A STUDY ON IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROGRAM ON EMPLOYEES IN SURGICAL EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTORS IN MADURAI[/i][/b] [/b]
[/b]
ABSTRACT[/b]: Performance appraisal system has been viewed by academics and human resource practitioners as an effective tool for human resource management. Yet effective performance appraisal remains a practical challenge to managers and employees because of cognitive, motivational and behavioral factors. A review studies also showed that employees in viewed performance appraisal program as discriminatory, punitive and judgmental where bias and cronyism replaced objectivity. A survey questionnaire was administered among both managers and employees. Data gathered were analyzed quantitatively using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. It was revealed that employee participation in the appraisal process was generally high and this increased satisfaction and fairness which consequently enhanced employee motivation to perform. It was also revealed that manager-employees interaction was very cordial and this boosted employees motivation and majority of employees preferred appraisal to be used for satisfying training and development needs of employees. Some recommendations were made.
KEYWORDS: Performance appraisal, Motivation, Employee involvement.
INTRODUCTION[/b]:
Research reports indicate that there is widespread use of performance appraisal in work organizations all over the tamilnadu. This widespread use of performance appraisal system can be attributed to human resource specialists, academics and consultants who proclaim that performance appraisal is a critically needed tool for effective human resource management.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
In many organizations, performance appraisal systems remain one of the great paradoxes of effective human resource management. A recent study in surgical equipment distributors in Madurai also reported that employees viewed performance appraisal as discriminatory. This makes one question the level of employee involvement in the appraisal planning in Madurai’s equipment distributors. And would employee involvement in the appraisal planning lead to employee motivation to perform? It is in the light of the above questions that the study was set on the role of employee participation in appraisal planning on employee motivation.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
The study sought to find out the relationship between manager performance appraisal and employee motivation in surgical equipment distributors. Specifically, the study found out the methods of appraisal used by the level of employee involvement in the appraisal process. The study also examined the effect of employee involvement and the manager relationship in the appraisal process.
HYPOTHESIS TESTING
H0: Employee participation in setting job objectives is not a function of motivation to perform. H1: Employee participation in setting job objectives is a function of motivation to perform. H0: Self-evaluation and employee perception of fair appraisal are not related. H1: Self-evaluation is a function of employee perception of fair appraisal. H0: There is no relationship between employee participation in performance appraisal review interview and employee satisfaction with appraisal feedback. H1: There is positive relationship between employee participation in performance appraisal review interview and employee satisfaction with appraisal feedback.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Literature on the link between performance appraisal and employee motivation in surgical distributors is rare. As such literature review on appraisal and its effects on motivation in this study was difficult and sometimes impossible to obtain. Performance appraisal is known to have a dual capacity of motivating and de-motivating employees based on how they are designed and implemented. The findings of the study would be useful to managers and supervisors of institutions and organizations where appraisals form part of organizational life. This was because the findings could help them avoid errors in the process which had the capacity to de-motivate their employees. Thus, the findings of the study would fill the gap created by the unavailability of literature on performance appraisal and provide organizations with knowledge on appropriate approaches of appraisal which yield effective employee motivation.
LITERATURE REVIEW:
Performance appraisal is “the evaluation of an individuals work performance in order to arrive at objective personnel decisions”. It is also the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. Thus, performance appraisal is a planned interaction between employees and their supervisors during which the former examine the performance of the latter to identify strengths and weaknesses with the view to improving future performance. Workers are motivated when they discover that they are treated fairly in compensation, promotion and that there is transparency in their evaluations. Workers reduce their efforts if they feel that they are treated inequitably indicates that employees will be motivated to exert high level of effort when they believe that their efforts will lead to higher performance , higher performance will lead to rewards and rewards are valuable to them .This effort will lead to good performance appraisal and followed by organization rewards such as bonus, salary increment or promotion which later satisfy personal goals. Goal-setting theory states that motivation and performance are higher when individuals are giving specific goals, when goals are difficult but accepted and when there is feedback on performance. Motivation and performance will improve if people have challenging but agreed goals and receive feedback . There are numerous methods for measuring employees? performance but some of these methods are not suitable in some cases. Effective appraisal system should address clarity, openness and fairness, recognize productivity through rewards and be cognizant of appraiser leadership qualities . Denominate three approaches to performance appraisal: absolute standards, relative standards and management by objectives. The absolute standards are appraisal methods through which employees? performances are compared to a standard and their evaluation is independent of any other employee in a work group. Relative standards are appraisal methods where performances of individuals are compared against other individuals. Management by objectives are where employees are evaluated on how well they accomplished a specific set of objectives that have been determined to be critical in the successful completion of their job. It stated that there was correlation between self-evaluation and employee perception of fairness in the appraisal process also the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording information about the relative worth of an employee . Thus, performance appraisal is a planned interaction between employees and their supervisors during which the former examine the performance of the latter to identify the Research on performance appraisal has done little to improve its usefulness as a managerial decision-making tool . Employees are also permitted to challenge this assessment by conducting and presenting a self-appraisal. Finally, judgment based on evidence requires the organization and its agents to apply performance standards consistently across employees, without yielding to external pressure, corruption, or personal prejudice. Employees' reactions to the fairness and accuracy of the appraisal system may affect their motivation to correct weak performance or develop unused potential. Similarly, managers' reactions to performance appraisals are a necessary, if not sufficient condition to collect the relatively unbiased performance information needed for reward allocation or legal documentation. Although often ignored, employees' and managers' reactions to appraisal systems are essential to successfully attaining at least three purposes of appraisals - employee development, reward allocation, and legal documentation . Research has shown that managers frequently distort appraisal results to further their documentation . Research has shown that managers frequently distort appraisal results to further their own self-interests. Developmental functions, on the other hand, include the identification of individual training needs, providing performance feedback, determining transfers and assignments, and the identification of individual strengths and weaknesses. These are proposed to encompass within-person decisions. Intrinsically motivated employees work for the inherent satisfaction of the labour . whereas extrinsically motivated employees engage in the work in order to obtain some goal apart from the argued that strong intrinsic motivation occurs when three psychological states are created: experienced meaningfulness of the work, experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work, and knowledge of the actual results of the work activities. Organizations should, therefore, restructure work to induce intrinsic motivation. Greater skill variety, task identity, and task significance increase the experienced meaningfulness of the work, autonomy raises experienced responsibility, and feedback provides knowledge of results . Motivation is an important issue in any organization because it is involved in energizing or initiating human behaviour, directing and channeling that behaviour and sustaining and maintaining it argues that in order to motivate employees through performance appraisal, the system should be used for reward and recognition. There is no doubt, however, that extrinsic incentives can boost performance cautions that these systems can fail for a number of reasons including if pay is not related to performance, if ratings are seen to be biased, if rewards are not viewed as rewarding, if there is more emphasis on satisfaction with pay than performance and if there is a low level of trust and openness about the merit conducted surveys and found that employees sought achievement, responsibility and growth as the highest priority for incentives in their work. A reward and recognition system that addresses these areas should produce the desired outcome. The employer chooses an appraisal approach or a mix of approaches to appraise the performance of employees. The employee is either motivated or de-motivated to perform depending on how the appraisal was administered. Whether employees are motivated or de-motivated, it affects their level of performance which in turn affects sales. The employer receives output as feedback on the effectiveness or otherwise of the appraisal proce The employer chooses an appraisal approach or a mix of approaches to appraise the performance of employees. The employee is either motivated or de-motivated to perform depending on how the appraisal was administered. Whether employees are motivated or de-motivated, it affects their level of performance which in turn affects sales. The employer receives output as feedback on the effectiveness or otherwise of the appraisal process.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:
The employer chooses an appraisal approach or a mix of depending on how the appraisal was administered. Whether employees are motivated or de-motivated, it affects their level of performance which in turn affects output . The employer receives this output as feedback on the effectiveness or otherwise of the appraisal process.
RESEARCH METHODS
RESEARCH DESIGN:
The study was exploratory research designed to investigate the use of performance appraisal in employee motivation in surgical equipment distributors. The strategy employed was the social survey. Questionnaires were used as the main tool for primary data collection. Data collected were analyzed quantitatively using both descriptive and inferential statistics.
SAMPLING PROCEDURE:
The target population for the study comprised all employees of the
distributors in Madurai. However, employees of were chosen in the proximity and convenience to represent the larger population of employees in all registered in the Madurai for the study answered by most respondents during the pre-test of the questionnaires indicating that they would be treated likewise if repeated in the final questionnaire.
SAMPLE SELECTION:
The total employees in the selected institutions were 70 were supervisory staff and 130 were subordinates. For the managerial staff, 12 respondents were purposively selected because of their peculiar role in appraising the perfor