Final answer:
The primary benefit of performance appraisals is the measurement of employee performance against target metrics, which aids in providing critical feedback, identifying training needs, and improving job satisfaction and organizational productivity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary benefit of the management function that occurs when a manager measures an employee’s performance relative to an established target metric is typically found in the process of performance appraisals. During performance evaluations, employees' work outcomes are compared against predetermined objectives or goals. This measurement serves various purposes, such as documenting performance levels for administrative decisions, providing feedback to employees for career development, assessing the need for additional training and skill development, recognizing and rewarding high performance, and identifying areas for improvement.
Performance appraisals may be carried out formally at regular intervals, often involving an in-person meeting between the employee and their manager. In these meetings, which are informed by an original job analysis and employee goals, managers communicate both positive reinforcements of well-done aspects of the job, as well as concerns about areas where performance does not meet expectations. The results from these appraisals can have direct consequences on employee job satisfaction, monetary rewards like pay raises, or corrective actions including probationary periods.
Furthermore, performance appraisals can be seen as a centralized part of an organization's efforts to drive higher productivity and profits by ensuring that individual employees' performances align with the company's overall objectives. They may incorporate a variety of feedback sources, including the 360-degree feedback model, where supervisors, peers, direct reports, customers, and the employees themselves contribute to the performance evaluation.