A performance evaluation system should help an agency achieve its goals of making equitable compensation and career decisions, motivating employees to perform well and develop their capabilities, planning human resource needs, promoting constructive communication between employees and managers, and complying with Federal Equal Opportunity Employment guidelines. Some commonly used performance evaluation methods are graphic ratings, forced choice, critical incident, rankings, weiqhted checklists, and management by objective. Although the development of a behaviorally anchored rating scale is a complex task for administrators, this method has many advantaqes. Because these scales emphasize onqoing behaviors, they give officers feedback on how they are functioning and how they can improve. The instruments are designed for specific jobs and assess behavior, not traits. Compared to the subjective nature of other evaluation systems, behaviorally anchored rating scales are less vulnerable to litigation. Finally, these scales differentiate between behavior, performance, and effectiveness. Adequate training of evaluators is critical. A chart and approximately 20 references are supplied.