Performance appraisal and management: The developing research agenda

• Published in: Journal of occupational and organizational psychology Vol. 74; no. 4; pp. 473 - 487
• Main Author: Fletcher, Clive
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2001; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; British Psychological Society
• Subjects: Appraisal; Cultural differences; Employees; Feedback; Human resource management; Human resources; Industrial psychology; Job performance; Measurement; New technology; Occupational psychology; Organizations; Performance appraisal; Performance management; Personality; Project evaluation; Psychological aspects; Psychological research; Psychology; Quantitative psychology; Ratings & rankings; Self awareness; Studies; Trends; Western countries; United States; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 0963-1798; 2044-8325
• DOI: 10.1348/096317901167488

Performance appraisal has widened as a concept and as a set of practices and in the form of performance management has become part of a more strategic approach to integrating HR activities and business policies. As a result of this, the research on the subject has moved beyond the limited confines of measurement issues and accuracy of performance ratings and has begun to focus more of social and motivational aspects of appraisal. This article identifies and discusses a number of themes and trends that together make up the developing research agenda for this field. It breaks these down in terms of the nature of appraisal and the context in which it operates. The former is considered in terms of contemporary thinking on the content of appraisal (contextual performance, goal orientation and self awareness) and the process of appraisal (appraiser‐appraisee interaction, and multi‐source feedback). The discussion of the context of appraisal concentrates on cultural differences and the impact of new technology. In reviewing these emerging areas of research, the article seeks to explore some of the implications for appraisal practice at both organizational and individual levels.