Scribd
Upload
102 views2 pages

Potential Appraisal

Potential appraisal is a process that identifies undisclosed skills and abilities in employees that could help them advance in an organization. It is a future-oriented assessment that predicts an employee's potential to take on higher roles. Managers use predictors to determine if employees have the managerial potential for more responsibilities. Potential appraisal helps with promotion decisions and career planning. Unlike performance reviews, which assess past targets, potential appraisal identifies if employees can handle more duties in the future. However, it may not be suitable for all employees equally due to differing attitudes, abilities under pressure, or likelihood of leaving for other opportunities. The process typically involves initial and follow up meetings between managers and employees to discuss skills, training, and growth plans.

Uploaded by

Gaurav Gupta
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
102 views2 pages

Potential Appraisal

Potential appraisal is a process that identifies undisclosed skills and abilities in employees that could help them advance in an organization. It is a future-oriented assessment that predicts an employee's potential to take on higher roles. Managers use predictors to determine if employees have the managerial potential for more responsibilities. Potential appraisal helps with promotion decisions and career planning. Unlike performance reviews, which assess past targets, potential appraisal identifies if employees can handle more duties in the future. However, it may not be suitable for all employees equally due to differing attitudes, abilities under pressure, or likelihood of leaving for other opportunities. The process typically involves initial and follow up meetings between managers and employees to discuss skills, training, and growth plans.

Uploaded by

Gaurav Gupta
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Potential Appraisal 

is the process of tracking unrevealed skills and abilities in a person which even
he/she is unaware of. It is a future oriented appraisal which aims to track the potential of the employees to
rise up in the organisational structure. Potential Appraisal is a potent device for employee advancement.
The term is not known to many; however, managers of almost every organisation have been making
potential assessments every year.

Managers use the predictors to determine whether the employee has the managerial potential to execute
added responsibilities in the future. Potential Appraisal helps in the decision making of promoting
candidates and making a career plan for them.

To understand it better, we can compare it with the reviewing performance. Review Performance is
assessed on the basis of the targets accomplished and the skills possessed and utilized by him/her. The
results act as indicators on the candidate’s aptitude to manage extra functions. However, this is not a
foolproof way of knowing whether added responsibilities will be handled successfully in future. This
makes potential appraisal important.

Potential Appraisal cannot be applied to all in the same level. For e.g. there are people in the organization
who have potential but who do not perform (attitudinal problem). Some people excel in their day to day
jobs but when laden with additional tasks, they fail (workhorses). If they are promoted to higher
designations then it becomes a problem for the employees and the company. Then there are stars who
are brilliant in their jobs and have high potential too; but since they are prized candidates, they are difficult
to retain and are always on the lookout of something better and bigger.

The time for a potential appraisal is not fixed. It is under the discretion of the manager to hold the
assessment activity. Unlike performance review, it does not happen at a particular period in every
organization. The managers generally exercise it when an employee achieves a certain milestone, or
completes a year or is planning to change jobs for whatever reasons. Usually it is recommended to take
place within 6 months.

The procedure of potential appraisal should commence and end with a meeting between the two parties.
In the first meeting the manager can list the abilities required to deliver additional tasks. He/she can
recommend various ways to attain them – in-house training programmes, external workshops, etc. The
latter meeting can be a review (usually after 6 months) to test whether the skills have been rightly
acquired or not. During the observation time the manager is supposed to note the various abilities
adopted and used by the candidate in work and the improvement areas. The employee should be ready
to defend every action with examples. They can then chalk out a plan to chase the potential and taste
growth in the organization.

 
It should be noted that a potential appraisal does not guarantee promotion. Normally, most of the
companies do it to facilitate the growth of an individual. The companies can use the results of such an
assessment for -

    *
      Recommending a growth plan and showing a bigger picture to the employees.
    *
      Infusing enthusiasm in the employees to sharpen the abilities.
    *
      Learning about the training requirements of the employees.
    *
      Drawing a succession plan for future.

You might also like