Conducting an effective performance appraisal

　　Your company is going to evaluate the performance of sales representatives. You have been asked to make recommendations on how to make the performance appraisal effective.

　　Discuss the situation together, and decide:

　　l who would be chosen to evaluate the performance of sales representatives.

　　l What should be evaluated and why

　　进行有效的绩效考核

　　你们所在的公司准备对销售代表进行绩效考核。请你们就如何制定行之有效的考核方案提出建议。讨论并决定：

　　l 应选择谁来对销售代表进行绩效考核

　　l 应进行哪些方面的考核，为什么要考核这些方面

　　A： You see, our company is going to evaluate the performance of sales representatives. To make the performance appraisal effective, the choice of raters is crucial.

　　B: Yes, that’s important. In my opinion, external customers are in a good position to evaluate sales representatives, since they are in frequent and direct contact with sales representatives and can observe many sales-related behaviors.

　　A: Besides, if sales representatives’ performance review includes customer’s survey data, the customers tend to be more satisfied, and the business performance tends to be better.

　　B: That’s for sure.

　　A: Undoubtedly customers are one of the appropriate appraisers. But have you ever hit upon such an idea, the combination of various raters? For example, if customer appraisal is used along with self-appraisal, the performance appraisal will surely be more objective and beneficial.

　　B: Definitely, since self-appraisal gets the individual involved in the review process. So when setting a future performance goal, it will be more acceptable and fair for both the manager and the sales representatives to establish it jointly.

　　A: In fact, jobs are multifaceted and different eyes see different aspects. To make evaluation effective and accurate, we’d better get input from as various angles as possible, such as supervisors, peers, customers and the like.

　　B: I couldn’t agree more. As to what should be evaluated, I tend to evaluate sales representative’s accomplishments. Since evaluating a salesperson on the basis of their sales volume involves less subjectivity and therefore may be less open to bias. Besides results appraisal can directly align the employee’s goal with the organizational goal.

　　A: It may be a good idea. But if the same criteria apply to sales representatives who have extremely had market, it would be unfair to hold these employees accountable for results caused by external factors. There are sometimes circumstances beyond control.

　　B: Yes, that’s why we need to consider the role of market when establishing different yet fair criteria.

　　A: 你知道，我们的公司即将评估销售代表的成绩。为了使绩效评估更加有效率，对评估者得选择是关键。

　　B：是的，那是非常重要的，就我来看，外部的客户处于一个良好的位置去评估销售代表。因为他们频繁而直接的与销售代表们联系并且可以观察到许多销售代表的相关销售行为。

　　A：除此之外，如果销售代表的之前的表现包括客户数据调查，客户一般比较满意满意，销售成绩一般是更优秀的。

　　B：确实是这样。

　　A：客户无疑是合适的评估者之一。但是你可曾偶然发现这样的想法，把各种评估者得意见结合起来?举个例子说，如果客户评估结合自我评价，绩效评估一定会更主观更有益。

　　B：确实是这样。因为自我评估让员工包含回顾的过程。因此当未来的业绩目标设定，这将更公平更容易被管理者和销售代表们接受去共同建立它。

　　A：实际上，工作是多方面的，而且从不同的视角会看到不同的方面。为了使评估更有效和更准确，我们尽可能用不同的视角评估，比如高层管理者、同事、客户等等。

　　B：非常同意。关于评估哪些方面。我倾向于评估销售代表的业绩完成情况。因为评估一个销售者的基础就是销量不包含主观性因此也没有偏差。此外，评估结果可以直接关系到员工的目标以及组织的目标。

　　A：这是一个好方法。但是如果同样的标准应用于严峻市场的销售代表，这将对那些对外部结果负责人的员工不公平。这有时是在无法控制的情况下。

　　B：是的，这就是为什么当我们建立不同市场的公平标准时需要考虑市场的角色。

　　(1) What kind of qualities should an appraiser possess?

　　上司对下属进行绩效评估，对此你有何看法?

　　To be a rater, one should be fair, objective, responsible, good at observing and communicating and well-trained.

　　(2) What do you think of the superior’s evaluation?

　　同事间相互进行评估是否存在弊端?(为什么?)

　　Appraisal programs that rely solely on ratings of superiors often aren’t as reliable and valid as expected. It’s better if they are supplemented by a variety of other rating sources.

　　(3) Are there any disadvantages of peer evaluation?(Why?/Why not?)

　　同事相互进行评估是否存在弊端?(为什么?)

　　Yes. Depending on the culture of the organization, peer ratings can have the potential for creating tension and breakdown rather than fostering cooperation (促进合作)and support.

　　(4) What are the shortcomings of customer appraisal?

　　让顾客参与绩效考核有何弊端?

　　Conducting customer surveys is an expensive and time-consuming process. The time and money are best spent developing customer feedback systems that focus on the organization or work unit as a whole.

　　(5) What do you think of subordinate evaluation?

　　让下属对上司进行绩效评估，对此你有何看法?

　　The feedback from subordinates is particularly effective in evaluating the supervisor’s interpersonal skills. However, it may not be as appropriate or valid for evaluating task-oriented skills.