Are performance appraisals an integral part of an organization’s very existence, or are they nothing more than an expensive and time-consuming burden that all business’ of today must put up with in order to function properly in the corporate world? According to Heathfield, “Second only to firing an employee, managers cite performance appraisals as the task they dislike the most” (2000, p. 1). Performance appraisals play a huge role in today’s organizations whether it is a Texaco service station or a multi-billion dollar corporation such as Microsoft. The question is however, are they effective? Do we get what we need from the

Another problem I see with the traditional performance appraisal system is the potential for a reduction in work related productivity. If an employee is not particularly pleased with a review session that he or she has just been witness to, then I could definitely see where their productivity would decrease. Their mind isn’t where it should be and therefore, performance suffers. According to Nikols, “A period of reduced contribution can last for about three months” (1997, p. 5). Although the numbers may or may not be entirely accurate, even at a ten percent decreases in normal output from every disgruntled employee, the dollars lost would still prove to be astronomical.

Another factor to consider is “the classic performance appraisal system emphasizes individual or task-level performance instead of team or process performance” (Nikols, 1997, p. 6). Furthermore, “Appraising individual performance can be a divisive factor in an environment where genuine teamwork is required (Nikols, 1997, p. 6). As silly as it may sound, I would want to be the last person out to the flight line, when the airman who was loading nuclear warheads found out he was receiving a 4 on his or her epr. This airman had his heart set on making E-5 and being promoted on his first attempt only to find out that his goals have all but diminished due to an undesirable performance appraisal. Now I don’t know about you, but I believe that loading bombs would definitely require teamwork and everybody to “have their head in the game,” and this situation clearly does not indicate those parameters are being met. It can happen.

The bottom line is this. In today’s business world, we must have a specific method of evaluating our personnel. There are many factors that go into developing a consistent and manageable performance appraisal. I doubt seriously that it will ever be a perfect system. The fact is, we are all human and the element of human error cannot be discounted or forgotten simply because we want the system that we have in place to work flawlessly. There are many benefits related to having a performance appraisal system like employee feedback and one-on-one discussions where organizational objectives can be conveyed clearly.

Performance appraisals “typically have two components: text, and a number. The number is usually the basis for determining the employees merit increase” (Nikols, 1997, p. 4). The problem is, the size of the pay raise is usually modest at best and offsets the cost of inflation, much as a cost of living increase would do. I don’t anticipate a great deal of incentive there. Nikols states, “The structure of the typical performance appraisal system makes managers who prepare appraisals the targets of efforts aimed at influencing, shaping and just plain manipulating their perceptions and the appraisals based on these perceptions” (1997, p. 4). How many times have we all seen this situation in action? I am in the military and we utilize this very type of performance appraisal system. Speaking from experience, I can attest that there are serious flaws associated with it. The results are not as severe for the military obviously, because pay increases are not solely the result of the performance appraisal, however in civilian sector positions, the same cannot be said. I can see an enormous potential for fraudulent appraisals or managerial manipulation in all different forms from all different levels. In fact, according to Encina, “Raters may also be influenced by an employee’s personal attributes such as national origin, level of education, union membership, philosophy, age, race, gender or even physical attractiveness” (2000, p. 8). I can see, based on that statement alone, how organizations would need to be conducting themselves in accordance with

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