People Resourcing and Development Unit - Essay Example

PAs can be used for development with proper manager training and with employee involvement at each stage of the evaluation process. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Benefits of Performance Appraisals 1 3. PAs as control mechanism 1 4. Drawbacks of the feedback system 3 5. Multi-source approval 3 6. PA system can be used for development 4 7. Conclusion 4 References 5 1. Introduction Employee development is a key activity of human resource management and focuses on the process of developing people within organizations.

However, organizations oscillate between development and control – the two opposed sets of motivations. The delivery of effective people development process requires effective performance appraisal mechanisms. The traditional approach has been to achieve efficiency by imposing management control but over time it has been found that such an approach is counter-productive (Meyer 1991). In fact most researchers find that performance appraisals are disliked by both subordinate and managers alike.

For some the process can be unnerving and a frightening experience which can lead to tension between the supervisor and the subordinate (Schareder, Bectorn and Portis 2007). The motivation to control employees manifests in performance management and in performance-related-pay, believe Hendry et al (2006). Performance appraisals (PAs) are primarily meant for development but the system is misused because people are seen as ‘human resources’ rather than resourceful humans, argue Hendry et al.

According to Caulkin (2001, p.32) how organizations manage and develop people has a powerful effect on overall performance (cited in Torrington, Taylor and Hall, 2008). This paper will argue that performance appraisal as used by organizations is a means of controlling, not developing employees in modern work place. 2. Benefits of Performance Appraisals Performance appraisals had become institutionalized during the Industrial Revolution when it became necessary to monitor the organizational output (Kondrasuk 2012).

It is generally assumed that employees would not like to be monitored but assisted to achieve performance goals, because in the words of Grubb (2007) performance appraisals are meant to engage, align and coalesce individual and group effort towards continuous achievement. Appraisals help identify and correct disparities in performance. The main objective of PAs is to compare between the performance expected from the organization with the performance achieved by the individual (Giangreco, Carugati, Pilati and Sebestiano 2010).

PAs reduce employee uncertainty as communication occurs between the manager and the employee. PAs enhance motivation and performance while reducing role ambiguity (Pettijohn et al. 2001). Reduced role ambiguity results in commitment, satisfaction and reduced turnover. Davis and Landa (1999) link appraisals to succession planning, to compensation and promotion decisions. It also provides systematic judgment to the organization for salary increases, while making the employee aware of the needed changes in his attitude, behaviour or job knowledge (Obisi 2011).

However, all these benefits cannot be achieved if PAs are used as control mechanism. 3. PAs as control mechanism Performance appraisals conducted in the traditional manner have been found to be authoritarian (Meyer 1991). PAs inevitably highlight poor performance (Kondrasuk 2012) and