Evaluating the Performance Appraisal System in the Bank of Botswana

Performance appraisal (PA) has remained an important topic of investigation among organizational researchers (Poon, 2004:322). That notwithstanding, there is evidence to indicate that there is widespread dissatisfaction with performance appraisal systems across industries (Fletcher, 1992; Fletcher, 2002; Strebler et al., 2001). According to extant researchers, appraisal schemes promote worker behaviour that compromises quality; they create a band of discouraged workers who cease trying to excel; they assign an inordinate amount of responsibility for poor performance to individual employees; they rob the workers of their pride in workmanship; they assume a false degree of measurement accuracy; they engender dysfunctional employee conflict and competition; they underemphasize the importance of the work group; and they are often used as a managerial "Theory X" control device (Deming, 1986 cited in Roberts, 2003: 89; Deming, 1986; Moen, 1989; Scholtes, 1995; Boudreaux, 1994; Gerst, 1995; Nicols, 2000) . As a result, Bernardin and Beatty (1984) emphasise the need for adequate control procedures in order to assure higher levels of perceived trust in the appraisal process.