How to Compute Weights & Overall Scores in Performance Evaluations

Computing weights and overall scores is absolutely necessary in performance evaluations. Since this is a world of measured performance, the measurement of performance needs to be as fair and balanced as possible if measurement efforts are to garner reliable results. Unfortunately, getting accurate measurements or evaluations most often requires measuring more than a single characteristic to establish a quality difference. When faced with the task of weighing multiple criteria to establish quality, the process must include an added dimension of measurement by assigning weights that reflect what is most important within these measurements or evaluations.

• 1

  Establish units of measurement. Decide what system to apply as a measurement approximation. Set up either a numeral-based measurement or an alphabet-based grading standard. Use 0 to 4, 0 to 10 or 0 to 100, depending on how many criteria of performance need to be measured. Employ an alphabet system of A, B, C, D or F if what you are measuring performance that requires a less exact assignment of quality.

• 2

  Select the performance criteria you wish to measure. Examine carefully and thoroughly the entire performance. Divide the performance, task or assigned duty into its major components. List the skills, qualities or attributes performing each of the major components of the job requires.

• 3

  Study this example. Say you are evaluating salesmen. Look first at what the job of selling involves: initial sales call by cold call or appointment; punctuality and personal appearance at the set time of the sales call; sales presentation; closing skills; successful sale or failed sales call; method of follow-up depending upon initial sales call result; overall image of company left by sales call; whether the sales call benefited the company and the sales person; areas of improvement needed.

• 4

  Take into consideration these parts of the actual sale. Weigh them. Assign value, a percent of 100 for instance, to each part of the sales transaction. Use the company's stated standards and objectives to aid you in setting these weights. Answer the question, 'What is most important to the company bottom line?' as you set the values of the performance evaluation.

• 5

  Give the most important functions of the sales call the most weight or point value. Determine which should carry the most weight as far as getting the job done, not attempted. For example, weight the cold sales call heavier, say a 20, than a preset appointment sales call, say a 10, since the cold sales call is a more direct measure of the sales person's interpersonal and sales skills.

• 6

  Work your way through the entire sales evaluation weighing and assigning appropriate values. Stay within the 0 to 100 range. Retain the simplicity of using round numbers to establish clearly understood performance evaluations. Slide the scale by re-weighting the performance scale as conditions and circumstances dictate to retain performance evaluation applicability and usefulness.