Using Performance Data for Appraisals

Without the support of workers, a business will struggle to succeed and stay ahead of competitors. This is why, as a modern manager, you need to pay attention to your team and how they are performing. Though this is not an easy task by any means, it’s a vital part of managing a workforce. Thankfully, appraising staff is made a lot thanks to performance and employee data. There are a lot of different types of employee data available, much of which can be used to keep track of how individuals are performing at work. 

Demographic Data - This type of data is based on facts about your team members, such as their gender and age, education level and marital status are also included. This can be used to gain an insight into staff diversity and showcases the kind of people that make up your workforce. You can use demographic data to determine if you need to diversify your workforce and whether your business could be improved by working with those from multicultural backgrounds.

Qualification Data - This type of data includes everything about an employee’s professional experience, such as their training and previous jobs. It will provide an insight into how long they spent at another company, what their responsibilities were and which courses they have completed. You can use this data to improve workforce development and boost your internal recruitment, as it should be clear who is ready to progress to the next level. You can also use qualification data to identify gaps in anyone’s skills and organise training accordingly.

Attendance Data - Attendance data will highlight which team members arrive on time, who takes too many or too few breaks during the day, how often staff call in sick and how many holidays people take. With this information, you can better improve productivity and work to prevent as many absences as possible. Plus, by looking at planned holidays and time off, you can arrange staffing in advance and avoid being short staffed at any time.

Employment Data - Employment data will highlight whether or not your business has a high turnover of staff, something that needs to be rectified before it becomes a problem. If very few employees stay with the company for many years, it might mean that you have managerial problems and that employees aren’t willing to build a career within the team. You can use employment data to find which employees are leaving prematurely and why, and then you can put plans into place to combat this. This type of data includes hire date, contract terminate dates and extended breaks from work.

Performance Data - Performance data details an employee’s achievements during their employment period, as well as any failures they might have suffered. It will highlight if goals and deadlines were met, and whether they contributed to projects in the way in which they should have. Things such as customer ratings, number of sales, productivity, effectiveness and project success can all be looked at. Performance data can be used for productivity management and employee appraisal, as it gives real examples to back up whether an employee is succeeding or underperforming. 

The Importance of Data Driven Appraisals

A lot of people terminate their role at a company because of managerial differences, and it’s often a case that they experienced differences with their managers. This is why companies need to use employee performance appraisals to keep on top of everything that’s going on in the workplace. Data driven appraisals help to keep things transparent, open and everyone is held accountable for their actions.

With data, performance appraisals can be driven by facts and evident, instead of any biases coming into place. As a manager, you can state your claim and appraise someone’s performance with data evidence, which will allow you to better justify what you are saying. Without data, a lot of this could be argued against. Similarly, data drive appraisals help businesses to avoid any legal ramifications. If an employee is unhappy about their contract being terminated, they might try to claim that they were ‘let go’ unfairly. With data, everything can be justified and proven.