Critical Appriasal of Appraisind System Across Nigeria Organisations

Performance appraisal systems are designed to serve the company's and employee's interests. They are used to inventory the abilities and resources of employees and to let an employee know where he stands so that he will be stimulated to improve his performance. Employee motivation can be enhanced and performance improved with the monitoring of employees' performance level and the use of feedback to advise those employees about their effectiveness. Performance feedback exchanges can be ongoing and informal, on a day-to-day coaching basis or on a formal basis, annually or biannually. "The ultimate--purpose of performance evaluation is to help create an atmosphere in the organization that is characterized, in the words of David McCord Wright, by 'adventurism, in which people are energetic, creative-minded, ‘enjoy the activities of the organization for their own sakes, and is characterized also by high ethical standards, by high morale and pride in the organization" (Lopez, 1968, p. 25). Many believe that the primary purpose of employee performance evaluation is motivating the employee to high standards of job performance. The key to this is the integration of organizational and individual goals. This necessitates bottom-up planning and top-down planning. Communication is the basis for the downward process. The upward process involves the employee informing management of his needs, aspirations and goals. Steel magnate Charles M. Schwab said years ago, “I have yet to find the man … who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.”

Few would dispute the truth of that statement. Yet performance appraisals, as many companies conduct them today, contribute to creating a companywide spirit of criticism that bars the way to organizational excellence.

This need not be the case. Appraisals conducted in an atmosphere of constructive dialogue can be non-threatening to managers and their subordinates alike....