Employee appraisal is one extraordinary session in the Water District Company, as this is
a forum that the employee and the employer come together for a sole purpose of improving their
relationship. Typically, this is a forum where the supervisor and employee discuss how to cope
with challenges faced while working and how their work status can be improved (Sofo, 2013).
The session of appraisal can satisfy both parties if they take the exercise with utmost respect it
requires. The session is a great forum for giving feedback and receiving feedback, focusing on
areas of improvement for both the employer and employee. In addition to reviewing the
employee-employer relationship, the appraisal at Water District Company is also an opportunity
to set goals and plans on how to achieve new visions. This is a forum to review what worked and
what didn’t work and the areas of improvement. The employee appraisal sessions are also a good
forum to improve communication between the employees and the company`s management. This
is possible if the session is open and the employee is ready and willing to express their issues that
affect them at the workstations and probably suggest ways in which to improve the work
environment (Sofo, 2013).Poor performance appraisal results in false information which may
lead to creating a false sense of performance by the management of the Water District Company.
This may result in poor overall performance by the company which may ultimately lead to the
collapse of the firm. Poor performance appraisal may result in problems such as over
employment and financial crises in the firm
Review on the Scholarly Articles used in This Report on Performance Appraisal
All the articles used in this report agree on the idea that performance appraisal is essential
in any firm that is interested in developing. Deepa & Dr. Kuppusamy(2011) review on the
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
impact of a new performance appraisal to the attitude of the employees and what is the
relationship between performance appraisal, job satisfaction, and employee engagement.
Performance appraisal helps in identifying the reasons behind the excellent performance of some
staff and the outstanding performance of other employees in the same firm. In some cases, the
employees are usually not adequately skilled. Therefore, it is the role of the employers to train
the employees. Ocansey, F. (2016) tries to come up strategies on which the employers could use
to ensure that the knowledge gained by the employees during training is reflected in their
performance. One of these strategies employed is employee engagement in the structuring of the
training program. Gupta, V. & Kumar, S. (2012) agree with the other idea that employee
engagement is crucial to towards ensuring the effectiveness of the performance appraisal. Gupta,
V. & Kumar, S. try to theorize the relationship between performance appraisal justice and
employee engagement. Trust is theorized as the moderator.
Dominant selection method used at spring water district
In these current times, the recruitment methods used by companies have diversified, and
in most cases, the firms use the internet for recruitment purpose. The Water District Company
employs the use of modern recruitment processes such as internet sourcing, mobile recruiting
and applicant tracking system (Beagrie, Saunders, & Cropper, 2014). Internet sourcing refers to
the process of seeking qualified people for work at the firm from social and professional
websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. The departmental heads employ the use of
internet sourcing since it gives the firm the ability to access details to a vast number of people
interested in the position it offers. Mobile recruiting is commonly used by most firms while
sourcing for new employees. The firm's adverts usually appear in the public`s mobile and other
communication devices such as tablets, and hence interested people will tend to seek more
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
information from their desktops (Zain, 2015). Applicant tracking system refers to an online
recruitment technology used for tracking CVs, skill-matching, CV parsing and job posting
through various channels such as social media. The Human Resource Department in Water
District Company uses the technological recruitment methods so as to make recruitment process
easier. However, the recruitment tools force the company to employ more staff who are IT
oriented so as to ensure that the companies make full use of the recruitment tools. This means
that the company experiences more expenses.
After the human resource department has hand-picked people from the necessary people
from the three recruitment tools, the individuals are interviewed by the management so as to
assess whether the information they listed during recruitment is true. The management at the
Water District Company takes the induction tests very seriously and could be considered as strict
in comparison with other tests. Therefore, they are very reliable. The evaluation tests are used in
making policy decisions.
Employment of unethical means such as bribes and blackmail is troublesome for the
managers since it weakness the established recruitment method. Such unethical means affect
decisions made during the recruitment process, and the whole becomes biased and subjective
rather than been objective and unbiased. When an employee is picked based on such unethical
means, the employee might not have the skills needed to perform his/her duty and any
termination based on inadequate qualification might be meet with hostility that might extend to
legal suits (Gentile, 2015). In such case, the company stands to lose as they will pay too much in
terms of legal fees. Also, the unethical means negatively affect the relationship between the
employer and employees, especially after the recruitment process has been reviewed. The
employees who employed wrong means so as to gain jobs into the firm may suffer job loss or
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
may not be promoted. This may result in a legal battle between the employer and the employees
who have lost their jobs during the recruitment review.
The selection method needs to be fair, and it should not be discriminatory in any way.
This is necessary since any discrimination will result in a violation of Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. This law prohibits employment discrimination of any person based on race,
color, religion, sex and national origin (Eeoc, 2017). Therefore, any discriminatory activities at
the workplace during recruitment could result in expensive lawsuits for the Water District
Company.
The recruitment methods need to be adjusted to include the needs of all people from
various social backgrounds. For example, the date of the interview should observe different
worship days for various religions to ensure that the recruitment process favors all people.
Besides that, formulation of interview question should take into consideration taboos, and bad
omens based on cultural differences and avoid them. Clearly, it is important for Spring Water
District to identify the need for different culture and address them in recruitment procedures.
Performance program used in Springs Water District Company
In the mission district company, the departmental heads rate the employee performance
periodically, so as to monitor and evaluate their performance. This is a great motivation to the
staff since if one employee did not perform well in one appraisal; they are quickly given another
chance to redeem themselves through another appraisal (Gentile, 2015). Self-evaluation is
allowed by the general managers, thus giving their employees extensive opportunities to
improve. The human resource should review the whole performance evaluation process before it
is used on employees; this is to ensure the performance appraisal process is unbiased. The
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
employees are also given a window of response if they feel the process was discriminatory and
not objective (Zhou, Wang, & Liu, 2012). They are allowed to air their grievances to the
management within seven calendar days upon receiving the evaluation report.
The Springs Water District Company employs objective management. The technique is
quite useful as the administration set goals and review them over time. The method helps the
employee to perform better since they are aware of what is required of them and how best to
carry out their duties (Ocansey, 2016). The rating scale is another critical evaluation method
utilized by the Water District Company; the supervisors rate their staff. The choice of the
supervisor as a rater is based on the fact that he/she has direct contact with them hence he/she
know their performance in detail. The rating scale is a process-based assessment and involves the
organization setting objectives that must be achieved by the employees. The trait focused
appraisal is another method utilized by the company. The method enforces culture in the
organization and work ethic. It also motivates employees to open processes, to compete with
colleagues and also encourage the ones that lag behind.
One of strategic mission of spring water district is to attract and retained skilled workers.
This is being achieved through probationary period strategy. In this plan, new employees are
placed on probation for six months. The employee is entitled to but not guaranteed to a
performance evaluation during this probationary period. If an employee proofed them through
good performance, then the confirmation after the probationary period is automatic. The
assessment of the employee at this stage is basically to determine their appropriateness in the
organization. The merit and a suitability of the employee in the organization if resolved
adequately can lead to the probation period reduced significantly (Ocansey, 2016). The reason as
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
to why the performance evaluation is taken seriously is because performance appraisal is not
subject to appeal by law.
Although this company is doing all that takes to offer the best appraisal method, there are
several challenges that it faces which are can be controlled by the employees. These challenges
include limited water supply, high demand for skilled workers, difficulties in acquiring and
retaining skilled workforce and challenges in solving emergency fire problem. Despite these
problems, Mission Spring Water Company ensures reliability in services delivered by frequently
hiring and training its staff. Besides that, they carry out a frequent evaluation to ensure their
employees maintain good services.
The company offers both water and sewerage services. Therefore, it is highly likely to
find itself in legal and ethical issues in case of any mistake. For instance, if they fail to channel
the sewages system well they can find themselves facing environmental lawsuits. Besides that, if
an executive of the company discriminates any of the staff they might find themselves facing
serious legal charges since they will have violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The mission of Springs Water District is to evaluate new employees who are joining their
team and evaluate the new staff based on job satisfaction. The management avoids building
negative perceptions by the community towards the company. The company`s management does
not allow consistent poor performance by the employees (Gupta & Kumar, 2012). This outcome
is based on the fact that the management is very much concerned with improving the
performance. Another dominant method used to evaluate new employees is “persistence is the
key to good performance.” Outstanding performance by the employees is always recognized and
rewarded, while active behavior is strongly encouraged.
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
The employee review process is important for the managers in that they can gauge the
performance of their employees (VOLPONE, AVERY, & McKAY, 2012). They can measure
the employee productivity based on pre-determined set objectives. Feedback is quite important
for the managers as they will be able to establish whether the employee is equal to the task at
hand. The departmental heads can evaluate individuals’ attitude, behavior, and personality of the
employee. These are the aspects that the managers will tend to use to determine staff promotions,
compensation and where they need improvement programs. The test evaluation methods are
crucial to the managers since they assist them in making policy decisions on the staff welfare
(VOLPONE, AVERY, & McKAY, 2012). Through the employee analysis, a manager will be
able to place each person to where they fit best and where they can utilize their skills in a more
productive manner. By analyzing the feedback of the employees, the management can manage
the expectations of their staff members and also get them to understand the organization
expectations of them.
Gentile, M. (2015) notes that evaluation frequency matters in the organization but it
usually depends on how an organization drafts their policy. Most employee appraisals are done
on a quarterly basis, but there are organizations which do the appraisal on a yearly basis or even
monthly basis, especially for the new staff that join the team. For an appraisal to be objective, it
needs to be done on a short-duration basis as opposed to long periods. The method of assessment
plays a crucial role in determining the objectivity of the process. According to Gupta, V. &
Kumar, S. (2012), employee justice needs to be enhanced on all engagements with the staff to
improve the relationship. It has been proofed that when employee appraisal is done on a short
time basis, the employees are more motivated, especially in the case of startups. Makina, B.
(2013) states that the most utilized criteria for employee evaluation methods are done through
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
measuring the performance, quality of the work performed and duration of service. The
productivity of employee is measured based on the results i.e. profits generated, while the
performance of the employee is measured based on how they can grasp information that they are
exposed to.
Despite the advantages of employee evaluation, it has some challenges too. For example,
if there are no error-correction measures, it can promote fraud and inequality in the workplace as
evaluators will be using this method to discriminate the employees they dislike. Besides that,
frequent evaluation can be time-consuming. This is highly attributed by the measures undertaken
so as for it to be effective. For instance, the management must consider whether the objective of
the performance appraisal is to evaluate only the performance of the employees or also to
evaluate other measures such as how skilled the employees are. More time will be needed as
well as more professionals. This also proves that it can be expensive.
Evaluation technique used in this case is made effective by passing it through HR
manager. This means that errors of the evaluators based on cultural difference can be identified
and corrected. Besides that, the recruitment procedure is not discriminatory, but instead, it has
considered minority groups thus making it fair in addressing the issues affecting them. It is
evident that all departments, most especially the human resource department should be involved
in the performance appraisal so as to ensure that the process favors all people and that any errors
in the process are quickly identified and corrected. The process is crucial to the growth of Water
District Company since it will help in identifying gaps in the performance of the employees. For
example, lack of adequate knowledge on how to operate machines at the company plant and
therefore the company`s management will be forced to come up with forums, workshops, and
training programs for the employees. The performance appraisal process also helps in ensuring
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
that the employees who perform well are identified and rewarded. Therefore this process works
hand-in-hand with the total reward system so as to motivate the employees in working hard.
Conclusion
Performance evaluation is an essential tool in the management of the organization
because if employees are not motivated to perform their duties, they cannot work to their
potential. It is true that performance appraisal should be done as often as possible to motivate
employees and enhance good communication between management and the employee. The
anchored behavioral technique has been developed recently to rate employees based on the
behavior (Ali Chughtai, 2016). Springs Water District has utilized the behavioral district
anchored rating scale which is commendable.
Recommendations
The analytical incidence technique is another evaluation method that can be employed at
Mission District Company. The method evaluates the statements of the employee both positive
and negative to determine the reactions of the employees (Ali Chughtai, 2016). Essay evaluation
is another performance appraisal method that is used in determining the employee contribution to
the organization. The process involves writing a descriptive essay of the employee performance
in various tasks, regarding strengths and weakness. Clearly, there are hundreds of methods that
can be used to evaluate the performance of employees. The significant thing is to determine what
works best and prioritize it.
Reflection
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN MISSION SPRINGS WATER DISTRICT
Mission spring district has done the recommendable job in creating a favorable working
environment. The environment at this company challenges the employee to give their best every
time. This is important in empowering each employee as well as increasing the value of the
company. An environment that gives you an ability to know what is required of you is a valuable
tool as it reduces the time to delegate and create an opportunity to grow. Despite that, mission
spring water district can further enhance their evaluation capability by utilizing the above-
recommended tools. If it does so, performance will not only be the basis of evaluation but also
behavior. In this case, the organization will be able to improve the life of their employee not only
professional-wise but also morally.
