Staff appraisals - expectations unfulfilled?

UK employers still believe that employee appraisals can deliver tangible benefits to company and individual performance but the gap between aims and delivery is considerable. More than a third of employers admit that appraisals do not always live up to expectations, according to research released today by IRS Employment Review, published by LexisNexis Butterworths.

Employers continue to be generally upbeat about appraisals, as they were in 2003 when IRS Employment Review last carried out a survey on the subject. A large majority (90.9%) believe that appraisals are an essential management tool.

However, employers are concerned about appraisal delivery: four in 10 (42.1 %) say that appraisals are often badly conducted - particularly if managers are not properly trained or committed to the system - and nearly as many (37%) believe that there can be too much emphasis on paperwork.

Despite the importance of management buy-in/support for effective appraisals, only just over half (81 out of 145) of the organisations with appraisal systems consulted managers. Little more than a quarter (26%) consulted all employees before introducing an appraisal system.

Most organisations agreed that identifying training and development needs, aligning individual and organisational objectives, and evaluating performance were the main reasons for appraisals. Nevertheless, just over a third (34.9%) reported that their appraisal systems worked well or very well. Slightly more were neutral on whether or not appraisals achieved their aims and almost one quarter (23.4%) believed their appraisal system had failed in some way.

Other key findings include:

Of the 154 organisations surveyed, 145 have an appraisal scheme and six plan to introduce one in the near future.

Few organisations viewed appraisals as a way of encouraging staff to feel better about their work: 13% of those with appraisals said that staff motivation was a prime objective.

Only 12.3% of organisations with appraisals believe they should identify and acknowledge good performance and just 6.2% said that improving productivity is an important outcome.

All organisations use a discussion with a line manager for at least some employee groups and 89% of organisations appraise all employees in this way.

Less that a quarter (22.6%) use 360-degree appraisals - what Acas describes as upward appraisal - and a third of these are public sector employers.

IRS Employment Review managing editor, Mark Crail said:

Our latest survey shows that UK employers still have faith in the performance review tradition and believe in its intrinsic value to the organisation. The practice is widespread, although it is constantly being adapted to suit changing
needs.

At the same time, there is substantial evidence that, in many cases, appraisal systems are not delivering what employers expect. Some hard questions may have to be asked, and appraisal systems that fail to support corporate objectives could find themselves facing an uncertain future.