In today’s competitive business environment, assessing employee performance accurately is essential for driving growth, enhancing productivity, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Companies can employ various assessment strategies to evaluate employees effectively that provide a well-rounded view of an individual’s skills, knowledge, and overall contributions. Here, we discuss nine assessment strategies organisations can leverage for meaningful insights into work performance.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is a continuous feedback process aimed at improving employee performance over time rather than measuring it as an outcome. Often informal and conducted through regular check-ins, observations, or discussions, formative assessment helps identify areas for improvement early on.
By addressing issues in real time and adjusting goals accordingly, formative assessment encourages a growth mindset and enables employees to progress without the pressure of a formal evaluation. This approach is efficient in dynamic workplaces that require adaptability and agility.
Example of Formative Assessment in a Corporate Setting
In a corporate sales training program, a manager conducts weekly role-playing sessions where employees practice client interactions. During each session, the manager observes performance, provides immediate feedback, and highlights areas for improvement, such as refining negotiation techniques or enhancing product knowledge.
Over time, the employee incorporates this feedback into their approach, becoming more confident and successful in real-world sales scenarios. This iterative, low-pressure process allows for continuous growth and adaptation in a dynamic work environment.
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment is a more structured approach conducted at the end of a project, quarter, or year. It evaluates an employee’s overall performance against set goals and objectives, providing a “snapshot” of their achievements and areas for improvement.
Often used for promotions, bonuses, or annual reviews, summative assessments are integral to measuring cumulative performance. To maximise its effectiveness, companies should ensure that summative assessments are transparent and based on measurable outcomes, fostering trust and clarity around the process.
Example of Summative Assessment in a Corporate Setting
At the end of a sales quarter, a company conducts a performance review for its sales team. Each employee’s performance is evaluated based on measurable outcomes, such as revenue generated, client retention rates, and the number of new accounts closed.
This structured review provides a comprehensive evaluation of achievements over the quarter, offering clear insights for both the employee and the organisation, and ensuring that decisions about rewards or development are data-driven and transparent.
Diagnostic Assessment
A diagnostic assessment is typically performed when an employee joins an organisation or starts a new role. It helps determine their skills and knowledge base and any potential gaps that may need addressing.
For instance, new hires may complete an initial skills test or competency evaluation to tailor onboarding and training programs to their needs. Diagnostic assessments are valuable for setting realistic goals and creating a personalised development plan aligning with the employee’s abilities.
Diagnostic Assessment: Example
When a new graphic designer joins an agency, they complete a design skills test assessing their proficiency with software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. The results identify areas where the designer excels and areas needing improvement, such as advanced photo editing or vector illustration techniques. This insight allows the organisation to create a personalised onboarding program to bridge the identified gaps.
Peer Assessment
Peer assessment involves employees evaluating each other’s performance, often within the same team or department. This method promotes a collaborative work culture, encouraging team members to provide constructive feedback and recognise each other’s strengths and contributions.
Peer assessment can be informal (such, during team meetings) or more structured (through 360-degree feedback forms). It is particularly effective for organisations that value teamwork and collaboration, as it empowers employees to learn from each other and fosters a supportive environment.
Peer Assessment: Example
In a marketing team, employees participate in a 360-degree feedback session where team members evaluate each other’s collaboration, communication, and creativity. For instance, a peer might highlight a colleague’s strong brainstorming contributions but suggest improving deadline adherence. This feedback fosters trust and encourages mutual growth within the team.
Self-Assessment
In self-assessment, employees evaluate their own performance, identifying their strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments. Self-assessment encourages self-reflection and personal accountability, helping individuals become more aware of their professional growth.
If employees have the chance to assess their performance honestly, they are more likely to take ownership of their development goals. For companies, self-assessment is a valuable complement to other assessment forms, as it can uncover insights into employees’ motivations and areas where they feel they need support.
Self-Assessment: Example
A project manager completes a self-assessment form before their annual review, rating their skills in leadership, time management, and communication. They note accomplishments, such as successfully leading a cross-functional project, but also identify areas for improvement, like delegating tasks more effectively. This process helps set clear development goals.
Authentic Assessment
Authentic assessment evaluates employees through real-world tasks that mirror their actual job responsibilities. Instead of relying solely on exams or theoretical assessments, authentic assessment may involve completing specific projects, solving workplace challenges, or delivering presentations directly related to their role.
This strategy gauges an employee’s skills and effectiveness, giving managers a clear view of how they handle day-to-day tasks. Authentic assessments benefit roles that require practical problem-solving, innovation and applied knowledge.
Authentic Assessment: Example
A sales representative demonstrates their skills by preparing and delivering a live sales pitch to a potential client. Managers evaluate their ability to handle objections, present solutions, and close the deal. This real-world task provides insight into how the representative performs under actual job conditions.
Portfolio Assessment
In portfolio assessment, employees compile a collection of work samples that demonstrate their skills, accomplishments, and progress over time. This could include reports, project plans, presentations, or other deliverables highlighting their contributions.
Portfolio assessment provides a comprehensive view of an employee’s growth, showcasing achievements and learning moments. This approach is highly effective in creative or project-based roles, where employees benefit from having tangible evidence of their work to reflect on and discuss during performance reviews.
Portfolio Assessment: Example
An instructional designer compiles a portfolio including eLearning modules, training plans, and interactive presentations they’ve developed. During a performance review, the portfolio highlights their expertise in creating engaging learning materials and documents progress in adopting advanced authoring tools over time.
Criterion-Referenced Assessment
Criterion-referenced assessment measures an employee’s performance against specific criteria or benchmarks rather than comparing them to other team members. This method benefits roles with clearly defined standards and objectives, allowing managers to evaluate performance objectively.
Employees understand what is expected of them and can focus on meeting or exceeding these standards. Criterion-referenced assessment fosters a fairer evaluation process, minimising biases related to individual performance comparisons and focusing on personal achievements.
Criterion-Referenced Assessment: Example
In a manufacturing company, employees are assessed on their ability to meet production quotas and adhere to safety protocols. For example, a machinist must produce 20 units per hour with less than 2% error rate. Their performance is measured against these set criteria, ensuring evaluations are consistent and objective.
Custom-Made Assessment
Custom-made assessment is a tailored approach where companies design specific tests, tasks, or evaluation processes to assess skills or competencies unique to the organisation’s needs.
For instance, a tech company may create a coding assessment for software developers, while a sales company might focus on role-playing customer interactions. By aligning assessments closely with job requirements, custom-made assessments can provide highly relevant insights into an employee’s suitability for their role and potential for advancement within the organisation.
Custom-Made Assessment: Example
A software company develops a coding challenge specifically designed for its development team. The test includes debugging tasks, building algorithms, and solving real-world issues the company frequently encounters. The results assess the coder’s technical skills and problem-solving abilities, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s needs.
Conclusion
Practical performance assessments are essential to an organisation’s growth and employee satisfaction. By combining these nine assessment strategies, companies can comprehensively understand employee capabilities and foster a culture of development and accountability.
Formative and summative assessments offer ongoing and end-of-period evaluations, while diagnostic, peer, and self-assessments contribute to personalised insights. Authentic, portfolio, criterion-referenced, and custom-made assessments add context-specific evaluations, creating a multi-dimensional approach that benefits employees and the organisation.
With these assessment strategies, companies can make a robust assessment framework that supports continuous improvement and long-term success.
eSkilled offers engaging and innovative ways to conduct work assessments. Whether you use formative, summative, peer, self, or criterion-based assessment, our learning management system allows you to make user-friendly and intuitive assessment tools. Book a demo now!