HRM 635 Performance Appraisals: Aligning Strategic Goals to People Development

Performance Appraisals: Aligning Strategic Goals to People Development

Organizations, including those in healthcare, leverage performance appraisal to evaluate employees’ overall performance and productivity based on prescribed or predefined standards and best practices. Performance appraisals inform employees about their work and identify areas for improvement in their behaviors and mindset in relation to work execution, and even professional development (Saks, 2022). The appraisal process creates work standards, job responsibilities, and constructive feedback for organizations and employees to improve in various aspects of their operations, conduct, and overall execution of their functions (Mohamed et al., 2025). This paper describes the evaluation of a mid-sized healthcare organization’s current system on performance appraisal and proposes changes. The paper also explores the alignment of the appraisal system and strategic goals in people development.

Performance Appraisal Assessment in Healthcare Organizations

Organizations, like the selected mid-sized healthcare facility, deploy performance appraisal assessments in managing employee performance in various ways. These include identifying workforce strengths and weaknesses, determining educational and training needs, and creating an effective compensation system. Homauni et al. (2021) observe through a systematic review that healthcare entities use performance appraisal assessments to develop robust performance analysis for employees and ensure they align with their professional development. Performance appraisal assessment helps the organization to provide feedback to its employees and foster professional development for long-term performance and sustainability. Again, Dolatabad et al. (2025) explore various performance appraisal methods in healthcare settings. The article asserts that effective appraisal supports decision-making and professional development. As such, the article recommends increased use of diverse appraisal tools based on organizational context and the need to meet diverse appraisal aspects for various employees, roles, and responsibilities.

The selected healthcare facility deploys a hybrid approach to performance appraisal assessment, which entails using a combination of assessment methods based on their qualitative and quantitative components. Quantitative components comprise measurable aspects like shift completion rates, error rates, project completion rates, and the number of patients under one’s care (Saks, 2022). Qualitative aspects are subjective factors like teamwork, leadership skills, innovative care approaches, and leveraging health data to make informed decisions, as well as communication skills. As such, the organization uses 360-degree feedback, management by objectives, and key performance indicators. For instance, key performance indicators (KPIs) show quantitative metrics to measure performance. These include patient satisfaction levels, rates of errors, and levels of adherence to protocols. The 360-degree method allows the organization to evaluate qualitative components like feedback from peers, supervisors, and patients about one’s performance (Mohamed et al., 2023). Management by objective (MBO) entails a collaborative effort in performance appraisal where managers and employees set clear, measurable, and SMART goals and assess performance based on progress to attain these goals. As such, MBO entails qualitative and quantitative components in performance appraisal for employees and the organization.

Communicating the performance appraisal practices is essential for employees to understand core metrics and outcomes. According to Faozen et al. (2023), performance management increases the productivity of employees, teams, and organizations through set goals. It also measures performance, provides feedback, and supports effective decision-making. Therefore, organizations must effectively and deliberately communicate performance appraisal approaches to employees to attain set goals. Consequently, the organization communicates these practices using training sessions, newsletters, and regular meetings and sessions within the facility. For instance, at the start of every appraisal period for the MBO tool, managers meet their team members to discuss and set performance goals and expected best practices.

Necessary Changes to Improve Performance Appraisal Processes in the Organization

The evaluation of the current performance appraisal processes in the organization demonstrates gaps that may hinder effective alignment of performance, organizational goals, and strategic professional development of the employees. As such, changes are necessary to ensure that the performance appraisal process is responsive to diverse employee and organizational needs. Firstly, the organization can adopt evidence-based practices like a continuous feedback model with regular check-ins, offer clear and aligned goals, and deploy objective and measurable criteria. Further, using multi-source or hybrid evaluations and assessments can also enhance performance appraisal processes for the healthcare entity.

Secondly, emphasis should be on objective evaluation, customization, and rater relevance to enhance performance outcomes. In their paper, Homauni et al. (2021) emphasize the importance of a holistic approach to performance appraisal processes to attain objective evaluation and provide appropriate feedback. Therefore, the organization can improve the performance appraisal processes by adopting a holistic approach that integrates traditional methods like 360-degree feedback and modern approaches that include continuous performance monitoring and competency-based appraisals in evaluating staff performance. For instance, peer reviews lead to customization and qualitative analysis of the performance, while the competency-based method ensures that employees have the competencies required to execute their roles and responsibilities.

Proposed Performance Appraisal Tool and Interview Approach

As a healthcare entity, the organization can benefit from various performance appraisal tools as they provide benefits to all stakeholders, both employees and management. An appropriate performance appraisal tool that the organization can use is competency-based appraisals. Competency-based performance appraisals evaluate specific skills, knowledge, and behaviors by healthcare employees that are essential for the execution of their roles and not just outcomes. Putra (2021) observes that competency-based appraisals ensure accurate and effective employee evaluation since they determine gaps in skills and other aspects that influence individual performance, especially care delivery. Further, Bindels et al. (2021) emphasize the significance of deploying appropriate tools that enable two-way communication and dialogue in performance appraisal processes. As such, the suggested tool ensures employers and employees align their professional development goals and performance requirements within their respective organizations.

An effective method to conduct appraisal interviews for healthcare employees is a structured dialogue based on SMART goal setting and deploying an appropriate appraisal method like 360-degree feedback. The interview method should foster continuous feedback using objective metrics and self-assessment to be balanced, constructive, and through a safe and supportive environment (Dolatabad et al., 2025). The structured dialogue should embrace active engagement of the employee and seek peer feedback based on a two-way communication model. Through this approach, the organization and employee will align their goals that include professional development and meeting set performance and productivity targets.

Recommendations for the Organization’s Leadership

Organizational leaders should develop performance appraisal measures to meet appraisal expectations of fairness and be practical to enhance professional development and motivate employees. Firstly, the organization should implement personalized appraisal plans for each employee, based on their dynamic strengths and areas of improvement. The approach leads to increased job satisfaction and motivation, including better retention of resources. For instance, competency-based appraisals evaluate specific skills, knowledge, and behaviors that align with best practices and standards based on an employee’s role. Such appraisal methods require customization and dealing with specific employees (Mohamed et al., 2023). Secondly, leaders should continuously implement performance management initiatives to get the latest feedback and foster a culture of ongoing development and change. The implication is that leaders should support appropriate performance appraisal methods based on their organizational needs and employees’ development plans.

Conclusion

Performance appraisal processes are essential for healthcare organizations and providers to evaluate their abilities to meet and align with expected performance goals. The evaluation of the current organization’s performance appraisal processes demonstrates a hybrid approach where it deploys both traditional and modern appraisal tools that offer immense benefits. However, the report proposes changes that would benefit the organization and recommends effective measures to meet appraisal expectations of fair and realistic criteria for professional development while motivating employees.

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