A performance appraisal is one of the most complex, and controversial, human resource techniques. The participatory performance appraisal is an essential and proven attribute of an effective performance appraisal system. This article summarizes the conceptual foundation for participation including its intrinsic motivational value, the expansion of available information, and the opportunity to interject employee voice. The moderating role of goal setting and feedback in enhancing participation effectiveness is outlined. The article concludes with factors that attenuate the effectiveness of participation including lack of training, absence of rater accountability strategies, and organizational and supervisory resistance to honest subordinate feedback.

Performance appraisal is one of the most complex and controversial human resource techniques. Participatory performance appraisal is an essential and proven attribute of an effective performance appraisal system. This article summarizes the conceptual foundation for participation including its intrinsic motivational value, the expansion of available information, and the opportunity to interject employee voice. The moderating role of goal setting and feedback in enhancing participation effectiveness is outlined. The article concludes with factors that attenuate the effectiveness of participation including lack of training, absence of rater accountability strategies, and organizational and supervisory resistance to honest subordinate feedback.

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE RELATIONSHIP OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PARTICIPATION, GOAL SETTING, FEEDBACK (PGF) AND EMPLOYEE ACCEPTANCE ON KEY APPRAISAL RELATED OUTCOMES (RATER INTERVIEW EFFICACY, RATEE SATISFACTION, AND THE SYSTEM'S INFLUENCE ON EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY). THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT EMPLOYEE PGF EXERTS BOTH DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ON THE OUTCOME VARIABLES. APPRAISAL ACCEPTANCE IS A KEY INTERVENING VARIABLE IN THE RELATIONSHIP OF PGF AND APPRAISAL OUTCOMES. HIGH PGF RATERS CULTIVATE HIGHER LEVELS OF ACCEPTANCE, PERCEPTIONS OF RATER EFFICACY IN CONDUCTING THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEW AND FAVORABLE EFFECTS ON RATEE MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY. APPRAISAL ACCEPTANCE, IN TURN, IS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER LEVELS OF EMPLOYEE APPRAISAL SATISFACTION AND FAVORABLE OUTCOMES RELATED TO EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY. THE SAMPLE CONSISTS OF 191 MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES DRAWN FROM A SMALL SOUTHEASTERN CITY. THE ARTICLE CONCLUDES WITH A NUMBER OF SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH.

The purpose of this essay is to explore critical issues and emerging trends in performance appraisal, issues that are enduring and several “cutting edge” developments. A convenience sample of 18 personnel managers and supervisors served as a de-facto focus group to test whether issues in the literature are salient and relevant to practitioners and to provide specific examples that illustrate the range of opinions regarding the controversial areas. Areas discussed include the challenges posed by Total Quality Management, implementation problems relative to organizational commitment, rater training, performance documentation, multiple sources of appraisal information and the importance of systematic appraisal quality control and assessment, among others. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions for practice and research.

This article examines the correlates of perceived effective performance ap praisal systems with special emphasis on the role of perceived rater and ratee acceptance. The sample consists of 240 municipal government performance appraisal systems and is the first attempt to test the relationships using a large sample. This study is congruent with recent research that emphasizes the importance of process variables over technique and instrumentation. The results indicate that perceived rater and ratee performance appraisal system acceptance explains the greatest amount of the variance in perceived appraisal system effectiveness.