the performance appraisal 1.docx

the performance appraisal 1.docx

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theperformanceappraisal1

Performanceappraisal,asapartofperformancemanagement,isrelatedtoasystemorganizationsusingtoassessindividual’sperformance.ThestudyreportedbyWorkplaceEmploymentRelationsSurvey（WERS）showsthatmoreandmoreorganizationsandindustriesbeguntouseperformanceappraisalinhumanresourcemanagement.78percentofmanagersinworkplacesreportedthatperformanceappraisalswerecarriedoutin2004.Well,thisratewas73percentin1998.Althoughwidelyused,performanceappraisalisahumanresourceactivityhatedbyeveryone.Grint（1993:

64）arguedthattherewasnosystemlikeperformanceappraisalwhichpromisessomuchandrealizessolittleinthehistory.So,inthefollowingsections,firstofall,thepaperwilldiscussthedefinitionaswellaspurposesofperformanceappraisalandanalyzethedifferencesbetweenperformanceappraisalandperformancemanagement.Then,thepaperwilllistcriticismsforperformanceappraisalandassessthemcritically.Exactlybecausemotivatedbythesecritiques,therehavebeenmanydevelopmentandinnovationofperformanceappraisalrecentyears.Thus,next,thepaperwilldiscussthenewdevelopmentsofperformanceappraisal,including360degreefeedback,upwardappraisal,team-basedappraisal,customerappraisalandcompetency-basedappraisal.Itisanecessaryandsignificantthingtotakealookatcritiquesandtheirmotivationinperformanceappraisalpractice.

Informalperformanceappraisalscandatebacktothetimethatpeoplestartedtoworktogether.Astoformalperformanceappraisals,Grint（1993:

61）proposedtheycanbetracedbacktoathird-centuryChinesepractice.Fromthenon,performanceappraisalsdevelopedalotandwereusedbymoreandmoreorganizationsgradually.Thereweremanynewemergencesinthelastdecade,suchasdownsizing,flexibilisationoftheworkforce,decentralisationanddelayering,themovetoteamworking,newmanagerialinitiativessuchasbusinessprocessreengineering（BPR）,totalqualitymanagement（TQM）,competencyandinvestorsinpeople,whichchangedorganizationsgreatly.However,insteadofdiminishingtheimportanceofperformanceappraisalevenheraldingtheendofthem,thesenewadventsappeartohavemotivatedworthyexperimentationandinnovationinitspractice,whichattractedbroaderrangeoforganizationstobringitintotheirmanagementsystems.Asforwhatisperformanceappraisalactually,manyresearchersgivetheirdefinitions.BoxallandPurcell（2003:

144）suggestedorganizationsuseperformanceappraisalsystemsasformalmeasurestoplanandevaluateemployeeperformancewhichgetemployeeinterviewingeveryyear.DeNisi（2000:

121）definesperformanceappraisalasasysteminwhichratersusee“score”toevaluatetheperformanceofaspecialpersonorgroupandthenmakeadecisionforthelevelofperformance.Bach（2005:

290）justpointedouttheformthattheperformanceappraisaliscarriedout.Theyarguedthatperformanceappraisalwasjustaprocessinwhichalinemanagerinterviewstheirsubordinatesannuallytoreviewtheirperformanceandfilledinafixedformwithnothingtakingplacetillthisprocesswascarriedoutthenextyear.BeardwellandClaydon（2010:

464）viewedperformanceappraisalasoneofthemaintoolsusedinmeasuringperformance.

Itisnotreasonabletocombineperformanceappraisalsystemswithperformancemanagementwhichmeansmanagingindividualperformancethroughavarietyoftechniques（BoxallandPurcell,2003:

144）.Inthissense,performanceappraisalisjustapartofperformancemanagement.ArmstrongandBaron（2005:

15）definedperformancemanagementasaprocessinsteadofanevent,anditoperatesinacontinuouscycle.Itmakessensetotheeffectivemanagementofindividualsandgroupstorealizethehighperformanceofthewholeorganization.LGMB（1994:

6）viewedperformancemanagementassystemsandattitudeswhichhelporganizationstoplan,delegateandassesstheoperationoftheirservices.Williams（1998:

221）pointedorganizationscanuseperformancemanagementtomanageorganizationperformanceoremployeeorbothofthem.Townley（1993:

223）suggestedthatappraisalplaystheroleoftechnologyintheconstitutionofmanaging.BoxallandPurcell（2003:

290）thoughtperformanceappraisalhasbecomemoreintegratedintosystemsofperformancemanagementwhichcandomorethingsforindividualsaswellastheorganizationstheyworkfor.Advocatesproposedthatthecycleofintegratedactivitiesofperformancemanagementgetthecontributionofindividualsandtheperformanceofthewholeorganizationtogether.However,theresultsofeachindividualappraisalarealwaysnotlinkedtocorporateobjectives.

AlthoughtheperformanceappraisalhasbeenpopularusedincompaniesintheUK,theUSAandtheothercountries,becomingthemostpopularandimportantpartofHRM,therearemanyproblemswithit.Inthissection,thepaperwilllistthemainorthodoxandradicalcritiquesofperformanceappraisalanddiscussthestudiesonthesetwotopicsfirstandthenmakeacriticalassessofthetwokindsofcritiquesindetailrespectively.

Therearetwomainorthodoxcritiquesofperformanceappraisal.Oneofthemainandwidelyidentifiedproblemsisthatorganizationsalwaysuseperformanceappraisalforalotofdifferentpurposes.Callahan（2007）suggeststhatperformancemeasurementisinadequateasitfailstorecognizethekeyconceptsofaccountabilityandcitizenparticipation.Furthermore,itfailstoidentifyandconcentrateonthecriticalimportanceoftheirrelationship.Thatistosayperformanceappraisalsarecompromisedbecausetheyareusedforavarietyofseenbeingconflictingpurposes.Inaddition,stakeholderswhoundertaketheperformanceappraisalsmayhavedifferentrolesandresponsibilitieswhichmaybeconflicting（Wilson,2002:

665）.RedmanandWilkinson（2006:

157）proposedthatorganizationsuseperformanceappraisaltoidentifyanddefineperformanceexpectations,providecareercounsel,improveindividual,identifytraininganddevelopmentneeds,facilitatecommunicationsandinvolvement,assessteamandcorporateperformance,allocatefinancialrewards,determinepromotion,motivateandcontrolemployeesandachieveculturalchange.Theyfurtherarguedthatmanyoftheabovepurposesconflictwitheachother.Bach（2006:

297）pointedoutthatatfirst,organizationsuseperformanceappraisaltodeciderewardsofeachemployeeonthebasisofanevaluationofpastperformance.While,infact,theappraisalisusedtomotivatestafftoimproveperformanceaswellasidentifytrainingneeds.Somanypurposesforcetheappraisertoadoptconflictingroles.MurphyandMargulies（2004:

3）alsothoughtthatinthepractice,organizationsrequiretheirperformanceappraisalsystemtodotoomuch.Appraisalsareexpectedtofulfillmostevenallofthefollowingfunctions–feedback,goalsetting,coaching,paydetermination,skilldevelopment,employeecomparisonlegaldocumentationandlayoffselection.

Theotherwidelyarguedproblemisthatmanymanagersdoubtthevalidityofperformanceappraisal.Bach（2005:

303）arguedthatmanagersdon’ttrusttheirappraisalsystemsbecausetheexpectationofthesystemissohighwelltheoutcomesarealwaysdisappointing.BoxallandPurcell（2003:

145）pointedoutthattheproblemmustpayattentiontoisthatdisappointingoutcomesalwaysstandbythesideofgoodintentionsintheperformanceappraisalarea.

Itistruethattheorthodoxcritiquesofperformanceappraisalindeedpointoutsomeproblemsthatemergedintheprocessofperformanceappraisalimplementation.However,itdoesn’tanalyzeprimaryissuesrelatedtothehypothesisofperformanceappraisal（Bach,2005:

290）.Problemsproposedbytheorthodoxcritiquescanberemediedthroughpropertrainingandcommunication.Theperformanceappraisalisundertakenbymanagerswhomaylackenoughknowledgeofinterview.Managerslackinterviewskills.Theyhavenoideasaboutusingwhatcriterionstoevaluateemployeeperformance.Sometimes,theymaymagnifyonemeritofparticularemployeewhileignoretheotherbenefitsandevenshortcomingsofthisperson.Sometimes,theymayevaluateemployeeperformancebasedontheirrecentbehaviorwhileignorethelong-termperformanceoftheemployees.Theymaydenyallperformanceoftheemployeebecauseofarecentmistake.Sometimes,theymayappraisestaffaccordingtotheirsubjectivefeelingsratherthananobjectiveevaluationoftheperformance.Sometimes,theymaynotwanttooffendanyemployeethusgiveallemployeessimilarscore.Allofthesecouldleadtoraterbias.Inaddition,becausethemanagersmayplaydifferentroles,theyhopetoachievemanypurposesthroughtheevaluation.Alloftheseareindeedimplementationproblemsexistingintheprocessofperformanceappraisalobjectivelywhichcanbeeasedoreveneliminatedthroughappropriatetrainingandcommunication.However,theorthodoxcriticismneglecttherootcausesoftheseimplementationissues.Iftheseproblemsaresolved,newproblemswillarise?

Performanceappraisalsystemisreasonable?

Theorthodoxcritiquesdon’ttakein-depthanalysisandreflection.However,theleadingcausesoftheseimplementationissuesaremostlikelyduetotheproblemsresideintheassumptionsofperformanceappraisal.Trainingandcommunicationcansolvesomeproblems,butitdoesn’tsolvealltheproblemsintheimplementationprocess.Newproblemswillariseagainandagain.Onlyaddressingtherootproblems,theimplementationproblemscanbeavoidedtotally.

Assumptionsaboutthepurposeofperformanceappraisalhavebeenquestionedincreasingly（Bach,2005:

290）.Theradicalcritiquesmainlypayattentiontotheissuesofmanagementcontrolanditsusef