The Role of Employee Performance Appraisal in Enhancing Organizational Productivity: A Case Study of Unilever Plc
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The purpose of writing this project is to investigate how performance appraisal can enhance increased productivity in Unilever Plc. The study will among other things try:
- To find out the various performance appraisal techniques used.
- To examine the implications of performance and productivity.
- To provide bases for rewarding employees concerning their organizational contribution.
- To identify some common appraisal problems of employees and how proper appraisal can enhance increased productivity.
- To make some recommendations to management
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The evolution of performance Appraisal can be traced back to the reign of second caliph of Islam, Hazrat Umar (634- 644 A.D /13-23 AH) who laid the foundations of many State institutions and enunciated several administrative laws that are being followed and adopted by many nations of the world till today as a role model of true administration. Hazrat Umar, before appointing an officer for any duty, would thoroughly investigate his potentials and capabilities for the assignment. Prime importance would be given to the honesty and integrity of the officer/ official. But, when an officer of any status, was found to have demonstrated any kind of negligence or dereliction from his duty, or if his unsuitability for the job in question would come to light, no expediency could forestall / prevent his removal from the post assigned to him. Optimum organizational performance is dependent upon the performance of the individuals that make up the organization. When clear and reasonable performance appraisal metrics, standards and practices are used to develop goals and provide relevant feedback, it can be useful both for the individual being evaluated and for the organization. Poorly executed performance appraisals, however, can be detrimental to organizational performance. Successful performance appraisals are contingent upon employees and managers working together (Larson, 1989). Weiss, (2001) indicated that to be productive, the performance appraisal process must contain general three steps: evaluation and job analysis, appraisal interview, and post-appraisal interview. During the first step, both the appraiser and the appraise should prepare for the interview by considering job performance, job responsibilities, and employee career goals, goals for improving performance, and problems and concerns about the job. Sometimes both the appraiser and the appraisee will fill out forms with questions addressing the previously mentioned topics. Next, managers and employees meet to discuss what they have prepared and to establish goals for the period before the next performance appraisal. It is important that the appraisal interview be an exchange, not a speech. Both parties must be able to share their perceptions of the appraisee’s performance. The third step, the post-appraisal interview, gives managers the opportunity to discuss salaries and promotions with employees. By not addressing this issue during the appraisal interview, both managers and employees can focus on performance and goal setting, instead of money. The post-appraisal meeting also can serve as a time for reiterating employee goals. After appraising the performance of employees, an organization must evaluate the system itself to determine if it is helping to achieve designated organizational objectives (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Performance appraisal can be defined as a periodic evaluation of the output of an individual measured against certain expectations (Yong, 1996). The process involves observing and evaluating staff members’ performance in the workplace with relation to pre-set standards. Conventional approaches to performance appraisal treated it as a measurement exercise, while more contemporary approaches were more concerned with information processing within the performance appraisal decision-making process. In this context, Armstrong and Baron (1998) stress the importance of looking at performance appraisal as a participative process (coaching and counseling), rather than a judgmental review. Performance appraisal is done for various purposes, such as for professional and career development, accountability check, to be linked with recognition and compensation, references to disciplinary procedure and most commonly, is as a mechanism to determine salary increment and promotion exercise (Abdul, 1999). Performance appraisal continues to be a subject of interest and importance to human resource specialists.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to the role of employee performance appraisal on organizational productivity
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on the role of employee performance appraisal on organizational productivity. 200 staff Unilever plc Lagos State was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the role of employee performance appraisal on organizational productivity
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of employee performance appraisal on organizational productivity
Summary
This study was on the role of employee performance appraisal on organizational productivity. Five objectives were raised which included :To find out the various performance appraisal techniques used, to examine the implications of performance and productivity, to provide bases for reward employees in relations to their contribution to the organization, to identify some common appraisal problems of employees and how proper appraisal can enhance increased productivity, to make some used recommendations to management. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of unilever plc, Lagos State. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up human resource managers, supervisors, production managers and stock controllers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
From the findings, the study concluded that organizations should appraise their employees often through utilized targets, accomplishments, organization goals, time management and efficiency for performance measure purposes as it would lead to increased in employee’s productivity. From the findings, the study concludes that organizations should establish and adopt performance appraisal systems to aid in providing opportunities to the management in identify staff training needs, help employees meet performance targets, offer poor performers are chance to improve, help employees on time management through planning and setting of deadlines, enable the managers to make informed decisions about promotions and assignments based on applicable facts, improve employee’s synergies. From the findings the study concluded that firms should use the behavioural performance appraisal system as it was statistically significant in influencing employee’s relationship through increased inter-personal relationships, fostered Integration and team work, reliability of the employees who may work without much supervision, adaptation of employees to changing environment and through individual staff development plan which would enable the staff to plan for their career development hence. The study concluded that using performance appraisals systems in order to identify employees rewards and provide an opportunity to set individual development plan, encourage the individual work planning and achievement of targets and making management make informed decisions in on how to promote their employees.
Recommendation
From the findings and conclusion, the study recommend that organizations should appraise their employees to enhance employees’ productivity The management should therefore utilized targets, accomplishments, organization goals, time management and efficiency for performance measure purposes and the appraisal process as this would lead to increased in employee’s productivity. From the findings, the study recommend that organizations should establish and adopt performance appraisal systems that would enable effectively appraisal of the employees and therefore providing opportunities to the management in identifying staff training needs, identify performance targets, improve employees performance and helping employees on time management through planning and setting of deadlines. From the findings the study recommends that firms should adopt behavioural performance appraisal system and management by objectives as the appraisal systems were found to be statistically significant in influencing employee’s relationship and improving employee’s productivity
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