AN APPRAISAL OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL TECHNIQUES ON EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION (A CASE STUDY OF AKWA IBOM STATE CIVIL SERVICE)

                          ABSTRACT 

The study provides an appraisal of performance appraisal techniques on employee motivation. It analyses the nature of performance appraisal, performance appraisal techniques and the nature of employee motivation. The research seeks to determine the effect of performance appraisal technique on employee motivation. It seeksto conduct a case study on the Akwaibom state civil service to determine the effect of performance appraisal technique on employee motivation.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The long term success of an organization is related to its ability to measure how well its employees perform within a predetermined period, and how effectively, it uses that information to ensure that performance meets set standards, and also improves over time (Fisher, Schoenfeldt and Shaw, 2003).

Grote (2000) refers to this process as performance management, and describes it as a handy umbrella term for all organizational activities involved in managing people on the job. Performance management helps to direct and motivate employees to maximize their efforts on behalf of the organisation;it is thus an essential instrument for an organization to meet its strategic objectives (Werner, Schuler, and Jackson, 2012).

Performance appraisal (PA) is that part of the performance management process in which an employee’s contribution to the organization, during a specific period is assessed.

According to Mullins (2002), the underlying objective of PA, is to improve the performance of the individual employee, thereby leading to improvement in the performance of the organization as a whole. PA is one of the ranges of tools that can be used to manage performance effectively, in that it provides data which feeds into other elements of the performance management process.

As noted by Mathis and Jackson (2008), a PA system is often the link between additional pay and rewards that employees receive, and their job performance.

 PA can improve motivation and performance, but if used inappropriately, it can have disastrous effects (Fisher et al, 2003). For PA to be effective, it must of necessity be anchored on the performance criteria that have been outlined for the job. Riggio (2003) describes performance criteria as the means for determining successful or unsuccessful job performance. They are one of the products of a detailed job analysis. Performance criteria spell out the specific elements of a job and make it easier to develop the means of assessing levels of successful or unsuccessful job performance. It can thus be inferred that an appraisal system not hinged on this all important criteria, can neither be appropriate nor fair, particularly to the employee, whose performance is being evaluated. In fact, some key points in the arguments of those opposed to performance appraisal is that, most of the time, wrong things are rated and the wrong methods used (Deming, 1986; Gilliland and Langdon, 1998).

Situations arise whereby only some selected job elements are evaluated or given preference or higher points above other job elements in which the employee was equally engaged during the review period. This calls to

question the fairness of the appraisal system and its ability to effectively produce the desired outcomes. Mickerney (1995) underscored the intricacy of PA by describing it as a difficult and complex activity which is often not performed well by many organizations. The end result of this is that it produces exactly the opposite effect to those intended (Coleman, 1995).