Positive and Negative Aspects of Assessment

Organizations in the present era perform assessments of their employees to determine the direction of the organization. Some of the areas assessed are goals and objectives, personnel, salaries, and performance. However, assessment comes with both positive and negative aspects. These aspects lead to either improvement or deterioration of the assessed subjects.

To commence with the positive side, the assessment enables counselors and clients to know how they are doing. For example, counselors would assess clients’ behavior after lessons to see whether they have met their needs. Similarly, it also determines the understanding of the client. Research by Counselling and Psychotherapy Research shows that 39% of clients complete post-therapy assessment forms (Bewick et al. 1.). Therefore, in general, assessment enables one to understand how they are doing, points of weaknesses, and strengths, leading to both parties’ improvements.

Accountability is another positive point to note. Counselors, clients, and other personnel with mandates become responsible when they know they will be assessed. For this, they tend to follow their duties and do as obliged. For instance, when a client is mandated to do a particular practical task or examination within a specific time frame, they will make haste and examine because they know they have to produce results for assessment, thus improving their work. If managers are going to hold employees accountable, they ought to recognize the positive side. Studies by The General Accounting Office (GAO) show that only 31% of managers acknowledge their employees after assessing (OPM.GOV 2). Recognition should be a routine if organizational goals are to be met.

Through assessment, managers can remove the guesswork when promoting employees or increasing their salaries. In psychology, counselors may be able to assess the client’s understanding without having to guess objectively. It gives the counselors room to promote clients from one class to another. Similarly, senior managers can be able to promote a specific counselor based on their work after assessment. It also eliminates the tendency to stimulate the wrong person and leave the one who deserves the promotion in the workplace.

Towards the negative side, assessment puts employees in fear of being watched. Employees such as the counselors may do their duties in suspicion mode because they think managers are continually watching over them. For this, they may feel pressured and deliver shoddy work. The fear extends even to how managers and employees interact. Lee Biggins, the founder of CV-Library and Resume Library, says 28% of employees find it hard to ask for help for handling a task from supervisors due to fear (Crosby 2). The low quality work may lead to deterioration in an organization.

Assessments are costly and time-consuming. Evaluations are done at a cost, and employers must put aside some money to make it a success. For instance, when assessing a client who is addicted to drugs and is already outside the rehabilitation center’s territory. It may cost the counselor in charge of evaluating money, traveling to where the client is, and tracking their activities. The tracking of activities itself is time-consuming and may require finances. Therefore, it makes doing assessments expensive and time-consuming.

Employees may feel that they are being castigated or maltreated when being assessed. It especially applies when the assessment is being done secretly, as most managers do. For example, some managers may secretly want to evaluate an employee’s work and the employee, in turn, the manager is spying on them without consent. In effect, misunderstandings may arise; thereby, the organization does not improve performance. Recent research indicates that 90% of employees want to work with transparent managers in their assessments (Turczynski 1). In such a case, it may be difficult for assessment to finalize in which the employee may feel deprived of their rights, such as the right to privacy.

To sum up, the assessment has both positive and negative aspects, leading to either improvement or deterioration of the assessed subjects. Therefore, it is crucial for those assessing to be aware of the repercussions when doing their assessments.

Works Cited

Bewick, Bridgette M., et al. “Routine outcome measurement completion rates of the CORE-OM in primary care psychological therapies and counselling.” Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, vol. 6, no. 1, 2006, pp. 33-40.

Crosby, P. “How to Eliminate Fear in Your Organization — The Uncommon League.” Business Analysis & Agile Training, 28 Aug. 2018, theuncommonleague.com/blog/2018828/leading-through-fear-is-not-leading-at-all-how-to-banish-intimidation-from-your-organization.
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OPM.GOV. “Accountability Can Have Positive Results.” U.S. Office of Personnel Management, www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-management/reference-materials/more-topics/accountability-can-have-positive-results.

Turczynski, B. “Bart Turczynski.” Zety Online Resume Maker: Quick, Effective, Try for Free, 2020, zety.com/about/bart-turczynski.