THE EFFECT OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ON EMPLOYEES’ PRODUCTIVITY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of Study

Performance appraisal is a tool for identification of deficiencies which point out the weaknesses of employees and spot the areas where development efforts are needed in the organization. Performance appraisal also plays a key role to measure the employee’s performance and help the organization to check the progress towards the desired goals and objectives (Ijbmr, 2012). Now organizations are using performance appraisal as a strategic approach by coordinating the human resource functions and business policies. They are focuses on it as it is a broad term that covering number of activities like examines employees, improve abilities, maintain performance and allocate rewards (Fakharyan, Jalilv and Dini, 2012). Performance appraisal help aligns individual goals and objectives with the organization goals. The system engages, motivates employees and thereby directs them toward achieving the strategic ‘goals of the organization (Verhulp, 2006).

The fact remains that good organization performance refers to the employee’s performance, satisfactory performance of employees does not happen automatically. Managerial standards, Knowledge and Skill, Commitment and Performance appraisals have effect on employee’s productivity. According to Lillian and Sitati (2011) opined that the history of performance appraisal is quite brief. Performances appraisal roots can be traced in the early 20th century to Taylor’s pioneering time and motion studies. The performance appraisal system start in practiced mainly in the 1940s and with the help of this system, merit rating was used for the first time near the Second World War as a method of justifying an employee’s wages. There are number of government establishment in Nigeria using the performance management system for making their employee’s productivity better because it leads to achieve organizational performance. However performance appraisal is very important process but it deemed to be the “weak point” of managing human force (Pulakios, 2009). Therefore performance appraisal is important to manage employee’s work effectively.

According to Armstrong (2001) who found performance as behavior the way in which organization’s teams and individuals get work done. (Mooney, 2009) suggested that performance is not only related to results but it also relates with activities and behaviors of employees that they adopted to achieve their given goals. Performance appraisal is the systematic evacuation of employees according to their job and potential development. (Pinar Güngör, 2011) says “Motivation is the ability of person to modify his/her behavior”. Motivation is a driven force that leads and directed a person toward some specific goals.

Performance appraisal has been helping an employee knowing what is expected of him and remain focused with the help of the supervisor, tells them how well they have done that motivates the employees toward the good performance(Casio, 2003). Performance management system is the process that strongly involves assurance and participation of employees within the organization and that determine the organizational results. The evaluation system identifies the gap of performance (if any). The feedback system tells the employee about the quality of his or her work performance (NCN report HR Department’, 2010). Performance appraisal can enhance the benefits for the organization, but apparently it is not delivering the benefits in many cases (John Mooney, 2009). Most of the organizations usually include performance appraisal they cannot take the benefits from that because there lay a huge difference between the anticipations and experiences in the present system (Elverfeldt, 2005). Importantly, most employees believe that the major outcome of performance appraisal is promotion and its attendant increase in financial benefits plus enhanced professional and social status (Tessema and Soeters, 2006; Shahzad, Bashir and Ramay, 2008). Performance appraisal outcomes tend to have high motivational impact and are a major determinant of employee performance. This matrix of tasks makes the job of Nigerian Custom Services is highly demanding, thereby requiring an effective performance evaluation system that will ginger higher motivation for enhanced job performance (Aslam, 2011).

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Performance appraisal has been criticized by people because approach like bureaucratic and top-down under the control of human resource managers. It was often backward looking, concentrating on what had gone wrong, rather than looking forward to future development needs. Performance appraisal schemes existed in isolation. There was little or no link between them and the needs of the business. It has been discovered that line managers have frequently rejected performance appraisal schemes as being time consuming and irrelevant. Employees have resented the superficial nature with which appraisals have been conducted by managers who lack the skills required, tend to be biased and are simply going through the motions. Additionally, situations may arise sometime whereby only some selected job elements are evaluated or given preference or higher points above other job elements in which the employee was equally engaged during the review period. This gap is the problem that occurs when performance does not meet the standards that are set by the organization. This calls to question the fairness of the appraisal system and its ability to effectively produce the desired outcomes. Performance appraisal believes to be a difficult and complex activity which is often not performed well by many organizations. It is quite understandable that the end result of this is that it produces exactly the opposite or have adverse effect to those intended.

Furtherance to the state of the problem, currently in Nigeria, it has seen in the public sector that general atmosphere of discontent pervading the entire labour panorama, which Nigeria Customs Service are not left out in the general state of disappointment and aggravation. In Nigeria today, the general state of poverty makes economic reward a very important reason why people go out to work, thereby making money to rank highly as a critical motivator. This situation has made it imperative for Nigerian workers to pay particular attention to human resource practices which have direct bearing on their financial rewards and social status. One of such human resource activities is performance appraisal, which is the focus of this study.   

1.3       Objectives of Study                                                              

The main objective of the research is to examine the effect of performance appraisal on employees’ productivity in the public sector. Other salient objectives include;

i. To assess the significant relationship between performance appraisal and employees’ productivity in Nigeria Customs Service

ii. To evaluate the factor inhibiting the use of performance appraisal of employees in Nigeria Customs Service.

iii. To know whether the -favouritism is responsible for ineffectiveness in the Nigeria Customs Service

iv. To make appropriate suggestions on how the use of performance appraisal system could enhance employees’ productivity in the Public Sector..

1.4       Research Questions

The study intends to seek answers to the following questions;

i.  Is there any significant relationship between performance appraisal and employees’ productivity in Nigeria Customs Service?

ii. Is the use of performance appraisal system affect employees’ productivity in Nigeria Customs Service?

iii. Will favouritism be responsible for ineffectiveness in the Nigeria Customs Service?

iv. Does performance appraisal enhance employees productivity in Nigeria Custom Service?

1.5       Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated for this study:

Hypothesis one

Ho: There is no significant relationship between performance appraisal and employees’ productivity in Nigeria Customs Service

Hi: There is significant relationship between performance appraisal and employees’ productivity in Nigeria Custom Service

Hypothesis Two

Ho: There is no significant relationship between problem hamper the use of performance appraisal system and employees productivity in Nigeria Customs Service

Hi: There is significant relationship that harripers the use of performance appraisal system and employees productivity in Nigeria Custom Service

Hypothesis Three

Ho: Favouritism is not responsible for ineffectiveness in the Nigeria Customs Service.

H1: Favouritism is responsible for ineffectiveness in Nigeria Customs Service..

1.6       Scope and Limitations of Study

The scope of the study covers the effect of performance appraisal on employees’ productivity in Nigeria Customs Service as a case study. However, the study focuses on how performance appraisal used in an organization to increase employees’ productivity. However due to the nature and scope of the work, such a wild scope is out of the question since a work of this nature can hardly achieve a feat. This study is limited mainly on the appraisal system and training pattern described as ways of improving workers performance in an organization in Nigeria Customs Service (2007—2013).

1.7       Significance of the Study

In the light of the foregoing, this study set out to investigate how performance appraisal that is anchored mainly on one job component, that is, research output, affects the motivation and overall performance of Nigeria Customs Service. However, despite the fact that engagement in research will help to update, sharpen, enlarge and enrich the Custom Officers’ knowledge base, which is in turn transferred to the organization, citizens, importers and exporters positively.

This study will serve as assistance differentiates satisfactory performers from unsatisfactory ones in Nigeria Customs Service. The performance appraisal will help the management to perform functions relating to selection, development, salary, promotion, penalties, lay-off and retrenchment. This study will geared towards the improvement productivity in the public sector through a better evaluation of employee’s performance, Therefore, this study will help in bringing ways by which employee are appraised as well as how their needs are being managed in Nigeria Customs Service. Finally, based on the abovementioned, this study would be of significance to all military men, policy and decision makers, management of organisation as well as students, scholars and upcoming researchers who may conduct similar study in future.

This widespread use can be attributed to human resource specialists, academics, and consultants who proclaim that performance appraisal is a critically needed tool for effective human resource management. This, in turn, is based on the belief that an effectively designed, implemented, and administered performance appraisal system can provide the organization, the manager, and the employee a myriad of benefits.

1.8       Operational Definition of Terms                               

Usually in most social science research, in order to avoid ambiguity in the interpretation and understanding of certain terms, concepts used in the study must be clearly defined. The key concepts that are used in this study are defined below:

Appraisal:  AS a measure of individual staff work achievements against agreed targets. As a progress evaluation, employee performance or merit rating of an individual worker in areas of relative strengths and weaknesses so as to reinforce the areas of shortcomings

Attitudes: The word is used in this research to mean how one feels about one’s job. It refers to those evaluative states either favourable or unfavorable concerning objects, people or events. Here we concentrated on job attitudes like job satisfaction, job involvement i.e. the degree to which a person identifies with his or her job and actively participates in it; and organizational commitment, an indicator of loyalty and identification with the organisation.

Public Service: The term is used interchangeably with the term public service. It refers to the body of officials and state institutions engaged in the formulation, administration and implementation of government policies and programmes.

Public Servants: As permanent people who earn their living by carrying out government tasks and responsibilities as directed from time to time by the constituted authority.                              

Development: Is a way or method designed to increase the quality and quality of managerial personnel through training. It is always designed around the needs of individuals involved and it is evaluated periodically. Development can be measured in terms of profitability or growth level.