Introduction I became interested in this topic a while ago while receiving one of my annual reviews. I couldn't stop thinking about how difficult it must be for a supervisor to continually develop multiple individual reviews for a large department and still be unique and objective review after review. It became even more apparent to me how little I knew about the process when I was promoted to the coaching position and was allowed to start giving input into my team members' performance reviews. While I have no complaints about the current review process at my company, I often wonder if there isn't a better or easier way to approach the process. So my question is: what are the alternatives, if any? In this article I will examine aspects of traditional performance appraisal, 3600 degree performance review and Debundling, an alternative approach to traditional performance appraisal proposed by Peter R. Scholtes in the Leader's Handbook, in an attempt to build the best performance appraisal performance. The Traditional Performance Appraisal Quite often, performance appraisals for employees are conducted once a year and are traditionally a backward-looking event. The process is based on a rating system and summarizes what was discussed and achieved in the previous 12 months. The aim is to offer employees opportunities in areas that need to be further developed. Performance appraisal according to the traditional approach has the following purposes: (Grote, p. 4-5)„Ï Promotion, separation and transfer decisions„Ï Feedback to employees on their performance„Ï Evaluations of the relative contributions made by individuals„ Ï Criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of selection and placement decisions„Ï Decisions about rewards, including merit increases, promotions, and other rewards„Ï Determining training and development needs However, there are some flaws in the traditional approach to performance evaluation . Some of these are:„Ï Mainly concerned with the history of the last 12 months rather than looking ahead to future goals„Ï Appraisal is usually linked to employee salary review...... middle of paper.... ..possibly using, a combination of traditional peer review and 3600 would provide better insight into my performance and help my supervisor develop additional training for me and our department. However, I believe that the 3600 peer review process would not be effective for all positions within an organization and could be harmful to an individual if not handled correctly. While Scholtes offers a thorough alternative to the review process, I don't think this is a theory that many organizations or employees will embrace. However, I believe that his theories will offer alternatives and allow supervisors to gain a better understanding of the human psyche, which would give them the opportunity to manage it more effectively. References Grote, D. (2002). The Performance Appraisal Q&A Book: A Survival Guide for Managers. New York: AMACOMPeiperl, M.A. (2005). Get the right 360-degree feedback. Harvard Business Review on Employee Performance Evaluation. (pages 69-83). Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing Scholtes, P.R. (1998). The Leader's Handbook: A guide to inspiring your employees and managing their daily workflow. (pp. 293-360). New York: McGraw-Hill