The purpose of this study was to determine a model to integrate managerial and non-managerial expectations, regarding performance appraisals, in an organisation-specific performance appraisal system’s design. The sample consisted of 178 respondents that completed a newly developed questionnaire, aimed at obtaining the respondents input in the performance appraisal system’s design. The results of the managerial group were compared to the non-managerial group. Some significant differences were obtained regarding the design of the performance appraisal system. The results and implications are discussed. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Orientation: For decades, organisations have implemented performance management systems in order to promote an environment focused on performance enhancement and employee development. Performance appraisals have consistently been at the centre of performance management systems. However, they are often perceived as being ineffective or unsatisfactory, resulting in dissatisfaction and contributing to financial and time losses. Performance Appraisal Satisfaction (PAS) amongst employees is, therefore, vital if organisations want to achieve desired outcomes. Limited research was found that explained or described methods which organisations can utilise to increase PAS amongst employees. Research rationale and objectives: As organisations become more global, innovative and employee-focused, the need to cater to individual needs and desires has significantly increased. This study aimed to investigate ways in which PAS can be increased through the individualisation of three performance appraisal aspects namely; number of raters; method of feedback and frequency of feedback. In terms of the individualisation factors, this study has focused on; level of perceived self-efficacy and the Big Five personality dimensions. Research approach: Given the limited pre-existing literature on this topic, the present study used an exploratory research approach to engage with the results in an in-depth manner. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected from employees and Human Resource practitioners in order to establish performance appraisal preferences and the viability of implementing individualised performance appraisals. Composite questionnaires consisting of Likert-type questions, choice-based conjoint tasks and open-ended questions, were distributed utilising a convenient and snowball methodology. Completed questionnaires were analysed by means of descriptive and inferential and statistics, conjoint analysis, as well as by means of a thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Human Resource practitioners and analysed using a thematic analysis. Main findings: Results from the descriptive and inferential statistics indicate that the level of self-efficacy and personality-type are significant in predicting certain performance appraisal preferences. For example, respondents with increased levels of perceived self-efficacy significantly preferred face-to-face feedback from a manager (p < .05) while respondents with low levels of perceived self-efficacy significantly preferred impersonal feedback (p < .05). Results from the composite questionnaire’s open-ended items indicated that employees prefer performance appraisals which considered their personality type and level of self-efficacy. However, the thematic analysis conducted on the HR practitioner interviews revealed that HR practitioners are hesitant to implement a novel performance appraisal system for reasons including; gaining top-management support and the additional time and administrative burden it would likely impose on the HR practitioners themselves.

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Gender differences in salaries are prominent in most fields. Several laws exist to decrease the amount of pay discrimination and provide remedies for discriminatory organizational behaviors, yet these laws have proven insufficient to eradicate pay inequities. One source for such discrimination in pay stems from the evaluation of employee performance. Performance appraisal systems can be biased in very small ways that yield larger negative effects on later employment-related decisions, such as compensation. The goal of this study was to examine decision-making processes and conclusions raters make during the evaluation of employees. It was expected that the type of presentation and the content of the ratings of performance sub-dimensions would affect gender differences in composite ratings, salary increases, and merit bonuses. Specifically, women were expected to be rated lower when employee performance information was presented sequentially, where it would be harder to directly compare one employee with another and thus not mitigate sex bias. Comparatively, when employee performance information was presented in aggregate form, where comparisons among employees would be easier, no sex bias was expected. It was also hypothesized that in the sequential condition, participants would provide casuistry-based reasoning for their decisions such that explanations for men's better performance would be justified by their performance on the sub-dimension on which the male candidate was rated highly. No effect was found for target gender on any of the outcomes. There was a significant difference for participant gender in the amount of salary increases and merit bonuses assigned. Male participants assigned significantly higher raises and bonuses than female participants to employees. There was also a strong main effect for task-related skills across all outcomes. Employees who were higher in the task dimension were rated higher, awarded higher pay, and given larger bonuses. There were no gender differences in the task ratings. Qualitative data analyses support these conclusions. Although participants provided lengthy reasons for their decisions, none showed or explained a gender difference. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.

The area of performance appraisal of the handicapped individual is a relatively uncharted domain. Previous studies have tended to either lump categories of handicaps together or to concentrate their performance appraisal on simplistic performance criteria. This dissertation focused upon the performance of a group of physically impaired workers and their non-impaired co-workers. Central to this research endeavor was a comparison of the aggregate performances of both groups of workers through the use of parametric factor and discriminant techniques as well as the non-parametric sign test.

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Performance appraisals - a study of the performance appraisals significance as a tool for development in the public sector. Anders Larsson and Åsalill Olsson Performance appraisals have been given a central role in leading businesses in the public sector and are seen as a tool to create development opportunities and achieve better results. This has resulted that performance appraisal in many organizations takes up capacity and time. This was the starting point of our interest to study whether the time spent on performance appraisals effectively pays for itself in the organization, in other words whether the effects expected actually are achieved. The paper examines first line managers` views on staff appraisal purposes and effects of a function within the Landstinget. The survey design, methodology and transaction are of qualitative and quantitative method with three different sources: literature review of previous research, interviews with first line managers in Landstinget Västmanland and the results from an employee satisfaction survey conducted on behalf of Landstinget Västmanland. The result shows that the majority of first line managers` views on the purpose of staff appraisal are that they have a focus on the individual worker and the work environment and not to any significant degree is their purpose linked to the work place goals or to improve the performance of the organization. Keywords: leadership, performance appraisals, leadership styles, leader behavior, leader.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera enhetschefers syn på sina medarbetares kompetensutveckling för att sedan kunna ställa detta i relation till hur det praktiska kompetensutvecklingsarbetet faktiskt går till. Detta gjordes genom en intervjustudie som inkluderade sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med enhetschefer inom en avdelning i Östergötlands Landsting.Studien redogör för såväl skillnader som likheter i uppfattningar dem emellan och även mellan vad som sägs, och vad som görs. Slutligen visar det sig att det inom ett antal frågor förekommer en diskrepans mellan vad som sägs, och vad som görs. Frågor som visade sig vara inkongruenta återfanns bland annat inom ledarskapsområdet, kartläggnings- och uppföljningsområdet samt personalpolicyområdet. Denna inkongruens problematiserades och härleddes sedan till möjliga orsaksfaktorer vilka i sin tur utgör potentiella förbättringsområden i en optimering av verksamhetens kompetensutvecklingsarbete.

The present study attempted to identify common and unique characteristics of faculty performance appraisal formats and procedures by analyzing characteristics of formats and procedures from the psychology departments of 28 universities, including Kentucky Council on Post-secondary Education (CPE) benchmark schools for Western Kentucky University as well as schools that have Industrial/Organizational psychology master’s degree programs. It was hypothesized that schools with Industrial/-Organizational Psychology programs would have better formats as defined by eight legal factors. However, this hypothesis was not supported. The hypothesis that graphic rating scales would be the most common method for collecting appraisal data was supported. It was determined that the performance appraisal system used at Western Kentucky University is very similar to systems used at the CPE benchmark schools that participated in this study.