The performance of employees is paramount to achieving success in the labor market. Employers and managers will need to conduct consistent performance reviews to ensure that their employees align with their goals.
This article outlines the five performance ratings that are used across industries and why they are a necessity for businesses in the various spaces.
What are performance ratings?
Performance ratings are a way for employers to measure their employees’ performances. They are based on the results of their work, not just on whether they showed up on time or did all of the tasks assigned to them. Performance ratings can be used as part of an employee review process, and they can also be used to determine pay increases or promotions.
Why are employee performance rating scales important?
Employee performance rating scale is important to every business for so many reasons that it can’t be overemphasized. Some of them include:
- Employers can determine what directions their business is moving.
- Employers can figure out if employees are engaged with their work or not.
- Employees can note their setbacks and try to improve based on them.
- High performing employees can be rewarded for doing a good job.
- A performance improvement plan can be put together for those who aren’t performing well. We can go on and on.
What are the five performance ratings scales commonly used in the workplace?
Finding the right rating scale for your business is very important, and we’ve compiled five of the most commonly used ones in the business world today. These include:
1 to 5 Scale for Performance Rating
The 1 to 5 scale for performance rating is the most commonly used scale for determining how employees performed within a given period of time. There are five performance ratings on this type of scale: outstanding, exceeds expectations, meets expectations, needs improvement, and unsatisfactory. These ratings are used in the performance evaluation process.
- “Outstanding (5.0)” could mean that an employee has performed at a level that is above and beyond expectations.
- “Exceeds expectations (4.0)” could mean that an employee has met all of an employer’s expectations for their position.
- “Meets expectations (3.0)” could mean that an employee has met some but not all of an employer’s expectations for their position.
- “Needs improvement (2.0)” could mean that an employee has only partially met some of the expectations for their position or has not met any of them at all.
- “Unsatisfactory (1.0)” could mean that an employee did not perform well in any area during the evaluation period.
Likert Scale
The Likert scale is a type of employee performance rating scale that gives more descriptive feedback to employees. Here, the pointers are: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree. One thing that makes this particular scale different from the others is the choice of managers to decide that they feel absolutely “neutral” about an employee’s work. There might also be room for them to explain why they feel that way.
1 to 10 Performance Rating Scale
This is one of the five performance ratings that seems more flexible to employers. It is very similar to the 1 to 5 scale for performance ratings that was earlier discussed. The scale gives enough room for managers to grade employees based on how they’ve worked. In most cases, the lower numbers on the scale mean that an employee hasn’t really met an employer’s expectations, while the higher numbers could mean that some or all of the expectations have been met.
Goal Status Rating Scale
The next performance ratings scale on our list is the goal status scale. This scale is mainly used to determine if set goals have been achieved or not. Here, pointers like “achieved goal,” “goal is in progress,” “goal was not met,” and “deferred goal” are being used to signify how an employee is working towards a goal.
Custom Rating Scale
HR can also take it a step further by creating an employee performance rating scale that addresses their organization’s needs. Since every business has its own expectations, it will be appropriate for the performance ratings scale to fall in line with the business’s goals. HR can create strategies to address these needs.
Conclusion
The five performance rating scales can be reviewed to determine which one works best for your organization and will speak more clearly to your employees.
