What communication barriers can be identified in performance appraisal?

Question

foreign employee, manager never did an evaluation

Answer 1

Any and all communications barriers can be identified in a performance appraisal. What you do about these barriers can make the difference between being a good employer and being accused of discrimination.

Depending on the job responsibilities, you can certainly discuss discuss the following communications concerns in a performance appraisal:

Writing ability
Telephone answering ability
Ability to deal with e-mail
Timeliness of communications
Willingness to learn the business' jargon

If you hired someone with a reasonable expectation that the employee could converse and write in English, only to find that the person can't, that could be grounds for the employee's dismissal. If the subject of language never came up in the job description or hiring interviews, you might have a hard time firing someone based on a language barrier.

I don't know what the situation is... more detail might get a more pointed answer.