Digest 13. Comments vs Ratings: How’s best to evaluate performance?
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With all the different “tips and tricks” on how to best design performance management (PM) systems, it can become quite overwhelming for HR leaders to make decisions on this matter. The challenge is intensified when the PM systems are intended to simultaneously serve the two purposes of supporting employee development and making compensation/promotion decisions, as most do.
Common doubts are how to build the assessment instruments and which format should they have – is it best to rely on “numbers”, that is on ratings that standardize answers and clarify expectations? Or should we rely on “words” via using open-ended questions that provide the space for personalization and specificity?
This type of questions should not be taken lightly as performance appraisals have been described as “one of the most emotionally charged activities in business life” (Pearce and Porter, 1986, p. 212). A 2010 article by Brutus helps us to understand how ratings (numbers) and open narrative comments (words) differ in their contribution to a PM system effectiveness.
Advantages of using numbers in performance evaluations:
- Numbers require less cognitive effort: writing is one of the most cognitively demanding activities. Open-ended questions necessitate much more effort than ratings, because they are usually much less directive and do not get the attention centered on specific behaviors, as is the case with ratings.
- Volitional elements have lower impact: unmotivated evaluators will tend to write less comments and, when expressing negative evaluations, evaluators tend to write ambiguous messages with lower specificity. This kind of attitude, and the resulting lower accuracy, would affect less the ratings that, by definition, only require to tick a number.
Advantages of using comments in performance evaluations:
- Suggestions for improvement are possible: the opportunity to provide written evaluations and suggestions for development requires assessors to adopt a problem-solving approach. This decreases the discomfort associated with giving a negative evaluation as it reveals the intent to help and guide the ratee.
- Greater usefulness for behavioral change and development: while ratings are usually used as standards to allow for organizational decision-making, they are often more subject to biases and adjustments based on conflicting interests as compared to open comments. Moreover, comments have personal intent and grant the space to “speak” to the individual, offering a much more powerful and richer feedback, and giving clear guidance on the specific behaviors that should be improved or that are being appreciated.
- Better preparation for 1-to-1 feedback meetings: writing comments will allow the evaluator to structure ideas and better organize the feedback-giving speech in the subsequent face-to-face meeting with the employee, decreasing the usual discomfort associated with it.
Infographic created by REAL PAL - Ratings vs. comments in performance evaluations
Organizational implications
Using numbers and/or words has multiple implications for the process and impact of performance evaluation. Even though comments demand higher effort from the evaluator, they are quite beneficial not only to enhance the richness and usefulness of feedback but also to decrease some of the negative effects of ratings.
We recommend using a mix, so as to reap the benefits of both methods. For HR leaders that intend to implement assessment instruments with comments, Brutus (2010) also offered some guidance on how open-ended questions could prompt evaluators to write high-quality comments:
- Domain focus: offer some structure by directing evaluators to write their comments with a focus on a specific area or domain. For example, “Please comment on the one area that this person needs to work on” or “Please print any comments that you would like to share concerning your manager's leadership skills”;
- Specificity: instruct evaluators to clearly mention behaviors with observable examples instead of traits. For example, they could specify elements of the situation in which the behavior was displayed and highlight the consequences of it.
- Suggestions for development: request evaluators to offer developmental action steps, which can be crucial to spark the intended change in an employee behavior. The question could be as simple as “Please provide specific suggestions as to how this person can improve”.
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Reference: Brutus, S. (2010). Words versus numbers: A theoretical exploration of giving and receiving narrative comments in performance appraisal. Human Resource Management Review, 20, 144–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.06.003