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The Definition Of Performance Appraisal Essay

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2.1 Definition of performance appraisal
With respect to Scholtes, ( 1993) Performance Appraisal - much have we heard of this word yet many failed to understand what it means. There are various authors, leaders, managers and gurus who have defined PA according to their knowledge. But again, this buzz word appears to be mere a jargon to the ordinary people on the street Probably, the differences in the definition of the word itself are due to the scale of impact it has caused to the people, organization, economy and so forth, individually as defined by (Kumar, 2005; Pettijohn et al., 2001).
The existence of the PA principles has been observed since early 1900s (Vance et. al, 1992). At that poi6nt of time, it was designed to support a top-down, control-oriented style of management. Vance (1992, p.315) noted that PA is a "control system that is used by almost all organizations to specify the behaviour that employees must perform in accordance with the organizational objectives". It enabled corporations to retain control over their employees, develop the employees, individually as well as team centered and involved the employee in setting goals for the organization (Mount, 1983; Vance et. al, 1992). Furthermore, PA served as a “tool for managing the effectiveness and efficiency of employees” (Spicer & Ahmad, 2006, p.214).
According to McGregor (1957) and Banjoko (1982), performance appraisal function can be classified as evaluative and developmental, depending on the intension

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