Self-appraisal versus traditional performance appraisal: Perceptions of procedural justice
Description
Procedural justice was operationalized through the use of self-appraisal (SA). The effects of SA on employees' attitudes toward the organization and behavior in the organization were examined Data for this study were gathered from employees of the retail outlets of Goodwill Industries in New Orleans. Pre-appraisal data included employees' current attitudes toward the organization (job satisfaction, perceptions of voice in and commitment to the organization, and trust in supervisor) and their supervisors' rating of their OCB. Each retail outlet was randomly assigned a condition--self-appraisal or traditional appraisal (TA.) Each store manager participated in performance appraisal training and the appraisals were conducted shortly thereafter. Immediately following the appraisal session employees were administered a questionnaire to assess their experience in the appraisal session. Twelve to fifteen weeks following the administration of the pre-appraisal attitude and behaviors surveys, those surveys were readministered as post-appraisal measures. All of the instruments used were previously developed and validated. The results were analyzed using analysis of variance, correlation and regression Self-appraising employees reported greater levels of contribution, discussion, participation and influence in the appraisal session than did TA employees. They left the meeting with greater understanding of the issues discussed, more accepting of their work goals, feeling more respected and that they had received more feedback. Subordinates who self-appraised also reported that the appraisal session was fairer than subordinates who participated in traditional appraisal These experiential differences, did not, however help the self-appraising subjects to accept the outcome of the performance appraisal (a small pay raise) more easily; nor were self-appraising subjects' attitudes toward the organization or their OCB changed significantly. Exploratory analysis revealed that the post-appraisal measures were more strongly related to perceptions of fairness of the pay raise than they were to the activities associated with the appraisal process. A unique finding was, for subjects in the traditional appraisal group, only those who reported a good typical relationship with the supervisor reported the appraisal session as fair, but in the self-appraisal condition, subjects reported the appraisal as fair regardless of the type of relationship they held with their supervisor