Performance Criteria and Assessment

In evaluating employee performance, the criteria will be the job requirements or other mutually agreed-upon criteria. Trait, results, and performance-based criteria are the three most often used types for performance assessment. Trait criteria describe what an employee is or the attributes of an employee and not what an employee does. For example, dependability, punctuality, and honesty are traits. Results criteria, the second criteria type, focus on the achievement of objectives and the degree to which they are met.

Performance-based criteria are those that identify specific standards that are linked to effective performance outcomes. A job description and a job analysis of actual tasks are a prerequisite for performance-based evaluation criteria. The type of performance criteria to be used for assessment and the level to which the criteria are determined to have been met are two separate considerations. Standards or levels of performance indicate the degree to which the performance criteria are achieved. Levels of implementation must be clearly stated and placed in sequential order.