Professional assesment – an useful tool for both employee and the employer

The assessment of the employee’s professional activity is the process of determining how he or she performs his / her duties and responsibilities, depending on the job role.

Employee professional assessment has a dual role in stimulating the employee, as well as in showing the employer a clear picture of the ability of employees to comply with the company’s internal decisions, to carry out the required tasks, to adapt to the requirements and the changes that occur in the work process.

I. The importance of the employee professional assessment

Employee performance assessment can play a special role in stimulating employees development, strengthen confidence in their own strengths, open up promotional prospects, clarifying certain goals they need to pursue in their work, develop their ambition to improve the level of professional efficiency.

On the other hand, through a complex assesment process, the employer may know whether it is necessary to give some incentives / opportunities for promotion to employees, or to apply sanctions / downgrades – with an influence on the salary base applied at the company level – or even dismissal.

II. Practical applicability 

One of the important reasons for dismissal covered by the Labor Code is professional misconduct, meaning that although the employee had the necessary quality to take up a job, he lost it and could no longer meet expectations and requirements of the employer. Professional misconduct is closely related to the professional assessment, the latter one showing (i) the performance or the lack of performance of the employee on the job he / she stands for, (ii) serving as justification, including in the courts, for the measures applied by the employer.

Moreover, accordingly to art. 63 paragraph 2 of the Labor Code, the dismissal of the employee for professional misconduct may be implemented only after his / her assessment, established by the collective labor contract or by the internal regulation.

Employee assesment procedure will be established by the company’s management along with the human resources department.

This procedure will take into account the following aspects:

1) the evaluation of the individual professional performance of the employees;

2) the objective correlation between the requirements of the function and the performed activity;

3) the ensurance of a motivational system by rewards for employees who have achieved outstanding results to increase individual professional performance;

4) identifying training needs to improve results;

5) applicable measures.

The internal regulation of the company is the document that must contain the criteria for the professional assesment of the employees, and preferably the procedure for the implementation of these criteria. Let us not forget that the internal regulation must be brought to the attention of the employees. In addition, employers have the obligation to inform the employee about the criteria for assessing the professional activity of the employee prior to the conclusion or modification of the employment contract.

Ignoring or misapplying of the above described measures may result in litigation between the employee and the employer – especially in the case of dismissal – or sanctions in the case of controls by the relevant authorities.

For legal assistance on this topic, please contact us at office@paulopol.ro.