Not surprisingly, these motivators dovetail perfectly with the one aspect of employment that makes employees and managers alike miserable: the employee appraisal.
1. They demonstrate the need for improvement. If employees don't have a clear understanding of how they've been performing, they can't be motivated to make any improvements.
2. They meet higher-level psychological needs. Researchers continue to find that recognition is one of the most powerful forms of motivation for large numbers of employees. Although you can find numerous possible sources of recognition on the job, performance appraisals are an opportunity for employees to receive formal, significant, and enduring recognition from their manager. .
3. They build a sense of personal value. When managers take the time and effort to carefully review, analyze, document, and discuss performance with employees, the underlying message to the employees is that they're important and valuable, and this alone is quite rewarding, whether the feedback is positive or not.
4. They enhance personal development. Performance evaluations are motivational for employees who are looking to enhance their personal learning, growth, and development. Appraisals are a highly valuable source of information, insights, and tools necessary for such progress. Performance appraisals are similarly motivational for employees whose needs are centered on achievement, goal attainment, and sensing personal effectiveness, respect, and trust.
5. They turn employees around. When employees are performing poorly, performance appraisals can provide the wakeup call that they need to get refocused and reenergized. With performance appraisal, however, the purpose of the session is not strictly disciplinary, so the employee is more likely to walk in with a more receptive and open mind. As a result, your comments regarding an employee's questionable performance have an excellent chance of being heard and generating action as a result.
