e validity and effectiveness of personnel performance evaluation. The participating organization in the proposed research study will be the Department of Social Services of the City of New York.
Performance evaluation is among the most important of all organizational human resource activities Performance evaluations "represent critical decisions that are key influences on a variety of subsequent human resources actions and outcomes."
Personnel turnover is one factor that leads to sub standard performance, and it is one of the most costly problems that afflict organizations. The costs of personnel turnover are not limited to those incurred directly in relation to those employees leaving the organization, such as the loss of productive workers, lost training costs, the necessity to train replacements, and so forth. Personnel turnover also exacts organizational costs through the effects it has on those employees who remain with the organization. Ineffective performance evaluation is a contributing factor to high levels of personnel turnover.
Performance appraisals build a history of an individual's life within an organization. This history, in most instances, follows an individual throughout her or his career. The validity of performance evaluations has been challenged in recent years, and some organizations have discontinued their use. Most organizations, however, regard performance evaluations as a valuable tool; therefore, most organizations, rather than discontinuing the use of performance evaluations, have attempted to improve them.
As important to an organization as the task of personnel performance evaluation or appraisal is, there are indications in the literature that a significant proportion of the supervisors, managers, and administrators are either ill prepared for this task, or that they are reluctant to perform the task in an effective manner. The literature indicates that two major factors may ...