Performance Appraisals in Development and Evaluation

Organizations use employee performance appraisals for developmental and evaluative purposes as a part of personnel management (Boswell & Boudreau, 1999). In development they are routinely used to baseline capabilities, establish goals, and note training needs. For job evaluation, they support talent management, setting compensation, and promotion decisions. The dual use of appraisals for development and evaluation can yield an impression that these activities are interdependent and inseparable. While past studies suggest performance appraisal use in development is highly correlated with evaluation, performance appraisal use in practice greatly differs from organization to organization (Boswell & Boudreau, 1999). Consequently, it is appropriate to focus on the distinctions in use in a given company depending on the organizational needs. For example, smaller organizations may use performance appraisals during recruitment to secure developed employees who can perform from the day they are hired, whereas larger ones may look to develop new hires through the use of ongoing performance appraisals. Given this example, how might performance appraisals differ in terms of developmental and administrative function?

Post an explanation of an organization that might use performance appraisals. Then, explain how the use of information collected in a performance appraisal might differ for developmental versus administrative purposes within that organization. Finally, explain how performance appraisal results should be communicated to the employee as well as to management. Provide concrete examples and citations from the Learning Resources and current literature to justify your post.