A developmental performance appraisal program was introduced into an Australian Federal agency. Pre- and posttest measures of appraisal characteristics, employee responses, and appraisal beliefs were gathered by surveying 108 appraised and 64 nonappraised employees. Increases occurred in some characteristics of appraisal, those of feedback and action planning, as well as in employee responses of satisfaction with feedback and self-rated performance improvement, although not in perceived rewards and training effectiveness. For those appraised, compared to those not appraised, feedback, action planning and supervisor support enhanced satisfaction with feedback, supervisor support enhanced training effectiveness, and feedback enhanced rewards. Overall, employee beliefs about appraisal did not influence the positive relationships between appraisal characteristics and employee responses. For supervisors, relationships were more positive between appraisal characteristics and training effectiveness than for subordinates, but not with regard to employee responses.
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