Performance Appraisal and Incentive Systems for Business Success - Research Paper Example

Performance Appraisal Name: Tutor: Course: Date: 1. Gender of Respondents Table 1: Gender of respondents Male Female Gender 60 60 Figure 1: Gender of respondents The study had equal number of males and females indicating that the perceptions and attitudes deducted in the questions to follow reflect views of a well represented population. 2. Age of Respondents Table 2: Age of Respondents Years 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 Over 50 Count 9 48 34 19 5 3 2 Figure 2: Age of the respondents Majority of the respondents were aged between 25 and 29 years at 40 percent of the sample population. It was followed by respondents aged between 30 and 34 years. The lowest proportion of respondents was aged above 50 years. Many people aged 25 and 29 years are working, undergoing training and desire to gain promotion and rewards at the workplace. They are also productive and motivated to achieve their best. 3. Nationality Table 3: Nationality of respondents UAE Nationals Other Arab US,UK, European & NZ Indian & Asian Nationality 42 58 10 10 Figure 3: Nationality of respondents More than 70 percent of the respondents were from the Middle East or Arab nations (35 percent from United Arab Emirates and 49 percent from other Arab countries). A few others were from Europe, America and Asia. 4. Employer Table 4: Employer of respondents Government Semi-government Private Organization Employer 45 27 48 Figure 4: Employer of respondents More than half of the respondents worked in government and semi-government organization (72 respondents) while the others worked in private organizations. This means that both government and private organizations are employers of choice for many people in the UAE and other Arab countries. 5. Employment Industry Table 5: Employment Industry of respondents Oil & Gas Hospitality Banking Health Education Construction Others Employer 21 33 19 6 11 8 22 Figure 5: Employment industry of respondents About 28 percent of the respondents worked in the hospitality industry followed by those in oil and gas (17 percent). This was closely followed by banking (16 percent) and education at 9 percent. Banking and hospitality are service industries that require greater input from employees to ensure customer satisfaction. They also require motivated and productive employees who can not only satisfy but astonish customers and management. Many people prefer working in the service industry such as hotels and banks owing to increased remuneration, better working environment, increased opportunities for training, rewards and career development (Sandler & Keefe, 2003). 6. Organizational Size Table 6: Size of employer’s organization   Less than 250 employees More than 250 employees Organization Size 61 59 Figure 6: Size of employer’s organization Organizations of respondents with less than 250 employees were slightly higher (51 percent) while those with more than 250 employees were at 49 percent. Organizations with high number of employees tend to have complex management structures and entrenched values, beliefs and attitudes. The levels of management are also many involving many middle level managers in the functional structure but maximizes on teamwork to achieve its goals and objectives. The organization may also experience high turnover due to poor remuneration, inability to recognize talent, personal contribution to the organization and biased appraisal systems (Bhattacharyya, 2009). 7. Duration in current role Table 7: Duration in current role  Years 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 Over 21 Duration in Current Role 57 51 10 1 1 Figure 7: Duration in the current role More than 90 percent of the respondents had occupied their current roles for less than 10 years with the majority 47 percent of it being in the roles for less than 5 years. This shows that the level of experience is still low and many are learning through in-the-job training and undertaking professional courses. The organization also uses a lot of resources in employee training and learning to ensure adherence to the systems, drive organizational goals and objectives and to steer its mission and vision. The organization will still need to be closer in monitoring their employees to ascertain good performance and productivity. 8. Duration in Employment Table 8: Duration in employment of respondents  Years 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 Over 21 Duration in Employment 61 42 14 1 2 Figure 8: Duration in employment of respondents As mentioned in the duration of the current role of employees above, the pattern in their year in the current role also resemble the entire time they have spent in employment. More than 50 percent of the respondents have worked for less than 10 years. This indicates that many respondents may not have switched jobs and the ones they are currently holding are their first roles in their employment life. Employers have to spend more on training, motivation, teamwork and remuneration to maintain them in their current roles. 9. Percentage time spent on IT (Computer and Internet) Table 9: Percentage time spent on IT   Less than 50% 51-79% More than 80% % Time spent of IT 4 19 97 Figure 9: Percentage time spend on IT About 81 percent of the respondents spend more than 80 percent of their time on computer and the internet. This could mean greater access to information necessary for organizational growth since informed employees are more efficient and productive. The use of emails will ease and reduce the cost of communication in the organization as well as increased the frequency and response time for interdepartmental and line communication. However, the access to internet and social media all the time may reduce the productivity of employees as many spend their employers’ time surfing the internet, sharing on Facebook or following twitter (Kessler, 2003). 10. Justice and Fairness i) Distributive Justice Table 10 (i): Respondent opinions on Distributive Justice   Fair Work Schedule Fair Pay Fair Workload Fair Rewards Fair Job Responsibility Average 4.72 4.64 4.72 4.63 4.74 Figure 10 (i): Respondent opinion of distributive justice A greater proportion of respondents were of the opinion that their jobs exhibited fairness on their job responsibilities, workloads and work schedule. The count on rewards and pay were lower (less than 4.65) compared to responsibility, workload and work schedule (over 4.7). ii) Procedural Justice Table 10 (ii): Respondent opinion on Procedural Justice   Fair Managerial Job Decisions Fair Managerial Employee Concerns Managerial Clarification of decisions Consistent Job Decisions on all areas Negotiations and Appeals on Job decisions Average 4.66 4.58 4.68 4.7 4.75 Figure 10 (ii): Respondent opinion on Procedural Justice Ability to negotiate and appeal for job decisions made by the manager was strongly agreed at mean 4.75 followed by the consistency of job decisions in all areas of the organization at mean 4.7. Fairness by the manager to hear and address concerns before making decisions had the lowest mean at 4.57. This indicates that employees value freedom of expression to negotiate and appeal to managerial decisions they feel are oppressive or not consistent with organizational values and beliefs. iii) Interactional Justice Table 10 (iii): Respondent opinions on interactional justice   Kindness & Consideration Respect & Dignity Sensitivity to Personal Needs Truthful Concern on Employee Rights Explains Implications of Decisions Adequate Justification on Decision Reasonable Explanations Clear Explanation of Job decisions Average 4.67 4.58 4.74 4.73 4.77 4.78 4.76 4.63 4.73 Figure 10 (iii): Respondent opinion on interactional justice Issues that respondents (mean above 4.75) highly valued were those mainly addressed to the departmental managers. They felt that managers should explains the implications of the decisions they make, provide adequate justification for them and show greater concern on the rights of employees. Table 10 (iv): Justice and Fairness   Distributive Justice Procedural Justice Interactional Justice Average 4.69 4.67 4.71 Figure 10 (iv): Respondent opinion on justice and fairness Overall, the respondents agreed more on interactional justice (mean 4.71) and less on procedural justice (mean 4.67). It shows that employees took decisions made by managers seriously and would like to be given an opportunity to explain how the said decisions would affect their relationships with management, performance and satisfaction. The managerial decisions are seen in how it affects their workloads, responsibilities and work schedules. This means that employees respond to issues they feel affects them personally and influences their overall performance and relationship at the workplace. 11. Level of Satisfaction Table 11: Respondent opinion on the level of satisfaction   Performance Appraisal System Recent Appraisal Performance Supervisor Average 4.68 4.76 4.66 Figure 11: Respondent opinion on the level of satisfaction Many respondents strongly agreed with the recent performance appraisals (mean 4.76) with higher confidence with the performance appraisal system used (mean 4.68) and not the supervisor. It implies that employees were keen or looking forward to a fair appraisal based on a fair system. Greater confidence on a recently concluded performance appraisal means that employees perceive the organization as being fair and just (Kessler, 2003). 12. Affective commitment to department Table 12: Respondent opinion on affective commitment to department   Career Loyalty Personal connection Pride Emotional Attachment Sense of Belonging Strong ties Average 4.82 4.72 4.79 4.81 4.78 4.81 Figure 12: Respondent opinion on affective commitment to department From the graph above, career loyalty had a mean of 4.82 which was the highest followed by emotional attachment and strong bonds (mean of 4.81). This indicates that employees in the department valued a long term career development in the department which creates strong ties and emotional attachment. 13. Organizational Citizenship Behavior Table 13: Respondent opinion of organizational citizenship behavior Item Average Count Help to Absentees 4.91 Lessen workload of others 4.91 Helping hand to supervisor 4.96 Listening to co-workers 4.74 Guiding new employees 4.87 Being interested in other employees 4.78 Channel information to others 4.91 Above average work attendance 4.83 Advance Notification on Absenteeism 4.87 Protection and conservation of organizational property 4.91 Avoid underserved work breaks 4.95 Control phone conversations at work 5.04 Do not complain on trivial work issues 4.83 Figure 13: Respondent opinion on organizational citizen behavior Mostly respondents strongly agreed that there was need to control phone conversations at the place of work (mean 5.04) and give a helping hand to the supervisor without being told to do so (mean 4.97). However, they relatively disagreed on the aspect of listening to fellow co-workers and showing interest in them. 14. Intentions to Turnover Table 14: Respondent opinion on intentions to turnover Thoughts of Leaving current employer Job search in another organization Likelihood of leaving the organization the next year Likelihood of leaving UAE in 5 Years Average 4.72 4.71 4.7 4.27 Figure 14: Respondent opinion on intentions to turnover Many respondents strongly agreed that they were planning to leave their current employer (mean 4.71), or were engaged in job search with other organization (mean 4.7) and to exit the organization in some few months time (4.7). This indicates that the employees were dissatisfied of their current jobs and hence looked forward to leaving the organization in search of better ones. Overall, the affective commitment, organizational citizenship behavior and intentions to turnover can be summarized in the table and graph below; Affective Commitment to department Organizational Citizenship Behavior Intentions to Turnover Average 4.79 4.88 4.59 Figure 14 (a): Respondent summary on long-term organizational success From the graph above, respondents strongly agreed to organizational citizenship behavior and affective commitment to the department. However, the intentions to turnover carried lesser weight compared to the former two parameters. Conclusion The results have shown a proportionate representation of respondents mainly from Arabian nations working in the service industries. Many respondents are technology savvy despite having spent less than 5 years in current roles and employment. However, they are more focused on seeking justice and fairness on their personal issues but not the plight of others. They need to help others realize their potential, work as team to achieve synergy and respect the dignity of others (Kessler, 2003). Employees (respondents) have also expressed intentions to leave the organization which raises questions on their level of satisfaction. To lower their intentions to leave, they should see fairness and justice done during appraisal sessions by an impartial manager. Fortunately, employees have shown greater affective commitment to department which positively influences organizational citizenship behavior (Bhattacharyya, 2009). This can help reduce on the intentions to turnover by increasing personal connection to work and sense of belonging to the organization. References Bhattacharyya, D. (2009). Performance Management Systems and Strategies. Pearson Education India. Kessler, H. (2003). Motivate and Reward: Performance Appraisal and Incentive Systems for Business Success. Palgrave Macmillan. Sandler, C. & Keefe, J. (2003). Performance Appraisal Phrase Book: The Best Words, phrases, and Techniques for Performance Reviews. Adams Media. Read More