Perspectives on Enduring and Emerging Issues in Performance Appraisal

The purpose of this essay is to explore critical issues and emerging trends in performance appraisal, issues that are enduring and several “cutting edge” developments. A convenience sample of 18 personnel managers and supervisors served as a de-facto focus group to test whether issues in the literature are salient and relevant to practitioners and to provide specific examples that illustrate the range of opinions regarding the controversial areas. Areas discussed include the challenges posed by Total Quality Management, implementation problems relative to organizational commitment, rater training, performance documentation, multiple sources of appraisal information and the importance of systematic appraisal quality control and assessment, among others. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions for practice and research.