Ranking Method - Definition & Meaning

Published in Human Resources Terms by MBA Skool Team

What is Ranking Method?

Ranking method is one of the simplest performance evaluation methods. In this method, employees are ranked from best to worst in a group. The simplicity of this method is overshadowed by the negative impact of assigning a ‘worst’ and a ‘best’ rating to an employee. Such discriminations lead to negativity within a group and have a negative impact on performance.


Explanation

In this method, one employee is compared to another employee. The end result is an ordering of employees from best to worst. For example, in a group of ‘n’ employees, performance of employee-1 is compared with performance of ‘n-1’ employees. Performance of employee-2 is compared with performance of ‘n-1’ employees. This method is completed once performance of every employee is compared with that of other employees. The ‘best’ performer is then determined. The process is now repeated with’n-1’ employees till the ‘second best’ employee is determined. The process continues till the last employee is remaining and is given the tag of the ‘worst’ performer. This method leads to overall assessments of employees rather than a biased judgement. Another method to determine rankings is the alternative ranking method in which the first part of the process identifies the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ performer. The second part identifies the ‘second best’ and the ‘second worst’ performer and so on.


Because of its discriminating nature, this method is rarely used in organizations. Also, since it is restricted to a group, comparison of employee performance across groups is not possible.

 

Hence, this concludes the definition of Ranking Method along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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