’s actions nor a person’s shortcomings. With that being said, following the tips and the examples as guides for your evaluation essay writing should be easy.

Performance Evaluation Essay Generator

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Analyze your academic performance over the past semester in a Performance Evaluation Essay.

Discuss the outcomes of a recent project or assignment in your Performance Evaluation Essay.

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Joseph Epstein, conservative provocateur, tells his life story in full

In two new books, the longtime essayist and culture warrior shows off his wry observations about himself and the world

Humorous, common-sensical, temperamentally conservative, Joseph Epstein may be the best familiar — that is casual, personal — essayist of the last half-century. Not, as he might point out, that there’s a lot of competition. Though occasionally a scourge of modern society’s errancies, Epstein sees himself as essentially a serious reader and “a hedonist of the intellect.” His writing is playful and bookish, the reflections of a wry observer alternately amused and appalled by the world’s never-ending carnival.

Now 87, Epstein has just published his autobiography, “ Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life: Especially if You’ve Had a Lucky Life ,” in tandem with “ Familiarity Breeds Content: New and Selected Essays .” This pair of books brings the Epstein oeuvre up to around 30 volumes of sophisticated literary entertainment. While there are some short-story collections (“The Goldin Boys,” “Fabulous Small Jews”), all the other books focus on writers, observations on American life, and topics as various as ambition, envy, snobbery, friendship, charm and gossip. For the record, let me add that I own 14 volumes of Epstein’s views and reviews and would like to own them all.

Little wonder, then, that Epstein’s idea of a good time is an afternoon spent hunched over Herodotus’s “Histories,” Marguerite Yourcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian” or almost anything by Henry James, with an occasional break to enjoy the latest issue of one of the magazines he subscribes to. In his younger days, there were as many as 25, and most of them probably featured Epstein’s literary journalism at one time or another. In the case of Commentary, he has been contributing pieces for more than 60 years.

As Epstein tells it, no one would have predicted this sort of intellectual life for a kid from Chicago whose main interests while growing up were sports, hanging out, smoking Lucky Strikes and sex. A lackadaisical C student, Myron Joseph Epstein placed 169th in a high school graduating class of 213. Still, he did go on to college — the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — because that’s what was expected of a son from an upper-middle-class Jewish family. But Urbana-Champaign wasn’t a good fit for a jokester and slacker: As he points out, the president of his college fraternity “had all the playfulness of a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.” No matter. Caught peddling stolen copies of an upcoming accounting exam for $5 a pop, Epstein was summarily expelled.

Fortunately, our lad had already applied for a transfer to the University of Chicago, to which he was admitted the next fall. Given his record, this shows a surprising laxity of standards by that distinguished institution, but for Epstein the move was life-changing. In short order, he underwent a spiritual conversion from good ol’ boy to European intellectual in the making. In the years to come, he would count the novelist Saul Bellow and the sociologist Edward Shils among his close friends, edit the American Scholar, and teach at Northwestern University. His students, he recalls, were “good at school, a skill without any necessary carry-over, like being good at pole-vaulting or playing the harmonica.”

Note the edge to that remark. While “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life” is nostalgia-laden, there’s a hard nut at its center. Epstein feels utter contempt for our nation’s “radical change from a traditionally moral culture to a therapeutic one.” As he explains: “Our parents’ culture and that which came long before them was about the formation of character; the therapeutic culture was about achieving happiness. The former was about courage and honor, the latter about self-esteem and freedom from stress.” This view of America’s current ethos may come across as curmudgeonly and reductionist, but many readers — whatever their political and cultural leanings — would agree with it. Still, such comments have sometimes made their author the focus of nearly histrionic vilification.

Throughout his autobiography, this lifelong Chicagoan seems able to remember the full names of everyone he’s ever met, which suggests Epstein started keeping a journal at an early age. He forthrightly despises several older writers rather similar to himself, calling Clifton Fadiman, author of “The Lifetime Reading Plan,” pretentious, then quite cruelly comparing Mortimer J. Adler, general editor of the “Great Books of the Western World” series, with Sir William Haley, one of those deft, widely read English journalists who make all Americans feel provincial. To Epstein, “no two men were more unalike; Sir William, modest, suave, intellectually sophisticated; Mortimer vain, coarse, intellectually crude.” In effect, Fadiman and Adler are both presented as cultural snake-oil salesmen. Of course, both authors were popularizers and adept at marketing their work, but helping to enrich the intellectual lives of ordinary people doesn’t strike me as an ignoble purpose.

In his own work, Epstein regularly employs humor, bits of slang or wordplay, and brief anecdotes to keep his readers smiling. For instance, in a chapter about an editorial stint at the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Epstein relates this story about a colleague named Martin Self:

“During those days, when anti-Vietnam War protests were rife, a young woman in the office wearing a protester’s black armband, asked Martin if he were going to that afternoon’s protest march. ‘No, Naomi,’ he said, ‘afternoons such as this I generally spend at the graveside of George Santayana.’”

Learned wit, no doubt, but everything — syntax, diction, the choice of the philosopher Santayana for reverence — is just perfect.

But Epstein can be earthier, too. Another colleague “was a skirt-chaser extraordinaire," a man "you would not feel safe leaving alone with your great-grandmother.” And of himself, he declares: “I don’t for a moment wish to give the impression that I live unrelievedly on the highbrow level of culture. I live there with a great deal of relief.”

In his many essays, including the sampling in “Familiarity Breeds Content,” Epstein is also markedly “quotacious,” often citing passages from his wide reading to add authority to an argument or simply to share his pleasure in a well-turned observation. Oddly enough, such borrowed finery is largely absent from “Never Say You’ve Had a Happy Life.” One partial exception might be the unpronounceable adjective “immitigable,” which appears all too often. It means unable to be mitigated or softened, and Epstein almost certainly stole it from his friend Shils, who was fond of the word.

Despite his autobiography’s jaunty title, Epstein has seen his share of trouble. As a young man working for an anti-poverty program in Little Rock, he married a waitress after she became pregnant with his child. When they separated a decade later, he found himself with four sons to care for — two from her previous marriage, two from theirs. Burt, the youngest, lost an eye in an accident while a toddler, couldn’t keep a job, fathered a child out of wedlock and eventually died of an opioid overdose at 28. Initially hesitant, Epstein came to adore Burt’s daughter, Annabelle, as did his second wife, Barbara, whom he married when they were both just past 40.

Some pages of “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life” will be familiar to inveterate readers of Epstein’s literary journalism, all of which carries a strong first-person vibe. Not surprisingly, however, the recycled anecdotage feels less sharp or witty the second time around. But overall, this look back over a long life is consistently entertaining, certainly more page-turner than page-stopper. To enjoy Epstein at his very best, though, you should seek out his earlier essay collections such as “The Middle of My Tether,” “Partial Payments” and “A Line Out for a Walk.” Whether he writes about napping or name-dropping or a neglected writer such as Somerset Maugham, his real subject is always, at heart, the wonder and strangeness of human nature.

Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life

Especially if You’ve Had a Lucky Life

By Joseph Epstein

Free Press. 304 pp. $29.99

Familiarity Breeds Content

New and Selected Essays

Simon & Schuster. 464 pp. $20.99

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Amazfit Active smartwatch review

The amazfit active smartwatch delivers many features at an affordable price point, but did it impress us with its performance.

Live Science Verdict

With exceptionally long battery life, feather-light build and plenty of tracking features, the Amazfit Active smartwatch is a great budget all-rounder if you are willing to compromise on the sturdiness and screen design.

Feather-light

30-day battery life

Accurate tracking features

Great value for money

Feels plastic to the touch

• Some features require a subscription

Why you can trust Live Science Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best ones for you. Find out more about how we test.

• Performance
• User reviews
• Related products
• How we tested

The Amazfit Active is the latest addition to the Amazfit line of budget-friendly fitness trackers, and just like its older siblings, it has much to offer. This GPS smartwatch is feather-light,  comes with a wide range of tracking features and handy apps, and promises a whopping 30-day battery life ― it is not common to see such a complete package under $150. The Amazfit Active seems to be punching way above its weight, but does this neat fitness tracker perform when put through its paces?

It sure seems so. This smartwatch measures your steps, heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, blood oxygen and breathing rate, as well as your sleep quality and stress level. It can also track 120 sports activities, and even guide you to peak performance thanks to its AI-powered coaching apps. If our previous experiences with Amazfit products are anything to go by, the Amazfit Active could even earn a spot in our roundup of the best fitness trackers around. 

To find out whether the Amazfit Active is worth investing in, we tried it ourselves. For over a month, we thoroughly tested the watch, looking at its functionality, ease of use, durability and design. Here is what we found. 

Amazfit Active: Design

• Lightweight, compact build
• Soft, comfortable straps
• Plastic-feeling frame

Display : AMOLED 1.75-in, 390x450

Always-On : Yes

Dimensions (inches) : 1.7 x 1.4 x 0.4 

Dimensions (millimeters) : 42.36 x 35.9 x 10.75

Colors : Midnight Black, Petal Pink, Lavender Purple

Finish : Stainless steel or aluminum alloy

Compass : Yes

Altimeter : No

Water resistance : 5ATM

NFC Payments : No

Sensors : Steps, body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, heart rate variability, breathing rate

Compatibility : Android 7.0 and above, iOS 14.0 and above

Storage : Storage space for music 250MB

The Amazfit Active smartwatch is available in three color options: Midnight Black, Petal Pink and Lavender Pink. The first two come with silicone straps and folding buckles, and both weigh 24 grams each. The Lavender Pink, on the other hand, features a faux leather strap and classic pin buckle and is just three grams heavier. It is not common to see a smartwatch weighing so little. To put it in perspective, the 45mm Apple Watch Series 8 weighs 51.5 grams ― nearly twice as much.

Here, we tested the Amazfit Active in Petal Pink, and we found the design to be a bit hit-and-miss. We were impressed by its lightweight, compact and unobtrusive build, making the Amazfit Active easy on the wrist and comfortable to wear round-the-clock. We also liked the buttery soft strap. A pleasure to wear, it remained firmly in place without ever irritating the skin. However, its pale pink shade was dull and unappealing to us. We also noticed stains and dust appeared more visibly on the strap than on other straps we've reviewed.

We also had some reservations about the frame of the Amazfit Active smartwatch. Made of aluminum alloy, it feels predominantly plastic to the touch and appears rather delicate. In all fairness, our Amazfit Active did not get scratched or damaged in any way during our tests. However, we only wore it in relatively mild conditions and mostly indoors. We suspect this smartwatch may not be sturdy enough to pull its weight when participating in extreme sports and heavy manual tasks. 

Amazfit Active: Display

• Detailed, colorful and easy to read
• Easy to personalize 
• The touchscreen lacks some responsiveness

The crisp AMOLED 1.75-inch display is one of the better features of the Amazfit Active smartwatch. We liked how detailed, colorful and easy to read it was, and that, despite a glassy surface, it remained free from fingerprints and dust. However, the reflective screen produced some annoying glare ― something to take into consideration if you tend to train or work under bright artificial lights. 

We also liked that the display was easy to personalize. The Amazfit Active comes with several built-in watch faces, and there are dozens more available to buy or download for free in the Zepp store. Widgets can be moved around as needed, and you can turn on and off any relevant notifications. 

The touchscreen, on the other hand, seemed to lack some responsiveness. The bulky layer of tempered glass made swiping between widgets and apps somewhat laborious. We did get used to it after a while, though.     

Amazfit Active: Features

• Plenty of health-tracking features
• Up to 120 sports modes
• A wide array of apps

The Amazfit Active does a good job both as a fitness tracker and smartwatch for daily errands. Its sensors can detect movement and measure heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, breathing rate and blood oxygen. Based on these data points, it can then assess other health metrics, including sleep quality, stress levels and training load.

Just like its pricier sibling Amazfit Balance, this smartwatch gives you a morning Readiness Score ― a measure of the body’s post-exercise recovery and energy levels, on a scale from one to 100. This single stat takes into account sleep resting heart rate, sleep heart rate variability, breathing quality and body temperature during the night. Simply put, the higher your Readiness Score, the more recharged you are for the new day. We liked this practical and easy-to-understand tool, and found it to be a good source of insights into our sleep routine. 

The Amazfit Active can track up to 120 different sports activities, including indoor cycling, pool swimming, baseball and Zumba dance. You can access your weekly and monthly fitness snapshots in the Zepp Fitness app, while the Zepp Coach app will generate personalized workout plans to suit your needs and abilities. And thanks to a built-in microphone and speaker, you can set the Amazfit Active smartwatch to read your performance stats in real-time, without you having to raise your wrist. It also allows you to share your activity to Adidas Running, Strava, Komoot and other online communities. 

Moreover, this smartwatch comes with GPS navigation, compass, Bluetooth connectivity and the Alexa voice assistant. It can also make and receive calls to your phone. Lastly, Amazfit Active features a wide range of handy apps, from a calendar and calculator to breathing exercises and a menstruation cycle tracker. Most apps are free to download from Zepp Store. However, some apps and app features ― the AI-powered chatbot in the Zepp Coach app, for example ― are hidden behind a paywall. 

Amazfit Active: Performance

• Quick and easy to set up
• Exceptional battery life
• Accurate health tracking features
• The strength training feature may be inaccurate

The Amazfit Active smartwatch is quick and easy to set up. Just like in other Amazfit wearables, all you have to do to pair the device with your phone is to scan a QR code displayed on the watch face. You will then be shown a quick yet comprehensive tutorial on how to navigate the interface. During our tests, our Amazfit Active watch did not lag or freeze, giving a smooth performance even during power-intensive tasks, and seamlessly connected to all of our devices. 

We were also impressed with its battery life. Our Amazfit Active lasted 27 days on Battery Saver Mode, with consistent moderate to heavy daily use. We have not even had the chance to fully assess its lifespan on the highest GPS settings ― it has been nearly a week now, and our watch is still alive and kicking. To top it up, Amazfit Active charges exceptionally quickly, with less than 1.5 hours needed to get a full battery.

The health tracking features in Amazfit Active appeared accurate. For one of the workouts, we wore both the watch and a chest-strap monitor, and both of the devices recorded very similar trends in heart rate. Our Amazfit Active was also good at picking up our breathing rate and steps, and for the most part, it correctly identified our stress levels, the length of our sleep and the times we were awake. 

Workout tracking features were also relatively accurate. We found our Amazfit Active did a particularly good job at assessing pace, distance, jumps and stroke rate, proving to be a good companion in the gym and when hiking. On the other hand, its strength training feature did not perform well at all. Our Amazfit Active routinely underestimated or miscalculated reps, and all sets had to be switched manually.   

Amazfit Active: User reviews

Amazfit Active was a new model at the time of writing this review, so there were not many user reviews out there yet. However, the ones that we found appeared positive. For example, Amazfit's customer reviews rated the Amazfit Active at an impressive 4.6 out of 5 stars, with two-thirds of buyers giving it a full five stars. Positive reviews praised this smartwatch for its long battery life, bright display, ease of use and functionality. As one user commented, “All the features I would want from the Apple watch at 1/3 of the price. Highly recommend it!”.

It is difficult to discern the rating on Amazon since the reviews for Amazfit Active are crunched together with reviews for the Amazfit GTS 4 Mini. However, the reviews that mentioned Amazfit Active specifically seem to be overwhelmingly in favor.

Negative reviews are rare, and they tend to focus on poor connectivity between the watch and Zepp app. One user also noted that the screen on the Amazfit Active is easy to scratch.

Should you buy the Amazfit Active?

✅ With exceptional battery life, great performance, compact design and a wealth of features, the Amazfit Active smartwatch makes a great budget-friendly option for those focused on tracking and improving their exercise performance. It is also comfortable and looks fairly good on the wrist.

❌ However, the Amazfit Active smartwatch may fall short of expectations for fans of high-octane outdoor activities and extreme sports. This smartwatch has not been designed to withstand harsh conditions, and would likely not perform well. If the plasticky exterior is a deal-breaker for you, you may be better off finding a different model.

If this product isn't for you

If you are looking for a smartwatch with similar features and price tag to the Amazfit Active smartwatch, but would rather invest in a more established brand, check the Garmin Vivosmart 5 . This fitness band is light, comes with a bright display and boasts up to 7 days of battery life.

Alternatively, try the Fitbit Sense 2 . This sleek-looking watch combines bold design with ease of use and advanced tracking features, without breaking the bank.

Amazfit Active: How we tested

We spent a month testing the Amazfit Active smartwatch, assessing its design, features, battery life, connectivity with third-party devices, and ease of use. We wore it at night, during the day and while doing low- and high-intensity workouts. 

We also evaluated the accuracy of some of its tracking features. For example, we compared the heart rate readings from our Amazfit Active to measurements obtained with a chest-strap heart rate monitor.

Anna Gora is a health writer at Live Science, having previously worked across Coach, Fit&Well, T3, TechRadar and Tom's Guide. She is a certified personal trainer, nutritionist and health coach with nearly 10 years of professional experience. Anna holds a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, a Master’s degree in Nutrition, Physical Activity & Public Health from the University of Bristol, as well as various health coaching certificates. She is passionate about empowering people to live a healthy lifestyle and promoting the benefits of a plant-based diet.

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Energy & Environmental Science

In-situ polymerization of solid-state polymer electrolytes for lithium metal batteries: a review.

The practical application of commercialized lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) currently faces challenges due to using liquid electrolytes (LEs), including limited energy density and insufficient safety performance. The combined application of solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) and lithium metal anode (LMA) can address these challenges and has received extensive attention from researchers recently. There are various strategies for assembling SPEs into lithium metal batteries (LMBs), but the most promising application is the in-situ polymerization strategy. The in-situ polymerization strategy can achieve good interfacial contact between SPEs and electrodes, significantly reducing the interfacial resistance. This paper comprehensively reviews the latest in-situ polymerization strategies for polymer solid-state lithium metal batteries (PSSLMBs), including the polymer system's design, the polymerization strategy's innovation, and the characterization of the whole cell. We summarize the components of the in-situ polymerization system, such as monomers, initiators, lithium salts, and backbone materials, and focus on the methods to improve the ionic conductivity and further enhance the safety performance of SPEs, including strategies such as the addition of inorganic nanoparticles, inorganic-polymer hybridization, and the construction of artificial SEIs. The polymer solid-state lithium-metal batteries prepared by the in-situ polymerization strategy have good application prospects and potential to become the next generation of commercialized lithium batteries.

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S. Zou, Y. Yang, J. Wang, X. Zhou, X. Wan, M. Zhu and J. Liu, Energy Environ. Sci. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D4EE00822G

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Guest Essay

Daniel Barenboim: What Beethoven’s Ninth Teaches Us

By Daniel Barenboim

Mr. Barenboim is a pianist and conductor.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was first performed exactly 200 years ago Tuesday and has since become probably the work most likely to be embraced for political purposes.

It was played at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin; it was performed in that city again on Christmas 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when Leonard Bernstein replaced the word “Joy” in the choral finale with “Freedom”; the European Union adopted the symphony’s “Ode to Joy” theme as its anthem. (These days the Ninth is being played in concert halls worldwide in commemoration of the premiere. The classical music world loves anniversaries.)

Beethoven might have been surprised at the political allure of his masterpiece.

He was interested in politics, but only because he was deeply interested in humanity. The story goes that he originally wanted to dedicate his “Eroica” symphony to Napoleon — it was to be called “Bonaparte” — but he changed his mind after Napoleon abandoned the ideals of the French Revolution and was crowned emperor.

I don’t believe, however, that Beethoven was interested in everyday politics. He was not an activist.

Instead, he was a deeply political man in the broadest sense of the word. He was concerned with moral behavior and the larger questions of right and wrong affecting all of society. Especially significant for him was freedom of thought and of personal expression, which he associated with the rights and responsibilities of the individual. He would have had no sympathy with the now widely held view of freedom as essentially economic, necessary for the workings of the markets.

The closest he comes to a political statement in the Ninth is a sentence at the heart of the last movement, in which voices were heard for the first time in a symphony: “All men become brothers.” We understand that now more as an expression of hope than a confident statement, given the many exceptions to the sentiment, including the Jews under the Nazis and members of minorities in many parts of the world. The quantity and scope of the crises facing humankind severely test that hope. We have seen many crises before, but we do not appear to learn any lessons from them.

I also see the Ninth in another way. Music on its own does not stand for anything except itself. The greatness of music, and the Ninth Symphony, lies in the richness of its contrasts. Music never just laughs or cries; it always laughs and cries at the same time. Creating unity out of contradictions — that is Beethoven for me.

Music, if you study it properly, is a lesson for life. There is much we can learn from Beethoven, who was, of course, one of the strongest personalities in the history of music. He is the master of bringing emotion and intellect together. With Beethoven, you must be able to structure your feelings and feel the structure emotionally — a fantastic lesson for life! When we are in love, we lose all sense of discipline. Music doesn’t allow for that.

But music means different things to different people and sometimes even different things to the same person at different moments. It might be poetic, philosophical, sensual or mathematical, but it must have something to do with the soul.

Therefore, it is metaphysical — but the means of expression is purely and exclusively physical: sound. It is precisely this permanent coexistence of metaphysical message through physical means that is the strength of music. It is also the reason that when we try to describe music with words, all we can do is articulate our reactions to it, and not grasp music itself.

The Ninth Symphony is one of the most important artworks in Western culture. Some experts call it the greatest symphony ever written, and many commentators praise its visionary message. It is also one of the most revolutionary works by a composer mainly defined by the revolutionary nature of his works. Beethoven freed music from prevailing conventions of harmony and structure. Sometimes I feel in his late works a will to break all signs of continuity.

The Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci said a wonderful thing in 1929, when Benito Mussolini had Italy under his thumb. “My mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic,” he wrote to a friend from prison. I think he meant that as long as we are alive, we have hope. I try to take Gramsci’s words to heart still today, even if not always successfully.

By all accounts, Beethoven was courageous, and I find courage an essential quality for the understanding, let alone the performance, of the Ninth. One could paraphrase much of the work of Beethoven in the spirit of Gramsci by saying that suffering is inevitable, but the courage to overcome it renders life worth living.

Daniel Barenboim is a pianist and conductor, co-founder of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and founder of the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin.

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Infinix Note 40 Pro+ review: Note quite there

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Infinix Note 40 Pro+

The Infinix Note 40 Pro+ gets some things right, but misses out on the camera and performance in exchange.

• Sleek design
• Good display
• Fast charging
• Good battery life

Sub-par camera

• Sluggish performance
• Lackluster software

Infinix has been building a name for itself over the past few years, with phones that may not compete with the top-tier flagships, but still have a lot going for them in their price range. The latest device from the new brand is the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ — a phone that’s built to offer a premium design and super-fast charging speed.

Infinix Note 40 Pro+ specs

What i like, stylish design.

I really like the overall design of the Infinix Note 40 Pro+. The device has a nice vegan leather back that looks and feels very nice in the hand, and I really like the green-on-gold color scheme for the model that I’m reviewing.

The device is very light, which I find to be a bit of a double-edged sword. Obviously having a phone that’s light makes it easier to carry around, but it can also make the phone feel a little cheap. Thankfully, not overly so, however.

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The phone has a curved-edge display, and while I prefer flat displays these days, it still looks relatively nice. On the right side, you’ll find a power button and volume rocker, while on the bottom is a USB-C port for charging. On the back is a large square camera module, and it doesn’t quite protrude from the back of the phone as much as many other devices do.

Solid battery

Super fast charging.

Perhaps even better than the battery life is the charging speed. This may be a relatively low-cost phone, but it boasts a 100W charging speed — allowing you to fully juice up in under 30 minutes from 0%. Infinix includes a 100W charger in the box, too, which is always handy.

Nice-looking screen

The display on the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ is quite nice. It’s a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution, and it can reach 120Hz. Unfortunately, it’s not a fancy new LTPO display that can range from 1Hz to 120Hz. You can, thankfully, choose to lock at 60Hz or 120Hz or have the phone automatically switch between them based on what you’re doing. Lastly, the phone has a peak brightness of 1300 nits.

What I don’t like

There are good things about the camera on the Infinix Note 40 Pro+ — like the 108-megapixel main camera. But ultimately, the camera experience as a whole kind of falls short.

It’s a bit disappointing to see a camera this low-quality, on a phone in this price range — especially in a world with Pixel A series phones.

Slow performance

It wasn’t consistently slow, but it did lag a little more than I would have liked.

Lackluster software experience

The phone does come with Infinix’s Folax AI assistant, which can be activated by long-pressing the power button. It’s kind of a neat tool that’s based on ChatGPT 3.5, and it works quite well, as expected. I’m expecting more manufacturers to build better AI assistants into their phones in the near future — especially Google.

Conclusions

The competition.

There are some great phones in this price range, and some of them offer a better overall experience. The Nothing Phone 2a , for example, has a sleek software experience and solid performance. And while the 2a’s camera isn’t the best, it’s better than what’s on offer by the Note 40 Pro+. The big missing feature on the Phone 2a is the lack of wireless charging.

Should I buy the Infinix Note 40 Pro+?

Maybe, but only if you prioritize design, battery, and charging over camera quality and general performance.

This article talks about:

Christian de Looper is based in sunny Santa Cruz, California. He has been expertly reviewing tech products for more than 8 years, and brings experience in deep technical analysis of consumer electronics devices to BGR's reviews channel.

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Performance Management and Appraisal Essay

Elements of a performance management system or practice that inspire and motivate employees.

Employee relations is a practice that inspires employees at the workplace. This is the aspect of maintaining good relationships with employees. Employee relations determine the achievement of goals because it creates a favorable environment to communicate effectively. Employee relations also improve the dispute resolution process because the parties involved can solve conflicts easily.

When proper employee relations processes are maintained, discrimination in the workplace is avoided. Employee relations create an avenue for the management to practice leadership skills. Therefore, the managers should practice the necessary leadership skills to encourage employees to achieve the organizational goals (Subrahmaniyam, 2009).

Employee engagement is another practice that inspires employees. This is determined by the involvement of employees in all activities of the organization. When employees are engaged, they feel secure, and they trust the management. This increases their performance.

Employee engagement encourages employers to have good leadership strategies so as to address all the issues affecting the employees. The problems affecting employees are easily identified when an engagement is employed. This is because the managers work together with the employees, and problems can be identified and resolved within the required time (Subrahmaniyam, 2009).

A labor union is another performance management system that promotes employee motivation. This deals with labor unions and the issues that affect labor unions. Labor unions form the link between the employees and the employer. This system ensures that the needs of employees are addressed. In addition, labor unions are involved in dispute resolution.

The employees are motivated to work when they have a work union because all their problems are solved easily. In addition, the employees can talk to the management through the union officials.

The unions protect the interest of the employees because the employer cannot impose issues onto the employees. Therefore, the employees can strike when they feel that their needs are not fulfilled. The union protects the employees from being sacked when they are on strike (Subrahmaniyam, 2009).

How performance evaluations can lead to or detract from employee engagement in the workplace

According to Albrecht (2010), performance evaluation enhances the engagement of employees because it helps employees to know how they perform at the workplace. In addition, performance evaluation helps the management and employees to be connected. This is because there is a close supervision and interaction between the management and employees.

When reviews are done regularly, the employees and the management understand the business processes appropriately. The reviews also lead to employee engagement when proper communication is practiced. Evaluations improve the employee engagement because they encourage leaders to identify the needs of the followers.

In addition, employees with poor performance have the risk of being fired. This encourages employees to improve their performance and engaged in all the activities of the organization. Therefore, evaluations promote improvements in the quality and quantity of work done because employees are corrected in areas where they have weaknesses (Quality Digest 2010).

On the other hand, performance evaluation can detract employee engagement when the reviews are not done regularly. In such a case, the reviews are perceived as events rather than processes to enhance the performance of employees.

In addition, reviews detract employee engagement when they are not linked to the goals of an organization. Employees usually expect an increase in wages after the performance reviews are done, and this may detract them from achieving the goals of the organization (Quality Digest 2010).

Albrecht, S. L. (2010). Handbook of employee engagement: Perspectives, issues, research and practice . Cheltenham, Glos, UK: Edward Elgar.

Quality Digest (2010). Turn Your Performance Review System Into One That Works . Web.

Subrahmaniyam, M. M. (2009). Performance management: Measure and improve the effectiveness of your employees . New Delhi: Global India Publications.

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1. IvyPanda . "Performance Management and Appraisal." December 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/performance-management-and-appraisal/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Performance Management and Appraisal." December 25, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/performance-management-and-appraisal/.

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• Evaluation of the Employee Performance Appraisal
• The Growth of Emotional Labour in Management and Labour
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• Work and Employment
• Leadership Styles: Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher