Graphic Rating Scale: Pros, Cons, Examples, and Best Practices
Evaluating employee performance effectively is a complex task. Graphic rating scales standardize the assessment process with predefined criteria and produce uniform metrics that you can transform into actionable insights.
A graphic rating scale is a popular, tried, and tested performance appraisal method. Many HR departments rely on it for one of their key responsibilities – facilitating regular employee evaluations to ensure staff understand their strengths and weaknesses and how to improve and progress within the organization.
But how exactly does it work? What are its advantages and limitations? And what are the best practices for using the graphic rating scale for performance appraisals? Let’s dive in.
Contents
What is a graphic rating scale in performance appraisals?
How graphic rating scales work
Graphic rating scale examples
Graphic rating scale advantages and disadvantages
Tips for creating and using a graphic rating scale effectively
Other rating scales in performance appraisals
FAQ
What is a graphic rating scale in performance appraisals?
A graphic rating scale is a performance appraisal tool that lists key traits and behaviors relevant to a role—like quality of work, communication, punctuality, teamwork, or initiative. Managers use the list to rate employees using a numerical or descriptive scale.
The scale itself is usually shown as a line or bar, with clear labels along the way—such as numbers (1 to 5) or short phrases (“Exceeds expectations,” “Meets expectations,” “Needs improvement”). This format makes it easy to visualize how someone is performing in each area and gives a structured way to evaluate performance across the board.
Graphic rating scales are widely used across industries. They offer organizations a mode for determining employee performance levels and making informed decisions about increasing efficiency and productivity, determining salary adjustments, granting promotions, and formulating performance improvement plans. They also give HR managers a way to gather measurable data on how well employees demonstrate certain traits or skills tied to their job responsibilities.
How graphic rating scales work
Graphic rating scales quantify subjective traits and help managers assess employee performance consistently. They are a straightforward way for managers to categorize employees and identify areas that need improvement or deserve recognition.
The following steps describe how a graphic rating scale works:
- Job-related criteria are paired with a range of performance values and placed in a question or a statement format (e.g., “Demonstrates initiative in problem-solving”).
- Evaluators rate employees by selecting the appropriate score for each attribute. Depending on the question asked, two different possible numerical scales might be used.
- A discreet scale lists specific responses, such as “Unlikely,” “Hard to say,” or “Likely.” The evaluator selects the option that best reflects the employee’s behavior or performance. Each option corresponds to a specific number (for example, 1 for “Unlikely,” 2 for “Hard to say,” and 3 for “Likely”).
- A continuous scale presents a range with two opposing ends, such as “Never meets deadlines” on one side and “Always meets deadlines” on the other. The evaluator places the employee somewhere along that scale, often using a numerical range (like 1 to 5), allowing for more nuance in the rating.
- Ratings are totaled for an overall performance score.
Graphic rating scales can be standardized across the organization or customized for distinct roles or departments.
These scales can also vary in how they look or how the rating options are presented. Common formats include:
- Numerical rating scale: A numerical rating scale typically uses a five or ten-point rating system. On a 1-5 scale, a score of 1 would usually signify that the behavior is non-existent in the employee. A score of 5 would rate the employee as excellent regarding that particular behavior.
- Color-coded rating scale: Rather than a range of numbers, color-coded rating scales use colors to designate performance levels. They often correspond with a traffic light theme. For example:
- Green: Highly proficient
- Yellow: Proficient
- Red: Unsatisfactory.
- Word or comment-based rating scale: This type of rating scale evaluates employee performance with specific words, phrases, or comments that signify the equivalent of poor, fair, good, and excellent.
Tools like the graphic rating scale can help bring structure and consistency to performance evaluations—but on their own, they don’t create a high-impact talent strategy. To make performance management truly meaningful, it needs to be part of a broader, future-focused approach to managing talent.
AIHR’s Talent Management Certificate Program teaches you how to design talent systems that go beyond ratings—supporting long-term development, succession planning, and strategic workforce alignment to help your organization thrive.
Graphic rating scale examples
Let’s look at how graphic rating scale questions and responses are put into practice. Here are four examples to consider:
Example 1: Color-coded rating scale
Question: How effective is this employee at managing their time?
Select the most appropriate statement:
- Green (Highly proficient): Very effective at managing their time, always meets deadlines.
- Light Green (Proficient): Is aware of deadlines and able to meet them fairly well.
- Yellow (Partially proficient): Average at managing their time, neither strong nor weak at time management.
- Orange (Limited proficiency): Sometimes misses deadlines.
- Red (Not proficient): Consistently misses deadlines and is not punctual.
Note: Each color maps to a numerical value (e.g., Green = 5, Red = 1) to support consistent scoring.
Example 2: Word-based rating scale
Question: How well does the employee adapt to changes in routines and shifting priorities?
Rating scale:
- Excellent
- Good
- Fair
- Poor
Note: Each label corresponds to a numeric value (e.g., 4 = Excellent, 1 = Poor). These ratings are chosen based on the evaluator’s judgment, without predefined behavior descriptions.
Example 3: Comment-guided rating scale
Question: How would you describe the employee’s teamwork capabilities?
Answer:
Rating scale:
- High performing: Works very well in team settings.
- Meets expectations: A reliable and positive team member.
- Hard to say: Limited exposure to team tasks; performance unclear.
- Not effective: Struggles to collaborate.
- Needs improvement: Has difficulty working with others.
Note: Although brief comments are included, this is still a graphic rating scale if each category is assigned a score and used as part of a structured review process.
Example 4: Numeric rating scale
Statement: Rate the employee on the quality of their work
Rating scale: 1 to 10
- 1 = Very poor quality
- 10 = Exceptional quality
Note: This format gives evaluators flexibility to rate with more precision while keeping the scale consistent across criteria.
Graphic rating scale advantages and disadvantages
Like any performance appraisal method, the graphic rating scale has its strengths and limitations. It’s widely used because it’s straightforward and easy to apply—but depending on how it’s designed and implemented, it may also lead to inconsistent or overly simplistic evaluations.
Advantages
Graphic rating scales are a popular choice and are generally considered an effective performance appraisal method. Let’s go over some of the advantages they offer:
Easy to understand and use
The graphic rating scale method is straightforward and user-friendly. Most people have likely filled out a similar questionnaire in the past. Therefore, it requires minimal extra training to implement, and both managers and employees can easily grasp it.
Quantifying behaviors makes the appraisal system easier
This method quantifies behavioral traits with concrete criteria, making it far easier to analyze the feedback and spot trends, patterns, and developments. You can easily identify and action areas for improvement and track progress. This streamlines the entire appraisal system.
Standardized assessment method
Standardized answers create a more objective baseline performance rating. Since evaluators must choose from uniform options, there is less subjectivity than with open-ended questions that require original comments for each employee. Although evaluators can always interpret a rating scale differently, it remains more consistent than many other performance appraisal methods.
Inexpensive to develop
A graphic rating scale can be developed and distributed quickly. Many questions will overlap roles and can be integrated across the organization. This makes it a cost-effective employee performance evaluation method.
Disadvantages
As with all performance appraisal forms, there are some limitations to this type of performance appraisal method to be aware of:
Subjectivity of different evaluators
Although everyone in the organization may be using the same scale (numerical, color-coded, or other), this doesn’t guarantee that the way managers rate employees will be uniform across the board. Each person will have a different perception of the scale and what each rating means. What one manager sees as “excellent”, another one might take for granted and rate as “good”.
Similarly, evaluators must make a judgment call if an employee’s performance doesn’t quite fit into any of the available options. The nature of the relationship they have with the employee can influence this. Furthermore, there may be subjectivity between the scores a manager gives and how an employee receives them.
Different types of biases
One of the most common biases of this method is the “halo effect,” which can skew the evaluation results. This happens when employees have a handful of exceptional strengths that overshadow any glaring weaknesses that need addressing.
The reverse, “horn effect“, is also a possibility—one significant weakness can bring down an overall score and detract from an employee’s many strengths. There’s also the recency effect – the tendency to remember the most recent events best.
Some strengths and weaknesses cannot be quantified
Employees can have certain strengths and areas for improvement that don’t fit into the established criteria. For example, a call center employee who invests time building rapport with customers may not meet their goal for the average number of customer calls handled. Rating scales can’t always capture valuable skills such as empathy or above-and-beyond customer service.
Difficult to capture employees’ strengths
The scores are added at the end of the questionnaire, and each employee is given an average final score. However, as mentioned above, this may not accurately represent an employee’s total performance, which can be considered a disadvantage.
For example, Employee A consistently scores as average across the scale, while Employee B scores at both extreme ends of the scale, but they will end up with a similar total score. However, their performance profiles are completely different. Using the same overall score to guide feedback or development plans for both would miss what each really needs—one might benefit from well-rounded growth, while the other needs targeted support or recognition in specific areas.
Tips for creating and using a graphic rating scale effectively
It’s up to HR professionals to design and implement the graphic rating scale in a way that reduces its downsides and makes the most of its strengths—by asking the right questions, training managers well, and having a clear, consistent approach.
Here are some helpful tips for using a graphic rating scale effectively, so that it provides useful information for managing your employees’ performance.
1. Define your desired outcomes
The starting point of creating a graphic rating scale for performance appraisal is to outline what you aim to achieve. Reflect on issues such as:
- What are you trying to measure? (i.e., performance, behaviors, growth potential, etc.)
- What are the desired outcomes? (i.e., allocate raises and promotions, analyze performance trends, identify training needs, maintain legal compliance, etc.)
- How will this data contribute to achieving organizational goals? (i.e., track productivity, detect high and low performers, foster transparency to build employee trust, etc.)
2. Ensure criteria are relevant
The criteria you evaluate should truly matter to the organization and reflect its values. For instance, attendance and punctuality may not be important to a fully remote company.
Certain attributes, such as teamwork, communication, and work quality, may hold universal worth in the organization, but others will vary in significance among positions.
Criteria should tie directly to each role’s requirements to optimally reflect performance. Refer to job descriptions and get input from managers to select the criteria that best align with essential responsibilities.
Don’t burden evaluators and employees with too much to appraise. Limit the number of criteria to a practical, manageable amount so evaluators and employees can focus on the most critical and impactful aspects of job performance.
3. Phrase questions as objectively as possible
After establishing the criteria, use specific language and objective phrasing to describe them. The fact-based nature of objective questions makes them less open to personal interpretation. This eliminates ambiguity, reduces bias, and leads to more consistent evaluations.
An example of a question that is not worded objectively would be: “Is the employee excited to be at work?” This doesn’t reveal how an employee performs. An example of a more objective question would be: “How effective is the employee in their role?”
4. Use behavioral questions
Behavioral questions target competencies that are linked to job requirements. You can define the key desired behaviors by going through each role’s job description, listing the desired behaviors, and then creating questions or statements that help measure these behaviors most appropriately.
Here’s what this could look like for an administrative assistant role:
Desired behaviors: Effective time management, strong communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills, attention to detail, efficiency in administrative tasks, initiative, and professionalism.
Sample evaluation statements to be rated on a scale 1-5:
- Prioritizes tasks to accommodate others and meet deadlines
- Reviews all outgoing materials to ensure accuracy
- Practices discretion with sensitive situations and information
- Manages projects with minimal guidance.
5. Confirm that rating levels accurately reflect the questions
Once you’ve determined your questions, the next step is to create a correlating rating scale with explanatory responses if you’re using a word-based or a comment-guided scale. Descriptors should be clear, concise, and specific to the related behavior.
For example, let’s say your question is: “Does the employee deliver work on time and adhere to deadlines?” Your scale should include illustrative responses such as “Late,” “On schedule,” and “Ahead of schedule.”
6. Combine the graphic rating scale with other appraisal methods
While the graphic rating scale can be useful for employee evaluations and appraisals, you shouldn’t use it in isolation. Combining it with other methods—like essay appraisals (which provide narrative feedback), 360-degree feedback (which gathers input from peers, managers, and direct reports), or checklist appraisals (which assess whether specific behaviors or tasks are present)—can give you a more well-rounded view.
This blended approach helps balance out the limitations of the graphic rating scale and offers a fuller picture of how an employee is really doing.
7. Train evaluators on how to use the graphic rating scale
Providing a guide on how to use the graphic rating scale with clarifying examples for each response can be effective for preventing definition bias and helping maintain consistency across evaluations.
As we’ve already mentioned, this is because what “satisfactory” means to one manager may mean something entirely different to another manager. Educating evaluators on these types of biases also helps create awareness of them and reduces the risk of skewed results.
Other rating scales in performance appraisals
Although graphic rating scales are a common choice for employee evaluations, other rating scale types are used as well.
Here is a brief overview of three other rating scale options:
Behaviorally anchored rating scale
A behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) compares employee behaviors to a set of performance areas. Instead of rating employees solely with a word or phrase descriptor, it cites examples of specific, observable actions and assigns them a correlating number score. Graphic rating scales often incorporate BARS-style descriptors.
Example BARS for a sales position:
- 1 – Poor: Often distracted or unengaged during customer interactions. May give vague or incorrect responses and shows minimal effort to assist.
- 2 – Below Average: Responds to customer questions but sometimes seems disinterested or unsure. Requires prompting to provide accurate information or help.
- 3 – Average: Understands the product range and answers customer questions correctly. Generally helpful and polite, but interactions are mostly transactional.
- 4 – Above Average: Engages well with customers, offering relevant suggestions and support. Goes beyond basic responses by helping customers find what they need.
- 5 – Excellent: Anticipates customer needs and tailors recommendations accordingly. Frequently upsells products through genuine, value-driven conversations and builds strong rapport.
Behavioral observation scale
A behavioral observation scale (BOS) is based on behaviors rather than results and assesses employees by how often they demonstrate effective behaviors.
Example BOS for a generic position:
Five-point scale: 1 (Rarely) to 5 (Almost always)
- Arrives on time and adheres to schedule
- Collaborates with colleagues to accomplish tasks
- Adjusts quickly to workflow changes and shifting priorities
- Identifies and resolves problems effectively
The BOS method is time-consuming because it requires consistent behavior tracking. It also tends to be less objective than a graphic rating scale because it’s dependent on the evaluator having enough suitable opportunities to observe employees’ activities.
Goal status scale
Instead of assessing overall performance, a goal status scale measures employees’ progress in achieving defined goals. Evaluators use a list of each employee’s goals and categorize their status according to the named labels.
Statuses are commonly characterized as:
- Achieved: Goal completed
- In progress: Goal is ongoing or partially met
- Unmet: Goal was not accomplished
- Deferred: Goal was postponed due to extenuating circumstances
A 3-point or percentage-based scale can also be used to quantify progress.
A goal status scale can be more objective than a graphic rating scale because it tracks such specific objectives. However, a graphic rating scale offers a broader employee performance evaluation.
A final word
A graphic rating scale is a reliable, efficient performance evaluation technique. If you decide to implement a graphic rating scale as part of your organization’s appraisal method, ensure you spend time planning and developing it, educating managers on how to use it, and helping employees understand their scores.
Combining this method with various others can help you obtain an accurate picture of your employees’ performance. This enables you to create the right action plan to boost engagement, productivity, and effectiveness throughout the organization.
FAQ
A five-point graphic rating scale uses five distinct rating levels to measure employee performance across predefined traits or behaviors.
The graphic rating scale uses general labels or numbers to rate employee traits or behaviors, often without detailed descriptions. BARS (behaviorally anchored rating scale) ties each point on the scale to specific, observable behaviors, making evaluations more consistent and objective.
Creating a graphic rating scale involves the following steps:
1. Define the purpose of the evaluation
2. Decide on the evaluation criteria
3. Choose a rating scale format
4. Design the scale
Learn more
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