The paper deals with a survey of performance appraisal system in 33
different organizations. Data was collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire.
One respondent was selected from each organization. Respondents' views were
sought on major apprehensions, desired changes, bias removal, and number of
forms required for performance appraisal. It was found that subjectivity and appraiser
bias were most common apprehensions regarding performance appraisal
system. Correspondingly, objectivity and measurable performance were found to be
most desirable for improving performance appraisal systems. Strong needs were felt
for identifying measurable performance parameters and providing multiple feedbacks
to reduce appraiser bias. Respondents' views on training of appraisers and
importance of performance review discussion have also been furnished.
Performance appraisal is one of the most important processes in human
resource management. Organizations rate their employees' abilities to perform through this
process and assess their worth for organizational rewards. Various researchers have noted
at different points of time that many employees are not satisfied with their
performance appraisal systems. Rudrabasavaraj (1977) found that only one of the 12
organizations that were investigated in that particular study, seemed to be satisfied with the
appraisal system. Bolar (1978) states, "Most managers and supervisors have at some time or
other questioned the basis or relevance of employee evaluation practices or
performance appraisal ... [and] the difficulties, the doubts and the lack of credibility about the
various systems appear to have increased". Basu (1988) notes, "there is much scepticism
about current appraisal practices in many organizations". More recently, Majumdar and
Narayan (2005) quote a study which reports that satisfaction with current appraisal systems
in industry is as low as 40%.
In the light of the defects observed with the operation of traditional performance
appraisals, organizations are now increasingly incorporating practices that may improve the
system. These changes are particularly concerned with areas such as elimination of subjectivity
and bias, training of appraisers, improvement of the feedback process and the performance
review discussion. This point is mentioned by Madhok (2006), who quotes a survey of 57
CEOs and HR professionals. According to him, the focus seems to have shifted towards
developing and implementing systems and policies which incorporate the right attitude, rather than
merely relying on integrated computerized systems to perform complex calculations.
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