Dissertation On Appraisals - Essay Example

From the individual's point of view, feedback satisfies a need for information about the extent to which personal goals are met (Nadler, 1977), as well as a need for social comparison information about one's relative performance (Festinger, 1954, 117-40). Second, feedback potentially can influence future performance (Ilgen et al., 1979; Kluger and DeNisi, 1996, 254-84). Third, it is believed to play a significant role in the development of job and organizational attitudes (Ilgen et al., 1981; Taylor et al.

, 1984, 81-124). Thus, feedback is not only important to individuals but also to organizations because of its potential influence on employee performance and a variety of attitudes and behaviors of interest to organizations. Whether these benefits actually accrue may well depend on how feedback recipients react to the feedback. Indeed, reactions to feedback are presumed to indicate overall system viability (Bernardin and Beatty, 1984; Cardy and Dobbins, 1994; Carroll and Schneier, 1982) and to influence future job performance (Kluger and DeNisi, 1996), as well as job and organizational attitudes (Taylor et al., 1984). .

Given this apparent significance of studying reactions, many researchers have bemoaned the relative lack of research on employees' reactions to appraisals (Banks and Murphy, 1985, 335-45; Bernardin and Villanova, 1986), so much so that, Murphy and Cleveland (1995: 310) referred to reaction criteria as the "neglected criteria" of performance appraisal research.Satisfaction with appraisal feedback is one of the most consequential of the reactions to appraisal feedback (Dorfman et al., 1986, 571-98; Giles and Mossholder, 1990, 371-77; Keeping and Levy, 2000, 708-23).

For instance, several researchers (Giles and Mossholder, 1990; Organ, 1988) have asserted that using satisfaction as a measure of employees' reactions affords a broader indicator of reactions to appraisal feedback than more specific cognitively oriented criteria. In fact, cognitively oriented measures, such as perceived utility and perceived accuracy, are positively related to satisfaction with appraisal feedback (Keeping and Levy, 2000). In addition, because appraisals form the basis of several important decisions, satisfaction with feedback signifies recognition, status, and future prospects within the organization.

Thus, more favorable attitudes about reward contingencies develop when satisfaction with feedback is high than when it is low. These various psychological implications of satisfaction with feedback make it a significant determinant of future behavior and job and organizational attitudes (Taylor et al., 1984).In summary, the central role of feedback to the appraisal process and the importance of examining ratees' satisfaction with appraisal feedback are widely acknowledged (Ilgen et al., 1979; Keeping and Levy, 2000; Murphy and Cleveland, 1995).

Given this, the relative lack of research on