CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
One of the responsibilities of management is to ensure that an organisation functions effectively and efficiently. In order to achieve these goals, managers must be able to determine and assess the performance levels of both an organisation and its individual employees. This is because people are different in their abilities and their attitudes and there are some differences between the quality and quantity of the same work on the same job, being done by two different people. For this reason, an appropriate system of measurement must be developed and applied which is known as performance appraisal.
Peter Allan (2004) Performance appraisal which is defined as a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and superior that usually takes the form of a periodic interview in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed had its root in the early 20th century.
Performance appraisal which is a method of evaluating the behaviour of employees in the work spot normally includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects of job performance and should be done on a regular basis without bias. It should take place more than once in a year.
Wayne F. Cascio (2003) Performance appraisal may be formal or informal, documented or undocumented, scheduled or unscheduled. It could be individual or multiple person appraisals.
Performance appraisal is a formal evaluation of an employee’s job performance. To conduct a formal performance appraisal, the manager must complete an evaluation document and conduct an oral review with the employee who is being evaluated.
This process involves providing the employee with feedback, regarding how well he or she is performing, the essential functions of his or her job in the organisation.
John Bernardin (2002). The success of a company requires that, the boss and subordinate staff should evaluate their selves on- the- job performance on a regular basis, if they don’t know how well they are doing.
A manager should also make sure that, he/she conducts at least an annual performance appraisal with each subordinate. There is this probability that, one will earn consistent promotions, obtain salary increases, which leads to the success of the organisation.
The process of performance appraisal establishes a standard which must be communicated by the appraiser (the superior) to the appraised (the subordinate). The results then must be objectively analyzed to measure actual performance. Organisations can take corrective action based on the result derived from the appraisal.
Gerald V. Barrett (2003), the essence of performance appraisal is to assess the character, attitude, potentials and past performance employees of on the job. Performance appraisal is also done to evaluate the employees’ strengths and weaknesses.
Another reason for employee appraisal is to obtain information for promotion, demotion, transfer, pay increase, training and development and discharge. For the employee, an appraisal gives a feedback as to know how management perceives his contributions to the organisation. If an employee perceives that he is poorly evaluated, it could affect his morale; increase his absenteeism rate and tardiness and consequently, his overall production. This is why employee evaluation is expected to be done in the spirit of objectivity, honesty and fair play.
When an official evaluates, he is in effect passing judgment that he has the competence to evaluate; he know the employee and has observed him at work for a long time. Many employees are afraid of evaluation and have negative feelings about it. Every day in an organisation, employees informally evaluate one another, even the supervisor is not left out. When the official evaluation comes out, employee compares the opinions they hold with the formal evaluation result from their supervisors.
A supervisor is said to be fair or unfair based on employees’ preconceived opinion of themselves and one another. The human inclination to judge can create serious, motivational, ethnical and logical problems in the workplace. Without a structured appraisal system, there is little chance of ensuring that the judgments made will be lawful, fair, defensible and accurate.
Performance appraisal helps to rate the performance of the employees and evaluate their contributions towards the organizational goals. If the process of performance is formal and properly structured, it helps the employees to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and this will give direction to their individual performance
In the absence of a carefully structured system of appraisal, people tend to judge the work performance of others, including subordinates, naturally, informally and arbitrary. Often performance appraisal has been called performance evaluation or performance rating.
Performance appraisal systems began as simple methods of income justification. That is, appraisal was used to decide whether or not the salary or wage of an individual employee was justified. The process was firmly linked to material outcomes. If an employer’s performance was found to be less than ideal, a cut would follow. On the other hand, if their performance was better than the superior expected, a pay rise was in order.
Little consideration, if any, was given to the developmental possibilities of appraisal. It was felt that a cut in pay, or a rise, should provide the only required impetus. For an employee to either improve or continue to perform well.
Sometimes, the basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended, but more often than not, it failed. For example, early motivational researchers were aware that different people with roughly equal work abilities could be paid the same amount of money and yet have quite different levels of motivation and performance.
These observations were confirmed in empirical studies, pay rates were important, yes; but they were not the only element that had an impact on employee performance. It was found that other issues, such as morale and self esteem, could also have a major influence. As a result, the traditional emphasis on reward outcomes was progressively rejected.
In many organisations but not all, appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions.
By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify the poorer performers who may require some form of counseling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay.
There are many reputable sources such as researchers, management, commentators, psychometricians who have expressed doubts about the validity and reliability of performance appraisal process. Some have even suggested that the process is so inherently flawed that it may be impossible to perfect it.
There are those, for instance, who believe that performance appraisal has many important employee development uses, but scorn any attempt to link the process to reward outcomes such as pay rises and promotions.
This group believes that the linkage to reward outcomes reduces or eliminates the developmental value of appraisals. Rather than an opportunity for constructive review and encouragement, the reward- linked process is perceived as judgmental, punitive and harrowing.
For example, how many people would gladly admit their work problems if, they knew that their next pay rise or the much wanted promotion was riding on an appraisal result? Very likely, in that situation, many people would deny or downplay their weaknesses. Nor is the desire to distort or deny the truth confined to the person being appraised. Many appraisers feel uncomfortable with the combined role of judge and executioner. Appraisers often know their appraisees well and are typically in a direct subordinate -supervisor relationship. They work together on a daily basis and may at times mix socially, suggesting that the subordinate needs to brush up on certain work skills.
| Project details | Contents |
|---|---|
| Number of Pages | 95 pages |
| Chapter one | Introduction |
| Chapter two | Literature review |
| Chapter three | methodology |
| Chapter four | Data analysis |
| Chapter five | Summary,discussion & recommendations |
| Reference | Reference |
| Questionnaire | Questionnaire |
| Appendix | Appendix |
| Chapter summary | 1 to 5 chapters |
| Available document | PDF and MS-word format |
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