Final answer:
Employee counseling is primarily to inform employees about their performance, providing guidance for improvement and positive reinforcement, rather than to punish or discipline them. It includes discussions on training and aligns with the goals of the organization's performance appraisals.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary reason for employee counseling is to inform employees that they need to do something differently or that they have done something well. The purpose of these sessions is to provide feedback to the employee about their performance, motivate them to improve where necessary, positively reinforce good performance, and discuss both rewards for strong performance and consequences for areas that require improvement. Performance appraisals serve as a formal process to document these counseling sessions, which can involve discussing job-specific training and organizational culture, as well as using methods like the 360-degree feedback appraisal system.
In these appraisals, the connection to training is clear, as they may indicate areas where the employee could benefit from further development or improvements. They are also crucial for the organization to document performance, especially if there are issues that might lead to disciplinary action or termination. Thus, rather than serving as a form of punishment or discipline on their own, employee counseling and performance appraisals are more aligned with providing guidance and encouraging development within the workplace.