Performance Evaluation for
Remote Work Environments During Covid-19 Pandemic
Among the novelties that Covid-19 pandemic constituted in the area of
employment, urging many workplaces to adopt remote work environments is important.
While it saved travel time for some employees, it entailed a different set of
challenges while adopting the virtual presence based on Internet connectivity.
It was not only the employees who faced such challenges but also the employers
who explored reliable ways of evaluating the employee performance.
The next sections will identify few significant changes to performance
evaluation and appraisal methods while providing useful tips for improving the
performance evaluations in remote work environments.
The Shift in Skills and Aptitudes
“Great communication and presentation skills” is an item frequently seen
on CVs and yet, not many employers test such skills when recruiting employees.
At a time, social distancing and remote work environments took priority during
the pandemic, the employers had to rely on these specific skills of the
employees to make the work effective and efficient online. Therefore, the
performance evaluations of employees also had to place greater emphasis in this
area. As a result, the employees who could effectively communicate the work
they completed along with the challenges they encountered in remote work
environments, had greater chances in excelling.
The online collaboration is another set of skills highlighted during
this period. While there were many trainings conducted for employees by various
companies with this regard, the employees who already had the relevant
knowledge and capacity to adopt to the remote work environment with these
skills, were well ahead of others in their performance evaluations.
Tips for Improving Performance Evaluation in Remote Work Environments
1.
Less
emphasis on numerical rating methods while prioritizing qualitative rating and
feedback.
The new set of challenges added to the work
life balance aspect of employees is worth noting when evaluating their
performance in new normal. Hence the goal of the appraisal should be to improve
the work relationships with qualitative feedback rather than trying to fit the
employee performance in numbers.
2. Re frame the evaluation criteria Using the pre-pandemic performance review criteria
during the new normal is not practical due to number of obvious reasons. Hence
it is important to develop a set of criteria which can be measured more
practically in a remote work environment.
3.
Try to use
both audio and video as much as possible.
There’s a lot that a manager misses out while
being unable to see the employee whose performance they are reviewing in a
remote setup. Hence it is important to base the review on the available
facilities and environment for the employee using visual data gained during a
video. This may not be possible in some cases due to poor Internet connectivity
and other devise issues. Yet it is important to urge the employees to make sure
of their visual presence during the appraisal.
Conclusion
Performance evaluation in the
virtual world of work in the new normal, is more challenging for both employees
and employers alike. Hence it is important to proceed with qualitative aspects
of evaluation in mind, with greater empathy and flexibility. This could be
successfully accomplished by changing the objectives, evaluation criteria and
methods of evaluation to fit the remote work environments.
References
Future Workforce |
Accenture (2018). Future Workforce | Accenture. [online]
Accenture.com. Available at: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/future-workforce-index.
Martin, A. (2015).
Talent Management: Preparing a “Ready” agile workforce. International
Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2(3-4), pp.112–116.
Junker, T.L.,
Bakker, A.B., Gorgievski, M.J. and Derks, D. (2021). Agile work practices and
employee proactivity: A multilevel study. Human Relations,
p.001872672110301.
New challenge for the every organization has been faced to proceed qualitative aspects of employ ees performance evaluation is the good topic for these pandemic situation
ReplyDeletePerformance appraisals aren't just for evaluating recent work, they're also for resetting objectives and focus on what has to be gain in the coming months. Employees can get demotivated and disengaged if they are not recognized for recent accomplishments or given direction on their new major priorities. This has negatively influence on productivity and production.The epidemic has severely affected the process of the organization and includes the difficulty in evaluating the performance of the employees.
DeleteI believe we should plan now on how we provide guidance and resources to “people managers”, in order to avoid potential inequities.otherwise expected efficiency & performance will not.
ReplyDeleteYou have selected very impressive subjects and this the reality that we are going to face in near future. In fact it should be in practice in some part of the world already due to Covid pandemic. You have deeply investigated on the subject and thank you for moving all of us in to a different thinking.
ReplyDeleteYes.If salary increases,promotions and bonus are given through the evaluation,more attention should be made to the new evaluation system. If Employees believe they were judged unfairly are more likely to lose self-esteem, which can lead to resentment of management and the company as a whole, ultimately lowering employee morale.
Deleteseams you have deeply investigated the subject , in pandemic situation most of the company stop performance evaluation and your article will be more use full to implement it in own organization, Thanks
ReplyDeleteAs a result, it's critical to proceed with the qualitative parts of the evaluation in mind, as well as more empathy and flexibility. This could be performed successfully by adapting the objectives, evaluation criteria, and evaluation methodologies to meet remote work contexts.
ReplyDeletePerformance evaluation is necessary to evaluate the employees and their performance on their tasks. Specially during remote work, the employees need more support and direction to carry out their job successfully.
ReplyDeleteThis blog contains a real fact which is needed at present.
COVID Has Created A Practical And Ethical Imperative For Us To Do More Work That Matters.
ReplyDeleteIntresting topic
Even pandemic situation it is important to continue our activities regularly. You have shared some important tips in your article. Good one
ReplyDeleteThe COVID-19 outbreak has made working from home (WFH) the new way of working for millions of employees in the world. Due to the pandemic, many workers and employers had to switch, quite suddenly, to remote work for the first time and without any preparation.
ReplyDelete