Employees’ Attitude and Implementation of Performance Appraisal System in the Ministry of Education in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Performance appraisal (PA) is a critical element in the performance management system and a key human resource management function which is used to track individual contribution and work performance against organizational goals and to identify individual strengths and opportunities for future improvements. However, in the Ministry of education, performance appraisal seems not to be effective mainly due to the perceptions the employees hold towards the implementation of performance appraisal that it is a bureaucratic process, with little relevance on improving performance and accountability, which consequently led to the less importance and emphasis attached to it. This study determined the effects of employee attitude on the implementation of performance appraisal system among the employees in the Ministry of Education in Nairobi City County, State Department of Early Learning and Basic Education. The study adopted the concurrent mixed methods design where quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed, simultaneously. The researcher used stratified sampling method to select the samples of the study by stratifying the staff into Education officers and Quality Assurance and Standards officers (QASOs). Semi-structured questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data from the respondents. The study recommends that "Appraisal training by MoE"; and "Perceived organization support by MoE"; are the main critical factors that need to be seriously addressed to improve employees' Attitude on the implementation of Performance Appraisal System. The anticipated key beneficiaries of the findings include human resources department of the Ministry of Education, the Public service management, other institutions and future researchers.