Final Assignment
Final Assignment
Section- 04
Submitted by:
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Introduction
Introduction Today’s manager one of the key responsibilities is taking human resource decisions.
Indeed, the success and failure of a human resource manager depends on how effectively &
efficiently he/she performs the human resource management functions. In the traditional
approaches, the human resource department is responsible for setting and managing a performance
appraisal system. Managers conduct performance appraisal as one of their administrative duties.
It is arguably that performance appraisal is the most contentious and least popular activities
performed by human resource managers (Brtton and Gold, 2003). Often, managers feel they do
not know how to evaluate employee performance effectively, and employees feel they are
excluded from the process and their contributions are not recognized (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart,
and Wright, 2004). Human resource managers measure the performance of employees by filling-
out forms one or twice in a year and present the information to their employees, one by one.
Appraisals include negative information (areas needing improvement), so the meetings for
discussing performance appraisals tend to be uncomfortable for managers and employees, alike.
In many organizations, two evaluation systems exist side by side: the formal and the informal.
Managers often think about how well employees are doing; this is informal system. Political and
interpersonal processes influence it, so those employees who are linked better than others have an
edge. But managers cannot find out the real/actual performance of employees through this system
because here managers liking or disliking are material and employee’s performances are
immaterial. By contrast, a formal performance evaluation is a system set up by organization to
regularly and systematically evaluate employees’ performance. Most of the organizations follow
formal evaluation system because they think that performance appraisal is the essential thing for
the organizational success. Managers must maintain the visibility in the performance evaluation
program because it may accelerate the authenticity of the program.
Research Objectives
1. To know about the performance appraisal system of United Commercial Bank Limited.
2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of the performance appraisal system of United
Commercial Bank Limited.
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3. To evaluate the employees’ attitude towards the authenticity of the performance
appraisal system used by the bank.
4. To recommend some measures to overcome the problems of existing performance
appraisal system of United Commercial Bank Limited.
Research Methodology
The methodology of the study including selection of sample, size and location of sample, data
collection and analysis techniques, etc. are detailed in this section. A number of 80 employees
were surveyed from the 20 branches of United Commercial Bank Limited operating in Dhaka
Division as shown in Table-1
Almost all data were collected from both the primary and secondary sources. Primary data were
collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of 10 questions revealing employees opinion
on the existing performance appraisal system of the United Commercial Bank Limited. Data were
collected by face-to-face interview of the sample employees and were analyzed according to the
scale developed by Griffin (1999): Strongly Agree=5, Agree=4, Neutral=3, Disagree=2 and
Strongly Disagree=1. Secondary data were collected from the annual reports, books, journals and
other published materials.
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Review of Existing Literature
The survey of different research studies in the concerned area indicates that the term performance
evaluation, merit rating and performance appraisal are mostly used in measuring the performance
of an employee or employees (Bhattacharjee and Karmaker, 1989). Beach (1965) defined
performance appraisal as “the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his/ her
performance on the job and his/her potential for development”. A more comprehensive definition
of performance appraisal was given by Douglas et. al., (1985). According to them, “performance
appraisal is a systematic review of employee’s meaningful job behavior to respects their
effectiveness in meeting their job requirements and responsibilities”.
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Existing Employee Performance Appraisal System of United Commercial Bank Limited.
During that probationary period all employees are appraised monthly to see their proficiency,
progress, and potential. The bank uses two types of forms for appraisal – one for lower-level
employees like assistant, receptionist, teller typist, etc. and the other for assistant officer and above.
UCBL has adopted these forms from Central Bank i.e. Bangladesh Bank. Both forms contain items
for qualitative and quantitative judgment of behavior, performance and potential of the appraisee.
Appraisal form used for the lower level employees contains appraisal criteria like knowledge of
job, amount of work, quality of work, dependability, ability to learn, capacity and ambition for
future growth. Each of these items is well defined. Evaluation is done on each of the items on a
four point scale- Excellent (4 points), Very Good (3 points), Good (2 points) and Below Average
(1 point). According to this rating procedure, reporting officer appraises annual performance of
the reportee. The appraisal form used for the executives and officers are quite lengthy and
comprehensive. It has four parts. Part-A of the form has 16 items which are to be filled in by the
employee. These 16 items give information about the employee’s Name, Father’s Name, Date of
birth, Designation, Academic Qualification, Professional Qualification, Present Salary,
Experience in other Bank(s), Date of joining in UCBL & Designation, Present place of posting
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& date of joining, Previous posting in UCBL, Promotion received in UCBL, Training/ Workshop
attended, and Business performance. Part-B contains instruction for the reporting officer, appraisal
criteria and rating scale. In this part overall performance of the employee is evaluated. Evaluation
is done on a four point scale as Excellent (35-45), Good (25-34), Average (15-25), and Below
Average (0-14). Appraisal criteria includes such things as- personal knowledge, reliability,
commitment, sense of belonging & responsibility, quality and quantity of work, analytical ability,
power of judgment, decision making, honesty & integrity, financial discipline, attendance,
communication ability, leadership, interpersonal relationship, marketing ability, presentation &
outer ability, learning ability, initiative, drive, enthusiasm, knowledge of banking, skill &
awareness to rules & policies and its implementation, and administrative/ disciplinary action.
Evaluations on these items are made on a four point scale as explained above. Part-C of the form
contains comments of the reporting officer on the performance of the employee which are to be
filled in by the reporter. This part also contains comments of the reporter on employee’s
development needs, promotion, annual grade increment, special increment(s), number of special
increment(s), and consideration for another jobs. It also contains the comments of the supervisor
of the reporting officer. He/She may agree or disagree with the assessment of the reporting officer.
If he/she does not agree with the assessment, he/she must give reasons for disagreement. Part-D is
to be used by the management committee of the Head Office. Marks given on the appraisal report
out of 100 are later on considered by the Human Resource Department of the Head Office for
recommending performance increment. Marks distribution has been shown in the following table.
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6. Computer Training/ Knowledge 05
7. Interview Performance/ Assessment 15
Total 100
Masters =04, Graduate (Hons.) =03, Graduate = 02 (1 Mark for each 1st class in Terminal
Degree)
Appraise scoring more than 90 % marks are given 10 % performance increment, 80 % marks are
given 5 % performance increment and 70 % marks are given 2.5 % performance increment. This
part also contains necessary instructions for the reporting offices. These instructions are as follows:
Please write ACR of those employees who have served under you for a minimum period
of (six) months.
While writing ACRs of your sub-ordinates, please consider the following.
(e) Compare the employee concerned with his or her colleagues of the same rank. Do not allow
your own liking and disliking influencing the ratings.
(f) Keep in mind that your impartial ratings will reward the right person and facilitate management
to take measures for improvement of the skill of the deficient employees.
The bank also appraised the performance of internee students. It uses one type of form of
performance appraisal. It has two parts. Part- A of the form contains seven items to give
information about the reportee’s Name, Commencement date of the internship program, Name of
the evaluator, Designation, Organization, Signature of the internee and Date which are to be filled
in by the internee students. Part- B contains instruction for the evaluator, appraisal criteria and
scale for rating. Appraisal criteria includes ten items, e.g. Punctuality, Behavior and Attitude,
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Willingness to learn, Verbal communication skill, Written communication skill, Ability to work
with people, Maturity, Conceptual and Analytical skills, Ability to meet deadline, and ability to
adapt environment. Evaluations on these items are on Poor, Average, Good and Outstanding. This
part also contains comments of the evaluator on the performance of internee students. Finally, the
evaluator must put his or her signature with date and to give official seal and send it to Chairman,
Internship Placement Committee in a sealed envelope marked “COFIDENTIAL.
Research Findings
On the basis of the objectives and discussions, the findings of the study are as follows:
1. The bank is suffering from uniform policy of performance appraisal because in some branches
employees are evaluated by the Head of the respective department and in some branches
employees are evaluated by the head of the branch. In reply to a direct question, employees
answered that some Head of the respective department and some head of the branch are affected
by the halo effect and they have given high or low marks according to their personal liking or
disliking. Thus, sometimes good performer may not be rewarded.
2. Most of the respondents (95 percent) demand suggestion/advice/guideline from the authority of
the bank so that they can overcome their weak points.
3. Performance appraisal program has to be open for the employees so that they appraise their own
performance and be familiarizing about the method/technique used by the authority to conduct the
evaluation program.
4. Some branch managers and Head of the respective department reported that they have to conduct
the performance evaluation program under tremendous internal and external pressures.
5. The 95 percent of the respondents reported that they need training and motivational session to
participate in the evaluation program with effectively & efficiently.
6. The internee students reported that they have no opportunity to see their appraisal reports during
the appraisal program and to give any opinion regarding the appraisal report because it is highly
confidential. They also reported that they preferred to be rated by their supervisors who knew them
well and who were directly involved with their work. But in the present system, the head of branch
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evaluates them. They felt that there is a possibility of getting low score by the internee student who
is not in good term with the head of branch.
Research Recommendations
The following recommendations will help the authority of United Commercial Bank Limited to
take the appropriate decision to overcome the problems of existing performance appraisal
system:
1. The bank authority should develop a uniform performance appraisal policy and should form a
performance evaluation committee by the Head of the branch and Head of the respective
department of the branch to conduct the evaluation program with more authentically.
2. The HR manager of the branch should prepare performance appraisal report to each and every
employee by using committee report, employee’s self-evaluation report, and the interview taken
by the HRD. After preparing the performance appraisal report along with the guideline/suggestion,
the HRD should send it to each and every employee so that employees can see their actual
performance and also they can overcome their weak points by using this suggestion/guideline.
3. The bank authority and the committee of the evaluation program of the branch should clearly
explain to the employees about method/technique that is going to use for conducting the evaluation
program.
4. The HRD and the Directors of the bank should provide power/freedom to the Head of the Branch
and Head of the respective department to freely and accurately conduct the performance appraisal
program so that the authority may provide reward to the excellent performer.
5. The HRD of the bank should arrange extensive training and motivational session for the
employees in order to explain the significance of the evaluation program so that employees may
get information about the ways of successfully participating in the evaluation program.
6. The bank authority should not appraise the performance of employees based on deposit
collection, procurement of business and advances & recovery. They should appraise the
performance of employees based on their accomplished duties & responsibilities.
7. The branch manager should not evaluate the performance of internee students. They should be
evaluated by their supervisors who knew them well and who were directly involved with their
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works. The authority may provide opportunity to the internee students so that they may see their
performance results and get the chance to provide their opinion regarding the performance
appraisal system. As a result, conflict and confusion between internee students and authority of
this bank may be minimized.
Conclusion
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References
Bratton, John and Gold, Jeffrey 2003. “Management of Human Resources”, 3rd edition, Palgrave
Macmillan, Pp. 250.
Noe, Ramond, A., Hollenbeck, John, R., Gerhart, Barry and Wright, Patrick, M., 2004. 1995.
“Fundamentals of Huamn Resource Management”, Latest Edition, McGraw Hill Irwin, Pp. 239.
Beach, Dale, S., 1965. “Personnel: The Management People at Work,” New York. Pp. 15-25.
Douglas, John, Stuart, Klein and Hunt, David, 1985. “The Strategic Managing of Human
Resources,” John Willey and Sons, New York, Pp. 40-55. Gellerman, S., W., 1988.
“Cyanamid’s New Take on Performance Appraisal,” Harvard Business Review, May-June, Pp.
40-60.
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Appendix A. Questionnaire
SL Questions 5 4 3 2 1
No.
1. I am satisfied with the behavior of my supervisor
2. The performance appraisal method is visible and standard in my
branch.
3. My supervisor is followed the appropriate performance appraisal
process.
4. My supervisor is followed the appropriate performance appraisal
process.
5. My supervisor is followed the appropriate performance appraisal
process.
6. My supervisor is followed the appropriate performance appraisal
process.
7. My supervisor provides me with a useful performance appraisal.
8. My supervisor provides me feedback with necessary guidelines
to improve the performance
9. My supervisor jointly sets performance objectives with me
10. My supervisor jointly sets performance objectives with me
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