Performance appraisals are traditionally seen as tools that can promote employee productivity. This article examines whether performance appraisals stimulate employee efforts beyond levels that employees regard as manageable, as measured by feelings of work overload. Using data from 2,399 employees, the study finds that participation in setting performance objectives, difficult objectives, and higher performance ratings are associated with increased levels of work overload. Trust in the supervisor was associated with lower levels of work overload. These findings suggest that some of the features associated with a well-designed appraisal system may generate adverse outcomes for employees and, subsequently, for their organizations.
Australian Council of Trade Unions. (1999). Employment security and working hours: A national survey of current workplace issues. Melbourne, Australia: Author.
2.
Avolio, B. J., Yammarino, F. J., & Bass, B. M. (1991). Identifying common method variance with data collected from a single source: An unresolved sticky issue. Journal of Management, 17(3), 571-587.
3.
Boswell, W. R., & Boudreau, J. W. (2000). Employee satisfaction with performance appraisals and appraisers: The role of perceived appraisal use. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 11(3), 283-299.
4.
Brockner, J., Siegel, P. A., Daley, J. P., Tyler, T., & Martin, C. (1997). When trust matters: The moderating effect of outcome favourability. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 558-583.
5.
Brown, T. C., & Latham, G. P. (2000). The effects of goal setting and self-instruction training on the performance of unionized employees. Relations Industrielles, 55(1), 80-96.
6.
Burke, R. J., & Wilcox, D. S. (1969). Characteristics of effective employee performance review and development interviews. Personnel Psychology, 22, 291-305.
7.
Campbell, D. J., Campbell, K. M., & Chia, H. B. (1998). Merit pay, performance appraisal, and individual motivation—An analysis and alternative. Human Resource Management, 37(2), 131-146.
8.
Cardy, R. L., & Dobbins, G. H. (1994). Performance appraisal: Alternative perspectives. Cincinnati, OH: South Western Publishing.
9.
Cawley, B. D., Keeping, L. M., & Levy, P. E. (1998). Participation in the performance appraisal process and employee reactions—A meta-analytic review of field investigations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(4), 615-633.
10.
Chandler, G. N., Keller, C., & Lyon, D. W. (2000). Unraveling the determinants and consequences of an innovation-supportive organizational culture. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 25(1), 59-76.
11.
Chatterjee, S., Hadi, A. S., & Price, B. (2000). Regression analysis by example (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
12.
Chen, P. Y., & Spector, P. (1991). Negative affectivity as the underlying cause of correlations between stressors and strains. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(3), 398-407.
13.
Coates, G. (1994). Performance appraisal as icon: Oscar winning performance or dressing to impress?International Journal of Human Resource Management, 5(1), 167-191.
14.
Coens, T., & Jenkins, M. (2000). Abolishing performance appraisals. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
15.
Cooke, R. A., & Rousseau, D. M. (1984). Stress and strain from family roles and work role expectations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69(2), 252-260.
16.
Deery, M., & Iverson, R. (1996). Enhancing productivity: Intervention strategies for employee turnover. In N. Johns (Ed.), Productivity management in hospitality and tourism (pp. 68-95). London: Cassell.
17.
DeFrank, R. S., & Ivancevich, J. M. (1998). Stress on the job: An executive update. Academy Of Management Executive, 12(3), 55-67.
18.
Fletcher, C. (1993, September). Appraisal: An idea whose time has gone?Personnel Management, 25(9), 34-37.
19.
Folger, R. (1987). Distributive and procedural justice in the workplace. Social Justice Research, 1, 143-159.
20.
Folger, R., & Konovsky, M. A. (1989). Effects of procedural and distributive justice on reactions to pay raise decisions. Academy of Management Review, 32(1), 115-130.
21.
Gabris, G. T., & Ihrke, D. M. (2000). Improving employee acceptance toward performance appraisal and merit pay systems. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 20(1), 41-53.
22.
Giles, W. F., & Mossholder, K. W. (1990). Employee reactions to contextual and session components of performance appraisal. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(4), 371-377.
23.
Goris, J. R., Vaught, B. C., & Pettit, J. D. J. (2003). Effects of trust in superiors and influence of superiors on the association between individual-job congruence and job performance/satisfaction. Journal of Business and Psychology, 17(3), 327-343.
24.
Gosselin, A., Werner, J. M., & Halle, N. (1997). Ratee preferences concerning performance appraisal management and appraisal. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 8(4), 315-333.
25.
Green, F. (2001). It’s been a hard day’s night: The concentration and intensification of work in late twentieth-century Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 39(1), 53-80.
26.
Heneman, R. L. (1992). Merit pay: Linking pay increases to performance ratings. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
27.
Iverson, R. D. (1992). Employee intent to stay: An empirical test of a revision of the Price Mueller Model. Unpublished dissertation, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
28.
Iverson, R. D., Deery, S., & Erwin, P. (1995). Absenteeism in the health services sector: A casual model and intervention strategy. In P. P. Reidel (Ed.), Managing absenteeism: Analysing and preventing labour absenses (pp. 257-294). Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publishing Service.
29.
Iverson, R. D., & Maguire, C. (2000). The relationship between job and life satisfaction: Evidence from a remote mining community. Human Relations, 53(6), 807-839.
30.
Iverson, R. D., & Pullman, J. A. (2000). Determinants of voluntary turnover and layoffs in an environment of repeated downsizing following a merger: An event history analysis. Journal of Management, 26(5), 977-1003.
31.
Jackman, J. M., & Strober, M. H. (2003). Fear of feedback. Harvard Business Review, 81(4), 101-107.
32.
Jex, S. M., & Bliese, P. D. (1999). Efficacy beliefs as a moderator of the impact of work-related stressors: A multilevel study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(3), 349-360.
33.
Joure, S. A., Leon, J. S., Simpson, D. B., Holley, C. H., & Frye, R. L. (1989, March). Stress: The pressure cooker of work. Personnel Administrator, 34(11), 92-95.
34.
Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organisational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. New York: John Wiley.
35.
Keeping, L. M., & Levy, P. E. (2000). Performance appraisal reactions: Measurement, modeling and method bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(5), 708-723.
36.
Kleiman, L. S., Biderman, M. D., & Faley, R. H. (1987, Winter). An examination of employee perceptions of a subjective performance appraisal system. Journal of Business and Psychology, 2, 112-121.
37.
Korsgaard, M. A., & Roberson, L. (1995). Procedural justice in performance evaluation—The role of instrumental and non-instrumental voice in performance appraisal discussions. Journal of Management, 21(4), 657-669.
38.
Landy, F. J., & Farr, J. L. (1980). Performance rating. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 72-107.
39.
Landy, F. J., Farr, J. L., & Jacobs, R. R. (1982). Utility concepts in performance measurement. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 30(1), 15-40.
40.
Lawler, E. E. (1971). Pay and organizational effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill.
41.
Lawler, E. E. (1981). Pay and organizational development. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
42.
Levinson, H. (1976). Psychological man. Cambridge, MA: Levinson Institute.
43.
Lewis, P. (1998). Managing performance related pay based on evidence from the financial services sector. Human Resource Management Journal, 8(2), 66-77.
44.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). The theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
45.
Locke, E. A., Shaw, K. W., Saari, L. M., & Latham, G. P. (1981). Goal setting and task performance 1969-1980. Psychological Bulletin, 90, 125-152.
46.
Lowery, C. M., Petty, M. M., & Thompson, J. (1996). Assessing the merits of merit pay: Employee reactions to performance based pay. Human Resource Planning, 19(1), 26-37.
47.
Mani, B. G. (2002). Performance appraisal systems, productivity, and motivation: A case study. Public Personnel Management, 31(2), 141-159.
48.
Marsden, D., & French, S. (1998). What a performance: Performance related pay in the public services. London: Centre for Economic Performance.
49.
Marsden, D., & French, S. (2002). Performance pay in the United Kingdom. In M. Brown & J. S. Heywood (Eds.), Paying for performance: An international comparison (pp. 115-147). New York: M. E. Sharpe.
50.
Meyer, H. H. (1980). Self appraisal of job performance. Personnel Psychology, 33, 291-295.
51.
Meyer, H. H., & Walker, W. B. (1961). Need for achievement and risk preferences as they relate to attitudes toward reward systems and performance appraisal in an industrial setting. Journal of Applied Psychology, 45(4), 251-256.
52.
Michie, S., & Williams, S. (2003). Reducing work related psychological ill health and sickness absence: A systematic literature review. Occupational and Environmental Medicine [NLMMEDLINE], 60(1), 3.
53.
Milkovich, G. T., & Newman, J. M. (2002). Compensation (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
54.
Millward, N., Bryson, A., & Forth, J. (2000). All change at work?London: Routledge.
55.
Morehead, A., Steele, M., Alexander, M., Stephen, K., & Duffin, L. (1997). Changes at work: The 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. Sydney: Longman.
56.
Mount, M. K. (1984). Psychometric properties of subordinate ratings of managerial performance. Personnel Psychology, 37(4), 557-576.
57.
Mueller, C. W., Boyer, E. M., Price, J. L., & Iverson, R. D. (1994). Employee attachment and noncoercive conditions of work. Work and Occupations, 21(2), 179-212.
58.
Murphy, K. R., & Cleveland, J. N. (1991). Performance appraisal: An organizational perspective. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
59.
Nelson, D., & Burke, R. L. (2000). Women executives: Health, stress and success. Academy of Management Executive, 14(2), 107-121.
60.
Nemeroff, W. F., & Wexley, K. N. (1979). An exploration of the relationships between performance feedback interview characteristics and interview outcomes as perceived by managers and subordinates. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 52, 25-34.
61.
Newton, T., & Findlay, P. (1996). Playing God? The performance of appraisal. Human Resource Management Journal, 6(3), 42-58.
62.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (1994). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin.
63.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
64.
Pearce, J. L. (1987). Why merit pay doesn’t work: Implications from organization theory. In D. B. Balkin & L. R. Gomez-Mejia (Eds.), New perspectives on compensation (pp. 50-72). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
65.
Perrewe, P. L., & Ganster, D. C. (1989). The impact of job demands and behavioural control on experienced job stress. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(3), 213-229.
66.
Price, J., & Mueller, C. (1981). Professional turnover: The case of nurses. New York: SP Medical and Scientific.
67.
Roberts, G. E. (1992, May-August). Linkages between performance appraisal system effectiveness and rater and ratee acceptance. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 12(3), 19-41.
68.
Roberts, G. E. (1998). Perspectives on enduring and emerging issues in performance appraisal. Public Personnel Management, 27(3), 301-320.
69.
Rodgers, R., & Hunter, J. E. (1991). Impact of management by objectives on organizational productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 322-336.
70.
Rubery, J. (1995). Performance-related pay and the prospects for gender pay equity. Journal of Management Studies, 32(5), 637-654.
71.
Russell, D. W., Altmaier, E., & Van Velzen, D. (1987). Job related stress, social support and burnout among classroom teachers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 269-274.
72.
Schay, B. W. (1988). Effect of performance contingent pay on employee attitudes. Public Personnel Management, 17(2), 237-250.
73.
Siegall, M., & Worth, C. (2001). The impacts of trust and control on faculty reactions to merit pay. Personnel Review, 30(5/6), 646.
74.
Solomonson, A. L., & Lance, C. E. (1997). Examination of the relationship between true halo and halo error in performance ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(5), 665.
75.
Sparks, K., & Cooper, C. L. (1999). Occupational differences in the work-strain relationship: Towards the use of situation-specific models. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72, 219-229.
76.
Stevens, J. M., Beyer, J. M., & Trice, H. M. (1978). Assessing personal, role, and organizational predictors of managerial commitment. Academy of Management Journal (pre-1986), 21(000003), 380-391.
77.
Storey, J., & Sisson, K. (1993). Managing human resources and industrial relations. Buckingham, UK: The Open University Press.
78.
Studenmund, A. H., & Cassidy, H. J. (1987). Using econometrics: A practical guide. Boston: Little, Brown.
79.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1989). Using multivariate statistics. New York: HarperCollins.
80.
Tang, T., & Sarsfield-Baldwin, L. (1996). Distributive and procedural justice as related to satisfaction and commitment. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 61(3), 25-30.
81.
Taylor, P. J., & Pierce, J. L. (1999). Effects of introducing a performance management system on employees’ subsequent attitudes and effort. Public Personnel Management, 28(3), 423-452.
82.
Taylor, S. E., Repetti, R. L., & Seeman, T. (1997). Health psychology: What is an unhealthy environment and how does it get under the skin?Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 411-447.
83.
Teicher, J. (1992). Theories of employee participation and industrial democracy: Towards an analytical framework. In B. Dabscheck, G. Griffin, & J. Teicher (Eds.), Contemporary Australian industrial relations (pp. 476-494). Melbourne, Australia: Longman Cheshire.
84.
Thorton, G. C. I. (1980). Psychometric properties of self appraisals of job performance. Personnel Psychology, 33, 263-271.
85.
Tziner, A., Murphy, K. R., & Cleveland, J. N. (2001). Relationships between attitudes toward organizations and performance appraisal systems and rating behavior. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9(3), 226-239.
86.
Vermunt, R. (2002). Employee stress, injustice and the dual position of the boss. In S. W. Gilliland, D. D. Steiner, & D. P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Emerging perspectives on managing organizational justice. Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
87.
Vermunt, R., & Steensma, H. (2001). Stress and justice in organizations: An exploration into justice processes with the aim to find mechanisms to reduce stress. In R. Cropanzano (Ed.), Justice in the workplace (Vol. 2, pp. 27-48). London: LEA.
88.
Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1984). Negative affectivity: The disposition to experience aversive emotional states. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 465-498.
89.
Watson, D., Pennebaker, J. W., & Folger, R. (1987). Beyond negative affectivity: Measuring stress and satisfaction in the workplace. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 8(2), 141-158.
90.
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 219-235.
91.
Weekes, K., Peterson, C. L., & Stanton, P. (2001). Stress and the workplace: The medical scientists’ experience. Labour and Industry, 11(3), 95-120.
92.
Wiese, D. S., & Buckley, W. R. (1998). The evolution of the performance appraisal process. Journal of Management History, 4(3), 233-249.
93.
Wood, R., & Maguire, M. (1993). Private pay for public work: Performance related pay for public sector managers. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
94.
Zuber, E. P., & Behson, S. J. (1998, October). The relationship between performance appraisal session characteristics and ratee reactions: A meta-analytic study. Paper presented at the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Dallas, TX.
