How well can you frame out your employee performances and manage their appraisals? We have a great way for you! The bell curve! Using a bell-shaped graph is an innovative yet effective way to evaluate the performances by “force ranking” them. The best thing about this graph is it ranges from worst performers to best performers.
Before we move on to how the bell curve measurement in the performance management system helps the leaders, we would like to define a few things for your clarity.
- What is force ranking?
- What are the characteristics of the bell curve?
What is force ranking?
In a bell curve, the ranking distribution is done in three categories - Low Performers, Medium Performers, and High Performers. While using this curve, the managers forcibly rank their team members into these categories. They use a comprehensive system to grade the performance of every employee.
What are the characteristics of the bell curve?
- You will find the average in the middle of the bell curve.
- The bell curve has one mode or one peak.
- The standard deviation is quite predictable.
- The bell curve is symmetrical.
What are the advantages and drawbacks of using the bell curve performance appraisal system?
Advantages:
Let’s check out the perks that excite the companies to use this visual representation of the performance evaluation method.
1.Easy to find top performers: The bell curve is absolutely a great tool to find out the top performers along with the worst performers. The curve itself represents the performance of the employees graphically, making it easier for the managers to identify which employees are ranked highest. Definitely, this saves a lot of time for the managers over decision-making. Instead of struggling with the performance appraisal, they can focus more on other core activities like employee retention and motivation.
2.Easy to define the strictness of managers: Beside determining the good and bad performers in your workplace, you can use the same bell curve to define the strictness of your managers. Managers can be either too strict or too lenient. According to their behavior, the performance rating matter.
Observing the curve, you can easily identify the quality of the managers. For example, strict scoring is usually observed on the left side of the curve, while lenient managers will always find the employees on the right side of the curve. With proper analysis, you can actually keep the managers' strictness and leniencies checked, helping the managers with the decision-making process.
3.Easy to identify misplacements: There are managers who prefer to give a low score to their employees, as defined in the previous section, "the strict managers". But that doesn't mean they are bad at working. The ranking doesn't actually define how great you are at work. It is just a way to evaluate the person for a performance appraisal program for a particular field.
Many times we have found that a person ranked low for a specific task performs great when assigned something different. Therefore, the quality of the person varies from job to job. The bell curve helps you to identify this misplacement of employees.
With this visual representation, you can actually determine the roadblocks preventing productivity and even help the managers make good decisions regarding re-placement.
4.Easy to keep the employees motivated: Do you know the bell curve performance management system is considered a great motivating factor? Yes, it is. Usually, the high-performance category consists of fewer seats. Though every employee desires to get that position, the entire result depends upon the cut-off marks. Definitely, this "cut-off marks" thing adds a different enthusiasm, stimulates the employees to build high productivity, and achieve that position. A win-win situation from both employees and business points of view. Every employee fights for this position, resulting in better team engagement and higher brand performance.
Drawbacks:
Though the bell curve performance appraisal system comes up with amazing perks, it too has a few drawbacks.
- It is a rigid system, consequently fitting only a certain number of employees.
- In order to get the top performer position, chaos occurs among the individuals. This leads to low employee morale and obviously disappointing for the low-performing peers.
- The bell curve performance management system is the right fit for medium and large enterprises. Companies with less than 300 employees fail to reap the actual benefits.
Summary
A bell curve graph always distracts the users, making it one of the attractive ways to evaluate employee performances and process the appraisal. Managers love to use this element to turn the process less exhaustive yet effective. Though they prefer using performance management software, they have a separate corner of love for this bell curve. It will definitely keep your employees connected by recognizing the barriers and motivating them.
