Effective Performance Appraisal: Viewpoints from Managers

Abstract

Although volumes of material have been written and published on performance appraisal, few articles have tried to ascertain the perspective of the practicing manager in problems that he or she faces in dealing with performance appraisal systems. The authors interviewed over 60 managers who administered performance appraisal in a large Fortune 500 service organization. They found that managers expressed four problems with existing schemes of performance appraisal. First, multiple uses of appraisal documentation caused validity problems in ratings of performance. Second, most ratings schemes were subjective and inflated, with few guidelines for objectivity. Third, objectives for effective performance were not clearly defined, and finally, information about performance appraisal was not always communicated clearly to employees.