s" of PA are significant in the design of an effective PA system and related processes and in ensuring the employees are full contributors to the PA, the purpose of the present report is to examine one aspect of this larger issue. Specifically, this report will, by drawing upon the literature, identify why, theoretically, employees should be integral participants in modifying an existing PA system to better meet the needs of the organization and its varied stakeholders. Both theory and practice, in the form of case studies or examples, will be discussed to highlight the necessity of employee involvement in modifying PA systems.
Bretz, Milkovich, and Read (1992) examined the bulk of literature regarding performance appraisal and management as of the early 1990s, and concluded that at that time, most of the empirical research being conducted was on such issues as rater behavior and attitude, gender differentials in PA strategies, psychometric issues, rating errors and accuracy, and types of PA systems that were (and were not) efficacious. When employees were being examined in the literature, it was with respect to their role as relatively passive participants in (or recipients of) the PA process. Absent from the literature was any in-depth analysis of how employees could contribute to the evaluation, design or modification of the PA system. Over time, however, scholars in the field and PA professionals alike have come to the realization that employees represent a largely untapped source of valuable input into each of these aspects of PA system management.
Some time ago, F. Edwards Deming argued that the performance appraisal systems of American industry were a root cause of its underlying quality problems (Ghorpade, et al, 1995). He offered three criticisms of PA systems:
1. Current PA systems are unfair because they hold
workers responsible for errors that may be the result of
2. Current PA systems and practices...