No description available.

Laboratory studies of the cognitive processes of performance appraisal which employ undergraduates as raters necessarily imply one of two assumptions of processing invariance: the constant category assumption or the constant familiarity assumption. The constant category assumption is implied in studies having undergraduate students rate unfamiliar occupations, and then generalizations are made to supervisors in organizational settings who are much more familiar with the job they are rating. On the other hand, the constant familiarity assumption is implied in studies in which generalizations of performance ratings are made only when raters rate an occupation with which they are familiar (i.e., when students rate teaching). The present study tested these two competing assumptions by varying job familiarity and appraisal purpose in a 2 (rater population) X 2 (target occupation) X 2 (appraisal purpose) X 3 (performance) mixed factorial design. 40 professional carpenters recruited from various contracting firms in the Southwest Virginia, and 40 undergraduate college students from Virginia Polytechnic Institute viewed videotaped performances of three carpentry students performing four different woodworking tasks, and three teaching assistants giving brief lectures. Appraisal purpose was manipulated orthogonally by telling half of the subjects to form a general impression of the ratees’ performances (impression-set) and telling the other half to remember as many of the behaviors and actions of the subjects as possible (memory-set). Job familiarity served as a repeated measure, and was manipulated by crossing rater population (student vs. carpenter) with target occupation (teaching vs. carpentry). It was predicted that subjects familiar with the occupational category they assessed would (a) vary their processing strategies according to appraisal purpose (i.e., recall more judgments under an impression-set and recall more behaviors under a memory-set); (b) better recall the order of ratee performance information; (c) better discriminate between ratee performance levels; and (d) provide more accurate ratings than unfamiliar raters. Analysis of subjects’ free recalls generally failed to support the hypotheses, partly due to the failure of the appraisal purpose manipulation. For outcome measures, results provided partial support for the hypotheses in that job familiarity led to significant differences in performance discrimination and rating accuracy only when subjects rated the carpentry occupation. No differences were seen when subjects rated teachers. While these findings tend to provide greater support for the constant category assumption than for the constant familiarity assumption, some problems with the use and development of the teaching videotapes may have exacerbated these effects. Implications for future performance appraisal research and the application of performance ratings are offered. / Ph. D.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of Performance Management System in the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality. The need for this study was considered relevant and necessary as municipalities today have become focus points for service delivery as per their constitutional obligations. Central to the constitutional mandate, amongst other things, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 requires municipalities to establish a Performance Management System that will play a pivotal role in promoting a culture of Performance Management. It is through Performance Management that priorities, objectives and targets set, as contained in the Integrated Development Plan, are implemented and measured. In this study, the researcher evaluates the capacity of the management of the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality to implement Performance Management System, the compliance of the Performance Management System with legislation and the perceptions of labour unions in the implementation of the Performance Management System. The study further provides an analysis of the state of the Performance Management System in the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality. It discloses several issues that require immediate attention by management in order to make Performance Management fully compliant and functional. Amongst other things, the study reveals that there is minimal employee involvement in the planning of Performance Management, lack of training opportunities to address identified weaknesses, non-payment of performance bonus to good performing employees and majority of employees not knowing their performance targets as reflected in the Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan. The study concludes by providing recommendations to management of the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality on how to enhance good Performance Management. Some of the recommendations proposed are payment of performance bonus to good performing employees, consultations with all employees on the implementation of the system, cascading of the Performance Management to all lower levels employees, to cite just but few examples. The correct implementation of Performance Management System will serve as a means to enhance organizational efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in the use of resources in accelerating access to good quality services and a better life for all.

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Law)) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / The issue of promotion in the workplace has become a subject of discussion these days. As this issue is sensitive and important to both employers and employees it will always bring about conflicting interacts and rights between the two parties. Promotion of employees in the workplace helps the employers to fill up vacant posts and at the same time helps some employees to move up the ladder or get promoted and thereby improving their livelihood or living conditions. In the process of doing this, some employees who did not succeed will feel disappointed and challenge the employer’s decision in the bargaining councils or Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and even in courts. This dissertation has been extensively researched and supplemented accordingly by incorporating the latest case law in promotional disputes in the shop floor in court or arbitration proceedings. Both employers and employees will find the information contained in this comprehensive and reliable work an indispensible guide to a complex and yet interesting area of law. This work deals with promotion in the workplace in general and the manner in which employers should handle them in order to avoid unnecessary promotion disputes which are often protracted and costly and on how these disputes should be dealt with successfully once they arise.

No description available.

M.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purposes of this study were to identify the procedures and criteria used for conducting teacher performance evaluation in Texas public schools, to determine the degree to which teacher performance evaluation procedures and instruments reflect the stated evaluation policies of Texas public schools, and to determine the degree to which teacher performance evaluation instruments used in Texas public schools reflect presage criteria (teacher characteristics) as opposed to process criteria (teacher behavior) as opposed to product criteria (student change or gain) as opposed to general job performance requirements (job expectations). The main findings include the following. (1) Teacher performance evaluation is required in all Texas public school districts and is often performed several times a year by more than one observer. The building principal is the key person involved in this process. (2) Although all school districts stated the supervisory function of the improvement of instruction as the major purpose of their teacher performance evaluation policy, a large number of school districts utilize teacher performance evaluation for the administration functions of serving as a basis for retention or dismissal. (3) If in reality teacher performance evaluation were construed as the improvement of instruction or teaching performance, it should be predictable that process criteria (teacher behavior) would account for the majority of items in the evaluation instruments. However, these items accounted for only about one-fourth of the total number. At the same time, items relating to general job requirements accounted for over 50 percent of the items. This exhibits a maintenance rather than teaching thrust. (4) The data gathered on current teacher performance evaluation instruments appear to be highly pertinent to maintaining the school as an organization and appear to be helpful in making personnel decisions. (5) Teacher performance evaluation instruments in Texas public schools are much more heavily weighted toward assessing teachers in their multiple roles rather than the many aspects of teaching.