Title: “An Exploratory study of the Performance Appraisals from the perception of Employees of Kelly`s Supervalu Boyle”.

Introduction
Employee work performance appraisals are one of the most researched areas in Human Resource Management. Performance is a key part of Human Resource Management. Information obtained from the performance appraisals helps human resource and managers make decisions when it comes to promotions, staff feedback and training, progression within the company, training needs and organisational needs. McDonald and Sulsky (2009) states that the outcomes of personal appraisals should help managers make informed personnel decisions and supply information that will help with staff performance. Longenecker et al (1988) believes that a well implemented and designed performance appraisal procedure can be very valuable in the relationship of the sub-ordinate and their manager.
Performance appraisal is essentially an opportunity for individual employees and those concerned with their performance, typically line managers, to engage in a dialogue about each individual’s performance and development, as well as the support required from the manager. While performance appraisal is an important part of performance management, in itself it is not performance management: rather, it is one of the ranges of tools that can be used to manage performance. (CIPD, 2011)
‘Increasingly, companies are relying on their human assets – the knowledge, competence and capabilities of the workforce – as a source of competitive advantage’ (Nolan 2002, p.89). In almost every organisation, the assessment of employees’ performance is one of the most common practices; this is why performance appraisal is an essential procedure for the better performance of employees and the organisation. (Karimi, Malik & Hussain, 2011).
The researcher will look at the performance appraisal system within the organisation and how the employee that have taken part in performance appraisals feel about them and whether they think it is effective in managing their performance and for the organisation.
Research Questions and Aims of Research.

The aim of this research is to analyse the performance appraisal system from the perception of the employees of Kelly`s Supervalu. Whether an appraisal system is effective or not may have either a positive or negative effect on the employees and the organisation. Other research questions
Research Question: Do employees perceive that performance appraisals are important for the company and do they believe that they should be conducted more frequently?
Research Question: What perceptions do employees of Kelly`s Supervalu hold about whether performance appraisal is used to evaluate employee pay increase and rewards
Research Question: Do employees believe that performance appraisal is used as a way to provide feedback, identify strengths and weaknesses and establish training and development needs?
Research Question: Do employees perceive that the performance appraisal process presents an opportunity to discuss employee progression and training?
Research Question: Are employee’s opinions taken into account and involved in the appraisal process?
1.3 Introduction of the Organisation.

The company was first established back in 1989 by Paul and Mary Kelly where it traded out as Supervalu, The Crescent Boyle. It traded very well on the crescent for twelve years until August 2001. It moved to a purpose built 30,000 sq. ft. shopping centre on Elphin Street in Boyle. The retail space that was made available to Supervalu was 14,500 sq. ft. with additional back storage, upstairs office space and employee facilities.

The company’s product is the Supervalu brand which enables us to enjoy an unrivalled reputation for high quality goods and excellent customer service. Supervalu staff as a whole is seen as experts in food and are always on hand to guide and offer friendly, helpful assistance to the customer. The aim of the store is to offer a wide range of goods and services while maintaining a high level of customer service as this is seen to be the lifeblood of the business.

The annual employee performance appraisal is a series of questions that allows the manager or department head to rate the employee based on their job performance. This is a tool that allows the employee and manager to set goals for the employee over the next year. The appraisal information gathered is not shared with any other employee, but the information is passed along to the human resources manager. The information gathered will also be kept with the employee`s personal information. This is an effective tool when it is used properly, it will allow both the employees and managers to know what is expected of each other. This information also allows the HR department to know what the employees goals and career path are, and help them achieve those goals as the opportunities to advance become available.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.0 Introduction:
Throughout this chapter, the researcher investigates the background of the research area. It will look at the human resource management, what it is and what the components are. It will also look at performance management and the appraisal system. It will discuss the history of the appraisal system, different types of appraisals and the benefits, drawbacks and best practices. It will also look at how employees perceive the whole process.
2.1 Definitions of Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management (HRM) is concerned with the human beings in an organisation.” The management of man “is a very important and challenging job because of the dynamic nature of the people. No two people are similar in mental abilities, tacticians, sentiments, and behaviours, they differ widely also as a group and are subject to many varied influences. People are responsive, they feel, think and act therefore they cannot be operated like a machine or shifted and altered like template in a room layout. They therefore need a tactful handling by management personnel. (Ganesan,2014).

HRM practices intend to enhance the skills and knowledge of employees (Boselie, 2005) and empirical studies have shown that HRM practices beneficially affect performance and mortification. (Huselid, 1995)HRM is recognised as a normative concept that aims to create more efficient and competitive organisations through the utilization of employees, which it considers to be the most important single asset of the organisations (Caker F, 2003) Therefore, HRM should be seen as a strategic approach to the acquisition, development, motivation and reward of employees and that must be linked with the strategic management style in an organisation. As well as, promoting efficiency and confidence in the managerial performance and effectiveness in organisations (Analoui, 1998).

It is good to emphasise here that HRM should not be left entirely to human resources professionals, rather be integrated into the rest of the organisation goal and objectives, as well as also built into all other employees activities for the strategies to be implemented, efficiently, effectively and accordingly to plan CITATION Ana02 l 6153 (Analoui.F, 2002)2.1.2 Strategic Human Resource Management
Strategic human resource management is focused on internal factors within the organisation. Barney (1991),) suggests that firms should look inward to their resources as the source of strategies. He also suggests that firm resources contribute to the sustained competitive advantage. Inimitability refers to the fact it is difficult for other firms to copy or otherwise reproduce the resources for their own use while non-substitutability means that other resources cannot be used by competitors in order to replicate the benefit (Barney, 1991). In the past fifty years Performance Appraisal has become such a commonplace in organisational life that virtually every company has an appraisal system. Performance appraisal can be described as a systematic approach to evaluating employee performance with a view to assisting decisions in a wide range of areas such as pay, promotion, employee development and motivation (Greer, 2001).

2.2 Models of Human Resource management
Human resource management can be divided into two different parts “Soft” and “Hard”. These are completely different for a number of reasons and they have been used by many as a way to group ways to managing people in terms of development. (Legge, 1995, p.66-67)
2.2.1 Hard HRM
“Hard HRM” is used to describe the emphasis on strategy where human resources are deployed to achieve business goals in the same way as any other resource. Hard HRM can also have a harsher interpretation associated with strategies of cost reduction. (Thompson J. B., 2014) Hard HRM stresses the “resources” aspect of human resource management. This hard model puts pressure on HRM to realise how important the combination of human resource policies and activities are with business plans. Human resources are viewed as passive, to be provided and deployed as numbers and skills at the right price than the source of creative energy. (Legge, 1995)
Hard HRM is as calculative and tough minded as any other branch of management communicating through the tough language of business and economics. This emphasis on the quantitative, calculate and business strategic aspects of managing the “headcount” has been termed human asset accounting. (Storey, 1987) The Hard HRM approach has some kingship with scientific management as people are reduced to passive objects that are not cherished as a whole person but assessed on whether they possess the skills/attributes the organisation requires. (Legge, 1995) (Storey, 1987) .Hard HRM centres more around the significance of “key fit” where human resource policies and practices are closely connected to the key goals of the organisation (external fit) and are joined amongst themselves (Internal fit) with increased advantage being the main aim (Baird, and Meshoulam, 1988).

Under the hard model, control is more concerned with performance systems, performance management and tight control over individual activities with the ultimate goal being to secure the competitive advantage of the organisation. (D, Guest, 1995)
2.2.2 Soft HRM
Soft HRM is a method used by human resources to increase employee commitment within the organisation. Employee commitment is sought with the expectation that effectiveness will follow as second order consequences. (Gill) .Soft HRM places the emphasis on “Human” and is associated with the human relations school of Herzberg and McGregor. Legge (1995) refers to this as “Development Humanism”. Whilst stressing how important it is to link HR policies with the objectives of the business, the soft model focuses more on treating all employees as an advantage over their competitors and values them greatly.

The Soft version assumes that employees will work best and thereby increase organisational performance if they are fully committed to the organisation. (Lundy, 1994) Hope ( 1994) notes that ” the employee ” working under an HRM system would not merely comply with the organisations wishes, but positively and effectively commit themselves to the aims and values of their employers, and they give added value through their labour. The soft model emphasizes that this commitment will be generated if employees are trusted, if they are trained and developed and if they are allowed to work autonomously and have control over their work. (Guest, 1987) .In other words the strategic dimension of the soft model in contrast to the hard model, is that control comes through commitment. (Purcell, 1993)
However in another example cited by Legge (1995) and Claydon and Beardwell J (2007) they identified that if the “Hard” approach of HRM is used to explain a strategic approach to human resource management then “Hard” and “Soft” are not necessary in compactable. They suggested the “Hard” may contain some elements of soft approach and “Soft” might as well deliver hard outputs by closed thought with organisations strategy. This would opine that an element of both “hard and soft” approaches exist in any particular strategy of HRM of the organisation. Research conducted by Gratton L ( 1999) confirmed a mixture of both “Hard and Soft” variant HRM in eight organisations and that, the difference between them then was not precise. Truss (1994) contended that if “Hard” human resource management approaches is used to explain strategy for cost minimisation, techniques, then soft and hard approaches might be for vary apart.

2.3 Components of HRM
The components of HRM are often taken to comprise four major areas: Employee Resourcing, Employee Rewards, Employee Development and Employment Relations.

2.3.1 Employee Resourcing
Line managers are responsible for developing operational and annual action plans and budgets for their departments. Such plans have human resource management implications in terms of their number and quality of which the line manager should be aware and actively participate in ensuring that the departmental objectives are achieved through people. It is the responsibility of the line manager to make sure that job analysis is effectively done, job descriptions and specifications are clear enough to be able to attract, recruit and select the most appropriate people to fill the available vacancies. (Itika, 2011)
Taylor (2002) argues that ‘effective hiring and firing, attracting the best candidates, reducing staff turnover and improving employee performance are fundamental management functions. They are as relevant for a small family business as they are for a major international plc’. Employee resourcing therefore involves ‘the range of methods and approaches used by employers in resourcing their organisations in such a way as to enable them to meet their key goals’ (Taylor, S, 1998)
Employee resourcing, however it is understood, has played a key role in many influential models of HRM: for instance, it is seen as a crucial area of ‘policy choice’ in the early but still influential Harvard model of HRM, first proposed by Beer M, (1984). Here the employee resourcing ‘policy choices’ are seen revolving around human resource flows: that is, the way people enter/move into, are placed in/move around, and exit/move out of the organisation.

2.3.2 Employee Rewards and Performance Appraisals
Reward is the compensation which an employee receives from an organisation (mainly refer to enterprises) for his or her service. It not simply contains direct currencies and other forms which can convert to currencies, but also a comfortable office, favourable interpersonal relationship inside the organisation, having access to decision-making involvement, the challenge and sense of achievement, preferable growth opportunities and so forth these kinds of forms which is difficult to measure in various currencies. From marketing communication, reward is the market. (Jiang, 2009)
An organisation`s reward system will typically seek to achieve several core objectives. It will seek to play a central role in attracting potential talent into the organisation: in conjunction with the organisation`s human resource plan and its recruitment and selection efforts, the reward package and its mix of pay, incentives and benefits serves to attract employees with the blend of skills, competences and values deemed appropriate by the organisation. It will also play a central in retaining valued employees: unless the reward package is perceived as internally equitable and externally competitive, valued employees might potentially leave. It will serve to motivate and engage employees: the reward package can assist in the quest for high performance by linking rewards to performance. It will contribute to human resource and strategic business plans. These can take many different forms: for example, an organisation may want to build a rewarding and loyal climate, or it may want to project itself as an attractive place to work so that it can attract the best talent available in the labour market. The reward package can play a central role in the execution of these plans and safeguard success and growth. (Gunnigle, 2011)
Under HRM philosophy, rewards are financial and non-financial means used in order to get the best effort and commitment from the employee as a partner in business. As observed by McKenna N (2002) that while the financial aspect of rewards relates to extrinsic motivation meant for the satisfaction of basic needs of life, the non-financial rewards are more intrinsic, in that, they are meant for the satisfaction of psychological needs including job variety and challenging people, achievement, recognition, employee development and involvement in determining the affairs of the organisation.

2.3.3 Employee Development and Performance Appraisals
HR development and succession planning of employees and managers both are necessary to prepare for future challenges. Career planning has developed as result of the desire of many employees to grow in their jobs and to advance in their career. Career planning activities include assessing an individual employee’s potential for growth and advancement in the organisation. Performance appraisal includes encouraging risk taking, demanding innovation, generating or adopting new tasks, peer evaluation, frequent evaluations and auditing innovation processes. (Ragini).

Employee Development is an extremely important part of Human Resource Management. When an organisation helps develop and grow the employee’s abilities, this shows that the organisation cares about their employees. Employee performance will increase and that will help develop the organisation. (Elena P. Antonacopoulou, 2000)
Employees ability to learn and develop are essential as the requirements are changing at a very fast pace. Technological advancement, new processes, new machinery, all requires ability to learn on the part of employees. At the same time in order to progress the organisation needs to provide these learning opportunities for development of employees. It is essential that organisations put sufficient resources in development of employees in order to maintain a relevant and knowledgeable work force.

When employees are supported and encouraged for growth and development, they get motivated and committed towards the organisation and their morale is improved. The other parts of the organisation benefit when the employee succeeds in developing new skills, knowledge or experience. Organisations are paving way for simpler processes and procedures in place of control oriented organisations which are filled with bureaucratic hurdles, time consuming committees, and cumbersome approval processes are being scrapped in favour of the re-designed and re-reengineered processes. This is being done to increase flexibility and efficiency thereby empowering employees. It is innovation and constant improvements that are more important with the consistency. Such a dramatic change requires accepting new values, behaving differently, learning new skills and competencies, and often taking more risks. Such a transformation is possible only through an effective training and development program. CITATION htt l 6153 (http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in)2.3.4 Employee Relations and Performance Appraisals.

Employees are the major assets of an organization; effective employee relationship management is essential in ensuring employees perform together as a collective unit and contribute equally towards the realization of a common goal. Work will not be performed correctly when relations among employees are poor and there is constant conflict going on; employee relations management ensures workplace issues are handled effectively and expediently in order to remove barriers to successful job performance and foster a positive work environment When employees work together and have a good working relationship targets are achieved at a better rate.
The need to manage the relationships that exists between the employers and employees has been at the forefront ever since the beginning of industrial revolution. Effective employee relationship management is vital to the workplace, whether at the time of recruitment, during an employee’s? tenure or at the time of separation. (E.D. Rose, 2008) Maintaining healthy employee relationship through effective management is a pre-requisite for organizational success. High job satisfaction is achievable with great working relationships between labour and management (T A Boyle, 2006).

Good relationships between employers and employees do not just happen; they are the result of a strategy and activities that employee relations managers design to improve communication between employees and management. Employee relations management creates ways to boost employees’ attitudes. Best employee relationship management practices incorporate labour and employment laws, resourcefulness and human resource expertise in developing practices that improve working relationships. (Mayhew, 1985) .Mayhew ( 1985), states that good relationships between employer and employee do not just happen; they are the result of a strategy and activities that employee relations managers design to improve communication between employees and management, highlighted employee empowerment and involvement, employee suggestions, collective bargaining, conflict management and grievance redress measures, training and development, transparency in communication, and teamwork as practices that enhance employee relations. (L, Schweitzer, & S, Lyons, 2008).

2.4 Performance Management and Performance Appraisals.

Recent literature on Performance Appraisal suggests that it should not be carried out on its own that it needs to be linked as part of the performance management system. Performance management systems are effective when they are based on goals that are jointly set and are driven by an organisation’s business strategy. (Lawler B. ;., 2012). Performance appraisal is an important part of the performance management systems. It helps brings together the goals of the organisation and objectives can be brought into an individual’s objective. It is also the main way of discussing and developing individuals. (Fletcher, 2004).

Performance management refers to the “continuous process of identifying, measuring and developing the performance of organisation members and aligning performance with the strategic goals of the organisation”. (Aguinis, 2013). Considering the inherent difficulties entailed in entraining subjectivities, it is not surprising that performance management “has been one of the most praised, criticized, and debated management practices for decades. (Lawler E. , 1994)
The key questions that performance management addresses have been defined as how “to develop techniques that will help employees meet their personal goals (for growth, development and personal success) but which will also help the organisation to function more effectively. (Smith, 2014)Armstrong and Baron (1998) suggest that performance management focuses on the future and not the past that it is a continuous process. They suggest that the organisation looks at developing their employees, this will increase how effective the organisation is. Performance management is about the coordinated control of potentially large groups of people across a range of units, departments and even organisations. Williams ( 2002) believes the notion of Performance Management is creating a shared vision of the aims and purpose of the organisation, helping each individual employee to understand and recognise their part in contributing to them, and thereby managing and improving the performance of both individuals and the organisation. Performance measurements moves away from a singular focus on local level measurement to embrace more strategic, systematic, integrated and organisationally focused approaches to the holistic management of work activities, or the total performance system. (Thompson J. B., 2014)
The performance management loop (see figure below) provides the framework within which this systematic can take place. Some appraisals might happen more often, when feedback is given informally like discussions and chats among staff and managers, it is important to still make time for formal appraisals. They are proven necessary because this allows employees and manager’s time to discuss different factors in relation to work performance. (Gunnigle, 2011)

2.5 Performance Appraisals
Performance can be defined as “What is expected to be delivered by an individual or a set of individuals within a timeframe. What is expected to be delivered could be stated in terms of results or efforts, tasks and quality, with specification of conditions under which it is delivered” (Kumari, 2012). Waldman (2001) defined performance to be the combination of behaviour and the achievement of what was expected and their choice, or part of existing task requirements of each individual in the organisation
History of Performance Appraisal
There is evidence in the history of performance appraisal that suggests formal performance appraisal began to appear and used in the evaluation of work performance as early as in the 20th century from the time of the First World War initiated by American rather than a British phenomenon (Fletcher and Williams,1992). Initially, in the US, organisation used performance appraisal as a measure to raise morale of the workforce, the assumption being that high morale led to high productivity – a motion reinforced by Hawthorne studies in 1920s. But the introduction of performance appraisal in the 1920s and 1930s was limited mainly to managers and how to identify those amongst them who had potential for development.

In the 1950s the potential usefulness of appraisal as tool for motivation and development was gradually recognized and the number of companies using performance appraisal programs has risen since then (Fletcher and Williams, 1992). Hale and Whitlam (2000) claimed that as with many human resource systems, performance appraisal systems evolved out of a perceived requirement to institutionalize and centralize good human resource management practice.
The systems were set up in order to aid corporate decision-making, particularly for the purposes of salary review and promotion. The assumption was that line managers concentrated on their line activities and the human resource manager was interested in the people aspects of management. This led to the disempowering of the line manager and the abdication of good people management practices to the human resource department.

In the 1960’s it was realised that a more systematic approach ought to be used and hence the introduction and development of a number of performance appraisal techniques including the popular technique called the management by objectives (MBO). But although very logical in design, the systems were less successful in practice because it was implemented mechanistically and that objectives were imposed on subordinates from above. Critics to MBO argue that the style was judgemental, and feedback would be given without the right to reply. By the end of 1960’s, performance appraisal was generally seen as a more participative, problem solving process concentrated on task performance rather than personality (Fletcher and Williams, 1992).

The following decade saw a number of more specific developments and an even greater shift towards openness and participation in appraisal, reflecting changes in society as a whole. Belief about the nature of human abilities, theories of motivation, trade union concerns, government legislation and changing social attitudes have all influenced and modified performance appraisal process (Fletcher and Williams, 1992). During the 1990’s the evident difficulties of assessment and appraisal as isolated activities resulted in growing shift in performance management and the need to link the requirement of business strategy to all employees (Fletcher and William, 1992). Hence the performance measurement system like Balanced Score Card (BSC) introduced by Norton D.P and Kaplan R.S. (1992) come to fore and becoming popular and used by many large organizations globally to measure the overall extensive performance of a company including performance appraisal.
Unlike earlier performance appraisal systems where the application of the systems limited to the managers, there were trends to broaden the application of performance appraisal systems to employees in most job roles, and making performance appraisal much more than a top-down only process. It is commonly accepted that performance appraisal is more effective when each appraise is involved and has impact in relation to their review. (Hale and Whitlam, 2000). Moreover, with the development in upward appraisal, whereby the subordinate actually appraises the performance of the boss, performance appraisal has become even more democratized. Some observations on the development of performance appraisal practice concluded that the changes that taken place in the field of performance appraisal illustrate the fact that activity in this area reflect wider changes in societies as a whole. As societies have become more open and less rigid, so has performance appraisal. Performance appraisal has developed from becoming the sole concern of top management to being something that all employees, trade unions and governments have a say in (Fletcher and Williams, 1992).

2.5.1 Definition of Performance Appraisal
Performance Appraisal is intended to gather crucial information and measurements about the actions of staff and the company’s operations which are valuable to management for enhancing the employees’ productivity, working conditions, their morale, and inner workings of the organisation wholly. (Rahman, 2012)
“Performance appraisal isn’t about the forms. The ultimate purpose of performance appraisal is to allow employees and managers to improve continuously and to remove barriers to job success, in other words, to make everyone better. Forms don’t make people better, and are simply a way of recording basic information for later reference. If the focus is getting the forms “done”, without thought and effort, the whole process becomes at best a waste of time, and at worst, insulting. The ultimate purpose of performance appraisal is to allow employees to improve continuously. (Bacal, 1999) Performance Appraisals can be used for different things other than rating an employee`s work performance. Meenakshi (2012) suggested that organisations perform performance appraisals as a way of making decisions when it comes to promotions, rewards, developing employees and looking at what training is need. Hillman (1990) argues that performance appraisals are used to indentify job expectations, providing feedback and identifing general job objectives.

Banner and Cooke (1984) in their renowned contribution on ethical dilemmas in performance appraisal, suggest that despite the fact that performance appraisal involves the passing of a judgement on another individual using often rather subjective mechanisms, an organisation can morally justify the use of appraisal. The justification derives from the “greater good” principle that positive outcomes for both the organisation and appraise can accrue from an engagement of the process. In their paper, the authors do, however, point to a number of ethical dilemmas that can sometimes arise during the course of the appraisal process:
The problematic use of trait-oriented and subjective evaluation criteria
Difficulties in the preparation and writing of performance standards and measurement indicators.

The deployment of different systems of performance appraisal within the same organisation
Issues around how the results of the performance appraisal will subsequently be used
Issues surrounding who actually determines the so-called objective standards
Banner and Cooke (1984) conclude that, despite these issues, as long as the performance appraisal procedure is fair, consistent and evenly applied to all, it is a morally justified device and serves a legitimate function in advancing the objectives of the organisation and the individual.

2.5.2 Types of Performance Appraisals
There are many different types of appraisal the main of which are: The Appraisal Interview, 360- Degree Feedback, Rating, Ranking, Critical incident, Self- assessment, Free- form and Performance or objectives oriented systems. Each appraisal process has both disadvantages and advantages of its own.

The Appraisal Interview
Kikoski (1999) argued that managers are not prepared when it comes to performing annual performance reviews, that they are very reluctant to give feedback that might be seen as negative, this then results in the employee not being appraised accurately and getting incomplete feedback.

The appraisal interview is also used to discuss goals that the employee has to achieve. The research which has investigated how goals might predict appraisal system satisfaction has found that it is important for managers to discuss with employees how their individual goals relate to organisational strategies as it can help increase employees understanding of why they are important to an organisation. (Dipboye, 1981)
Most formal appraisal take place once a year, even though, there may be ongoing reviews throughout the interview. For this reason both managers and employees need to set time aside to think carefully about the appraisal process: the targets that were previously indentified; work performance over the period; particular variables that may be affecting successful completion of work tasks; and the range of developmental opportunities that might have application in developing action plans for the future. (Gunnigle, 2011).

360- Degree Feedback
An alternative type of performance appraisal is the use of 360- degree feedback, also known as the multi-sourced assessment. This approach seeks performance feedback from the person that is being rated, managers, peers, fellow employees and nominated significant others who may be internal or external to the organisation. This approach allows management to match the strengths and weaknesses from each perspective and gain a more accurate, rounded view of a person’s true performance. (Conway, 1996)
Self- assessment is an indispensable part of 360-degree appraisals and they therefore have high employee involvement. For many, it is left to the appraise to ask “significant others” to take part in their appraisal. This level of personal investment in the process means that 360-degree systems usually have the strongest impact on behaviour and performance. Likewise, because the process involves numerous “independent” views of the employee`s performance, it is often considered to be one of the most credible performance appraisal methods. The 360- degree appraisal can be used as a powerful developmental tool because of the multiple views on the extent to which an individual is developing or refining their skills and competencies. (Thompson 2014)
360 degree appraisal can be used to reduce the bias of the appraisal process by removing top down ratings by managers. This is done by replacing them with a multisource assessment. (Grint, 1993)
Rees, et al (2003) define 360 degree appraisal as a process that involves the key people in a person’s network of working relationships making assessments of a person’s performance. They subordinate being appraised is then given structured feedback; this may involve feedback from subordinates and any key outside parties, if it is practicable.

Toegel and Conger (2003) however, sound notes of caution with respect to the recent uptake of 360- degree feedback for assessment purpose. They reflect that the technique was originally designed for developmental purposes, and that its use as an evaluation tool may weaken its developmental potential. While the underlying premise of 360-degree feedback remains sound, they argue that it may be more appropriate to develop separate tools to satisfy multiple requirements.

Rating
Rating is a process that involves the appraiser rating the employee`s performance and behaviour against a scale that is already there. These ratings, based on a scale, can be made against a series of headings that tend to include performance characteristics or personality traits. Rating scales are often used to measure employee performance against objectives that are already set. In some cases, rating scales are used to determine if the employee was successful in achieving the objectives or tasks that were set. (Gunnigle, 2011). To be able to appraise an employee’s performance, the appraiser has to know how well the employee is performing their work. The appraiser needs to observe the employee performing their role. Bernardin and Buckley (1981) suggested two approaches when the appraiser is observing an employee.
Diary keeping -Borman (1979) has recommended developing a way of observing the behaviour of an employee and developing a structured way to evaluate the performance of the employee. This can be done by using a formal diary. Keeping a formal diary can help show the appraiser that observing the behaviour of the employee is extremely important. The most important part of the evaluation occurs though out the evaluation period rather than in the few minutes when the rating happens. (Bernardin and Buckley, 1981). A study conducted by Bernardin and Walter (1977) states that raters who used the diary-keeping method were less lenient than untrained raters.

A Common Frame of Reference for raters – Developing a common frame of reference for observing and rating employees can help improve observational skills. Appraisers that use this approach should find it useful in “creating” a common frame of reference. This helps appraisers to differentiate different behaviours that are observed on the job. (Bernardin and Buckley, 1981).
Ranking
The appraiser will rank the employees from the best to the worst based on specific characteristics and or their overall job performance.

Critical Incidents
Another performance appraisal method that can be used is called the Critical incidents. McMahon and Carter (1990) explain that the job analysis investigates both the current job and the future job. It is one of the behavioural methods that have been developed to specifically describe which actions should or should not be exhibited on the job (Sherman et al., 1998). Its objective is to identify critical job tasks, which are important duties, and job responsibilities that lead to job success (Sherman et al., 1998). The Appraiser observes incidents that occur when the employee’s behaviour results in success or failure in some part of their job. After the appraiser and the appraised have been examined, the remedies and solutions are then sought (Kempton, 1995). This approach is excellent for employee development and feedback (Schermerhom et al., 1998). The employee receives good feedback on their performance and they learn to understand what needs to be done in the future.

Self-assessment
Yammarino ; Atwater (1993) suggests that self-assessment, self-ratings, self- appraisals or self-reports are the most common methods that are used when rating individuals and understanding any problems that might be present. This process allows appraise to evaluate themselves using a particular format or structure that is already agreed with the appraiser. The self-appraisal process allows employees to personally put their own input into the appraisal. This will then be discussed between the appraise and appraiser in the appraises review meeting. (Armstrong, 2006, p.95)
Armstrong (2006) also argued that letting the individual rate their performance rather than their supervisor doing it should allow a more productive conversation between the supervisor and individual. Employees need to have clear targets and standards set for them to be able to self-assess their performance. Self- assessment will not work otherwise. (CIPD, 2011) Campbell ; Lee (1988) believe that self-appraisals cannot be used on its own as a process of evaluating employees. Self- appraisals can be used when developing employees. It can be used to help increase employee`s job performance.

Jiing-Lih et al (1988) suggested that a number of benefits that can be achieved when self-rating are combined with traditional performance evaluation systems:
Communication can be improved between the appraiser and appraise
Appraises will have a sense of control over the evaluation, due to their participation of the process.

Evaluations can be less biased due to the appraiser and appraise being involved in the process.

Free- Form
The appraiser provides a descriptive essay about the employee. The employee also performs a similar exercise for their role. It can be written as a free form essay or using specific previously agreed headings.

Performance or Objectives oriented systems.

Appraisers must assess their staff member’s performance against specific job targets or standards that were previously agreed between the employee and appraiser. . The standards and targets are specified in terms of measurable targets and results received.

2.5.3 Benefits of Performance Appraisal
A good performance appraisal system has benefits for the employee being appraised, the manager that is conducting the appraisal and the organisation as a whole.

Organisation Benefits:
Help provide information when succession plans are being made
Human Resource planning training needs for the employee
Generally improved communications will improve among employees and managers
Opportunity to improve organisational and employee performance
Helps identifying any problems
Employee Benefits:
Helps improve relationships between employees and managers
Job satisfaction is increased
Employees understand what is expected of them.

Better knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses.

Opportunity to give feedback in relation to the organisation
Opportunity to discuss the role the employee’s has.

Opportunity to discuss progression within the organisation
Recognition of tasks carried out well and targets achieved
Conduct a discussion on training and development needs.

Management Benefits,
Better relationship with employees
Stronger knowledge of what is going on in the organisation.

Facilitate management in decisions including pay rises, promotions, redundancies etc
Opportunity to learn about employee`s hopes, fears, anxieties and concerns relating to both their present job and their future.

Chance to clarify and reinforce important goals and priorities
Mechanism for measuring changes in employee work performance.

Management has the opportunity to motivate staff by recognising achievements.

Management can clarify any overlap or ambiguities that may exist in the work structure.

(Evenden, R. and Anderson, G, 1992) (Fisher, 1995)
2.5.4 Drawbacks of Performance Appraisals
When the appraiser and appraise have a dislike to performance appraisal process this causes the process to become ineffective. Swan, (1991) describes Performance Appraisal as one of the most emotionally charged procedures in management. At some stage every executive has hated the thought of performance appraisals. They don`t like giving them or receiving them themselves. (Sims, Gioia ; Longenecker, 1987).

Many managers and supervisors are unwilling to make accurate evaluations of subordinates because they do not want them to be hurt. Where the consequence of a low evaluation is termination, no pay increase, an unpleasant work assignment or no promotion, managers are reluctant to be precise. Kearney (1978) and Watling (1995) highlights the importance of giving appraisals based on facts, not just feelings and suggests the best way to do this is by measuring performance by surveys, on the job observations, peer group feedback and results against targets. This is important to consider in establishing what an effective performance appraisal is. The appraisal will not be accurate if the manager carrying out the appraisal is having difficulty in giving feedback honestly and truthfully. Because of the emotional variability involved in such processes, accuracy is something which will seldom be achieved. But is this a vital element for management, as it has been shown that executives giving appraisals have ulterior motives and purposes that surpass the mundane concern with rating accuracy. (Sims, 1987)
Paul J. Davis (2011) has looked at over 300 articles that were published between 1980 and 2010 on performance appraisals and found seven common and persistent failures that showed up on performance appraisals that weaken their valuable and reliability. The seven problems are:
Direct biases: All people are bias in one way or another. Research showed that bias often influence the ratings the manager might give the employee during their appraisal interview. Biases can be about how the manager feels about the employee and about how they feel about the employee’s views on different things.

Indirect bias: Evidence shows that different factors contribute how managers judge performance. Organisations have their own values, social and cultural environments in which employees can either agree or not agree with. Performance can be judged by environmental compliance and have nothing to do with the performance of the employee.
Competency: Not all managers have been trained on how to conduct a performance appraisal. This will lead to inconsistencies across the organisation on how managers perform performance appraisals which therefore weakens the whole process.
Devolution: Human resource managers often design the whole process of the appraisal and the manager implements it among employees. Line managers feel they have no input into the whole development of the appraisal and how it is implemented. They feel they get no support from HR when difficulties arise. This can then cause confusion and the line managers might not become fully on board with the whole process.

Authoritarianism: Employees can feel very intimidated at appraisal meetings. Managers sometimes take over and the employee feels that they have to sit there and take it. Employees sometimes are too afraid or worried to give their input to the meeting.

Informal, incidental and ongoing appraising: Performance views are viewed by some organisation as something that just needs to be done. Some managers are not trained properly to give the employee any kind of feedback. This sometimes will lead to performance problems going undressed. When they are not dealt with them correctly at the time small problems become bigger problems which can damage teamwork and work morale.

Information collection: The 360 degree tool can sometimes be misused. This allows for poor quality information to be provided. Some managers use this and decide then what information they use to create a picture of the employees performance.

2.5.5 Best Practices of Performance Appraisals
Kleiner (1988) believed that four key factors should be taken into account when it comes to conducting an effective performance appraisal.

Specific goals need to be clearly explained.

When identifying levels of performance they need to be in specific and measurable terms.

Personal rewards and organisational performance need to tie into performance appraisal programmes
A development plan will help the employee achieve the desired goals that were agreed on needs to have both the manager and employees input. The employee should be given feedback about their work in the performance appraisal process. The performance appraisal system needs to comply with legal requirements.
Evenden, R. and Anderson, G( 1992) identified a set of guidelines that can facilitate effective appraisal interviewing:
A clear statement of why the meeting is taken place needs to be explained at the beginning of the interview. The employee and manager needs to have a clear understanding why it is happening.

The managers should give the employee enough time to prepare for the meeting. They should put the employee at ease.

A discussion should take place about the main tasks and responsibilities the employee has and the employee should be able to give comments on it.

The manager needs to discuss good performance as well as discuss any areas that might need some improving.
The focus of the meeting should be on the tasks and key objects of the employee’s job.

The manager should encourage the employee to give feedback and allow them to feel comfortable at raising any worries they might have in relation to their job or the organisation.

Encourage the employee to give input to a development plan for the future.

The interview should be ended with the manager to explain what is expected of the employee for the coming appraisal period.

Knowing that many errors can and do occur, Longenecker, and Ludwig( 1990), argue that the organisation has a number of core obligations that it must fulfil in order to improve accuracy and fairness in the process such as:
The organisation must provide a sound procedure for managers to use in the execution of performance appraisal.

Training in performance appraisal must be provided for managers.
Organisations must provide leadership from above. Middle and lower-level managers cannot be expected to provide accurate ratings if intentional inaccuracy is practised higher up in the organisation.
Like any procedure, the performance appraisal process must be audited to ensure the accuracy of the data generated and the overall integrity of the process.

Elements of appraisal effectiveness by Piggot-Irvine (2003, p.173)
Studies conducted by Piggot-Irvine (2003), found that performance appraisal need to be informative, confidential, guidelines need to be clear for them to be effective. Trust and mutual respect are also a huge part of the process. The process needs to be part of everyday work life and embedded throughout the organisation
2.6 Employee perceptions of performance appraisal
A lot of research has been carried out on the perception an employee has on the performance appraisal. The social and motivational context of appraisals has been researched more than the technical and process-related aspects of appraisal. This is only natural, as the quality of the appraisal techniques makes little difference, if appraisers and appraises are unsatisfied with, and uncommitted to, the appraisal. Chmiel (2008) suggests that the quality of the appraisal techniques makes no difference when the appraise and appraiser are not satisfied and not committed to the appraisal. The process and how it is used has a lot of influence on the attitude of the employee towards the process, their manager and job. (Boswell ; Boudreau 2000, 283).
One of the crucial problems with performance appraisal is the conflict between the assessment and the motivational functions of the appraisal process; this can be linked to four other aspects of the situation: communication, implication for rewards, assessment quality, and the personal agenda of the participant. The assessment quality refers to employee perceptions of the appraiser if they are biased, communication relates to the appraiser’s being reluctance or difficulty to communicate any critical evaluation, especially if it may lead to motivation and performance becoming poor. Implication for rewards may cause difficulty; some research has shown that there may be a link between performance and rewards that may also result in performance becoming poor. An example would be when an employee may not receive a reward due to their poor level of performance. If the employee’s already thinks that the process is not fair, this will lead to negative reactions. The personal motives of both appraisers and appraises may affect the outcome of the whole process. The appraise might be eager to receive feedback so that they can get their point across and correct any misunderstanding there might be. (Chmiel 2008, 85 – 89)
Boswell and Boudreau (2000) have researched studies and found that employee satisfaction can be related back to how they perceive the performance appraisal is being used. They suggested that the perceived developmental use of the process, such as identifying strengths or weaknesses, and determining training needs, could be associated with employee satisfaction, as well as satisfaction with the appraiser. This supports other researcher’s findings that it is performance appraisal are important in relation to development. It can be used to support the development of employees and can influence the attitudes of employees. (Boswell & Boudreau 2000, 289).
Mayer and Davis’s (1999) focused their research on a performance appraisal system before and then after the system was renewed. Before the renewal of the process, management trust was seen to be low and then there was a question if the whole process was really accurate. When a more accurate performance appraisal system was introduced, they found that a level of trust for management was increased. The study was a longitudinal study of 14 months, and it took nine months for the rise in trust towards management to increase.

Kuvaas’s (2008) examined whether and if the quality of employee-organisation relations had something to do with the relations between Human resource management and employee outcomes. He found out, that quality of employee-organization relations may be pivotal in the relationship between performance and human resource management. This means the success or failure of human resource management will depend on the quality of the employee-organisation relationship. Kuvaas’s study showed that it was necessary to have a positive relationship in order for human resource management to affect performance positively.
Sumelius et.al. (2014) inspected which components may impact employee’s impression of the perceivability, legitimacy, and procedural and distributive equity of execution evaluation, and on which level – individual, relationship, or unit – do the impacts happen. They found four factors that occurred on all of the four process features; two of them occurred on the unit level, and the remaining two on the relationship level. The first two that were found were top management internationalization of performance appraisal, and how the formal system was designed; the remaining two were commitment or how capable the supervisor was, and their colleague’s attitudes.
Gabris and Ihrke (2001) took a different approach to research that they carried out in relation of how employees perceived performance appraisal. They conducted research into whether there was a link between employee burnout and performance appraisals. They also conducted research on whether there is a direct link between perceptions of performance appraisal and job satisfaction. Basing their research on the argument, that many employees dislike or even have a fear of performance evaluations, they wanted to find out if there was also a connection with employee burnout. Their research showed that when the employee perceptions of the performance appraisal process are instrumentally valid, and procedurally and distributive just, the likelihood of high job satisfaction increases. Research also showed that job satisfaction seemed to serve as an intervening variable between the performances appraisals perceptions
and burnout. The evidence that showed was low, especially when it came to a relationship between the performance appraisal process and causing employee burnouts.
‘The success of any HR intervention in organisation is heavily dependent on employees’ perception of that intervention’ (Rahman & Shah, 2012, p.11). For performance appraisal to be effective and useful, it is vital that those taking part, the appraiser and the appraise, are both benefiting from it and find the procedure a productive tool, as without this, it would be impossible for the system to work. Employees’ thoughts of performance appraisal systems could be as important to the continuing success of the system as reliability and validity (Dipboye and Pontbriand, 1981)
.

Employee perceptions of the fairness of their performance appraisals are useful in determining the success of performance appraisal systems (Erdogan, Kraimer ; Liden, 2001). A vast amount of literature looks at whether performance appraisal is successful based on rating accuracy and qualitative aspects of the appraisal, but it is reasonable to suppose that employees’ reactions to the appraisal system could have just as much influence on the success of an appraisal system (Cawley, Keeping & Levy, 1998). An organisation might develop the most precise and sophisticated appraisal system, but if the system is not recognised by the staff, its effectiveness will be limited.

Boachie-Mensah & Seidu (2012) advises that employees are likely to embrace and contribute meaningfully to the performance appraisal scheme if they recognise it as an opportunity for personal development, a chance to be visible and demonstrate skills and abilities and an opportunity to network with others, but if employees perceive performance appraisal as an unreasonable effort by management to try to closer supervise and gain control over tasks they carry out, they won’t welcome the scheme as easily
2.7 Summary
The review of the literature of this study focused on Human Resource management, the different types of HRM, the History of Performance Appraisal, how to make Performance Appraisal an effective system, the Benefits of Performance Appraisal for the organisation, management and employees and the arguments for and against Performance Appraisal. It looked at best practices, different types of performance appraisals and how employees perceived performance appraisals.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter will discuss the methodology used for the study and outline the research approach and design. This chapter will look at the aims and objectives of the research and compare qualitative versus quantitative research methodologies and the selection of the quantitative approach. The chapter also explains the technique that was chosen for the research. It will explain the research design and the research instrument used, while explaining the benefits of questionnaires. It will also look at the ethical considerations of the research.

3.2 Research Approach and Design
Deductive or inductive approaches can be used in a study; it will depend on the extent of the relative theory that is available to the researcher at the start of their research. Deductive approach allows the researcher to develop a theory and hypothesis and then they will be able to design a research strategy to assess the hypothesis. An inductive approach allows the researchers to gather their data first and then develop a theory as a result of your data analysis. Deduction is more suitable for positivist researchers and induction for interpretivist researchers (Saunders et al, 2009).

Burns and Grove (1993) interpret quantitative research as a formal, objective, systematic process to describe and test relationships and examine cause and effect interactions among variables. Surveys may be used for descriptive, explanatory and exploratory research. A descriptive survey design was used. A survey is used to collect original data for describing a population that is too large to observe directly (Mouton 1996). A survey obtains information from a sample of people by means of self-report, that is, the people respond to a series of questions posed by the investigator (Polit ; Hungler 1993:148).
In this research information was collected through questionnaires distributed to the employees personally by the researcher. A descriptive survey helps provides an accurate portrayal or account of the characteristics, for example behaviour, opinions, abilities, beliefs, and view of an individual. This is why a questionnaire was chosen by the researcher. This design was chosen to meet the objectives of the study, namely to determine the knowledge and views of employees at this store. Saunders et al. (2009), propose this strategy because this method allows the researcher to collect quantitative data that can be analysed quantitatively using statistics. The method is also perceived as authoritative by people in general and is both comparatively easy to explain and to understand.

3.3 Research Strategy
The difference between quantitative and qualitative methods is a subject which is come across repeatedly in deliberations about the research method and design. The difference between qualitative and quantitative study is that qualitative study expresses human experiences and opinions into words that are descriptive, whereas quantitative research expresses them in to numbers. (Duffy and Chenail, 2008)
Qualitative research relates to the views, experiences and feelings of individuals and generating subjective data. It can be seen as an inductive view of the relationship between theory and research, whereby the former is generated out of the latter. (Bryman ; Bell, 2007). Horn (2009), describes quantitative research that collects predominately numerical data that sometimes might rely on deductive reasoning. A view is formed from deductive reasoning about the likely nature of a thing, and then it will test whether that view is correct or not. Findings are often got in terms of the relationship between one variable and another. Questionnaires are the main method of quantitative research. The analysis of the data is mostly statistical.

Quantitative research can be used to measure attitudes, satisfaction, commitment and a range of other useful data and metrics that can be tracked over time and used as part of a wider business planning and business strategy process. Bryman and Bell (2007) describe quantitative research as the collection of data and exhibiting a view of the relationship between theory and research as deductive and a preference for a natural science approach.
3.5 Research Instrument
The researcher chose to use a questionnaire as the design of the research to be conducted. Quantitative research creates statistics through the use of survey research, using methods such as questionnaires (Dawson, 2010). A survey is defined as a “structured data collection technique where each participant is asked the same questions” (Dawson, 2010). As a questionnaire is an efficient way to distribute among people and gather data, this was seen as a suitable approach. Koshy (2005) states that questionnaires should be made simple and questions should be directed towards the information needed for the research. Respondents are able to give their point of view to questions that are asked in a questionnaire. A set of eighteen questions were raised in the questionnaire. All respondents will receive the same questionnaires. Rattray ; Jones (2005) suggests that the questionnaire should be designed to reflect the scale and response format to capture the required data that is needed for the research.

A questionnaire is a highly structured data collection technique whereby each respondent is asked the same questions (McColl, 1993). Surveys are popular as they allow the collection of a large amount of data in a highly economical way (Saunders et al, 2007). The researcher developed a questionnaire for employees that receive performance appraisal; the questionnaire looked into how the employees felt about the performance appraisal systems and whether it is effective in their opinion. There are both advantages and disadvantage for using a questionnaire to carry out research.
Polit and Hungler (1999) noted several advantages of using a questionnaire as:
They are not as expensive as other data collection methods.

Results are achieved quickly and questionnaires can be completed at the discretion of the interviewee.

Questionnaires reduce bias or faults which could be caused by the researcher’s attitude.

They offer a considered and objective view on the research question.

They are a stable and dependable measure without variation.

There can also be some disadvantages to using questionnaires. According to Bryman and Bell (2007)
Questionnaires don’t have an opportunity for probing or exploration of questions asked and for the answers that are given.

Questionnaires can be linked with a poor response rate because of a lack of respondent motivation in completing them.

You can never be sure that the questionnaire is being completed by the right person; it could very well be completed by someone other than the desired respondent.

There is a greater risk of missing data, where the respondent may not complete an answer or skip it entirely
Using questionnaires is best suited as they are not as time consuming as other methods of research. One major advantage for the researcher is that they are not expensive to carry out and the findings can be analysis using online tools. The research involves measuring employees’ perceptions and attitudes towards Performance Appraisal, Surveys give aan easy way to ask a large number of people, their thoughts and get their own personal views on the questions that are asked.

3.6 Survey Design
The first question of the survey was in relation to demographics. Question one comprised of four parts to it. It would be beneficial to collect information in relation to the department the employee worked in, their age, gender and their employment status within the company. These questions will be of benefit when the data is collected from the questionnaires, it will show if there is any difference between female and male perspectives. The next part asks the employee how long they have been employed with the company. This will show perspectives from staff in different lengths of services. The next four questions gather information to the performance appraisal, gathering simple information like do they take part in performance appraisal, how often it is carried out, and if they feel it is important for the company to perform them and should they be conducted more frequently. The next part involves a series of statements in relation to their own personal opinion and to either agree or disagree on why the company conduct performance appraisals. The last questions on the questionnaire are in relation to the fairness of the current performance appraisals, about the manager that is conducting the appraisal and are the employee’s opinions taken into account.

The main objective of the questionnaire was to gather data so that the researcher will be able to measure both the opinion and attitude of the employees about the current performance appraisal system that is used by the company and if it is effective or not.

3.6 Target Population
Population is a set of all elements (Gilbert, 2001). Malhotra and Birks (2003, p.358), suggest that researchers must specify the target population of the study in order to define “who should and should not be included in the sample” in terms of the research problems. Samples are selected from the population in an attempt to collect data that can be representative of the whole target population. A sample has been defined as “a subset, or some part, of a larger population” (Zikmund, 2003, p.369) and, accordingly, the procedure for sampling has been defined as “using a small number of items or parts of a larger population to make conclusions about the whole population” (Ibid, p.369).

Targeted employees included senior managers, managers, officers and supervisors, representing top and middle management levels, as well as staff from lower levels of the organisations, such as administrative assistants, clerical employees and manual labour jobs.

The population which was targeted for this research were employees who have been employed within the company and have received performance appraisals within the company. The company employ’s fifty-two employees in total. Targeted employees included senior management, middle management, clerical, supervisors, Hr, as well as employees from lower levels of the organisations, such as operations and shop assistants.

3.7 Ethnical Consideration
Wells (1994) defines “ethics in terms of a code of behaviour appropriate to academics and the conduct of research`. The appropriateness or acceptability of our behaviour as researchers will be affected by broader social norms of behaviour (Wells, 1994: Zikmund, 2000). A social norm indicates the type of behaviour that a person ought to adopt in a particular situation (Robson, 2002: Zikmund, 2000). Wells (1994) recognises, the norms of behaviour that prevail will in reality allow for a range of ethnical positions.
According to Christians (2000), the minimum considerations are informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, and accuracy. The owner of the company gave permission to the researcher to carry out the research in the form of a questionnaire. The employees were aware from the very beginning what the purpose of research was for, where the information was going and why it was being gathered. All questionnaires were anonymous so this did not require any names of the respondents. All employees were assured that all responses were guaranteed to be treated confidential.
3.8 Analysis of Data
As previously mentioned, Quantitative research expresses human experiences and opinions into numbers (Duffy and Chenail, 2008). Once the surveys were completed and returned, the researcher put all the data into the system to begin the analysis. To analyse the data collected from the questionnaires, the researcher used SPSS. SPSS is a system for statistical analysis and helps to display findings by creating charts and tables. It is one of the most widely used computer software packages for analysis of quantitative data for social scientists (Bryman & Bell, 2007, p.360).
Research Question One: Do employees perceive that performance appraisals are important for the company and do they believe that they should be conducted more frequently? Questions 5 and 6 addressed this research question. The data were collected and percentages were calculated for all responses. The responses were graphed
Research Question Two: What perceptions do employees of Kelly`s Supervalu hold about whether performance appraisal is used to evaluate employee pay increase and rewards Question 7c addressed this question. The data were collected and percentages were calculated for all responses. The responses were graphed.

Research Question Three: Do employees believe that performance appraisal is used as a way to provide feedback, identify strengths and weaknesses and establish training and development needs? Several parts of question 7 addressed this question. Data was collected and percentages were calculated for all responses when answering this question and graphs were used to analysis the data.

Research Question Four: Do employees perceive that the performance appraisal process presents an opportunity to discuss employee progression and training? Question 15 addressed this research question. The data was collected and percentages were calculated for all the responses. The data collected was presented in a chart
Research Question Five: Do employees think that the appraisal process is fair? Question 9 addressed this question. To answer this question, data was collected. The percentages were calculated and graphs were used to analysis the data.

Research Question Six: Do employees perceive that their manager is competent as an appraiser? Question 13 helped answer the research question. A graph was used to analyse the data from the responses.

Research Question Seven: Are employee’s opinions taken into account and involved in the appraisal process? Question 11, 12 and parts of 15 helps answer this research question. The ages were calculated and graphs were used to analysis the data.

Research Question Eight: Are employees satisfied with the current performance appraisal method that is being used? Question 8 helped answer the research question. A graph was used to analyse the data.
Question 16 asked “…Do you feel the right person is conducting your performance appraisal?” and question 17 asked “… If no, who do you thing should be conducting the appraisal?”
Five additional items in the questionnaire, questions 1 had four different parts and question 2 sought to obtain demographic data about the employee. The demographic data collected was about what department they were employed in, gender, age, employment status and their length of service. The last question asked the employee “If there was anything not covered in the questionnaire that they would like to comment on?”
Conclusion
The researcher used a quantitative approach by using a questionnaire. The researcher distributed questionnaires among employees that have participated in the performance appraisal process. The questionnaire consisted mostly of closed questions and also had a couple of open-ended questions. Management at the organisation gave the researcher permission to administer the questionnaires among employees and allowed her to conduct the research. All participations were guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity. This chapter described the research methodology which included the research approach ; design, strategy, research instrument used, survey design, target population, ethnical consideration and analysis of data.
Chapter 4: Research Findings
This chapter will present the data that was collected from the employees of the organisation that took part in the surveys. The findings will be presented through graphs and charts. This chapter will first look at the demographic details of the employees surveyed. Secondly, the responses of the questionnaire will be examined and discussed.

A total number of 27 employees from Kelly’s Supervalu participated in the research. Over 12 percent% of employees work in Management or Human Resources. Fresh Food and Chilled areas in the shop made up 29 percent% of employees. Ambient, Transport and Operations consisted of 58 percent% of employees.

How old are you? Total
18-24 25-34 35-49 50+ Gender? Male 1 1 3 5 10
Female 3 5 5 4 17
Total 4 6 8 9 27

Participations were asked to fill in their gender and what age they were. The majority or 27 of employees belong to age group of 50+. Second major age group is 35-49 years old. Just over 22 percent% belong to age group 25-34 and nearly 15 percent% belong to age group 18-24. The data presented suggests the organisation has a relatively young workforce.

Female employees (17 female employees or 66.96 % of all respondents) who participated in the survey were 29 % more than male employees who participated in the survey

What department do you work in? Crosstabulation
What department do you work in? Total
Chilled Ambient Transport Operations
/Checkout HR Fresh Food Supervisor Senior Management Gender? Male 0 2 1 0 0 4 1 1 9
Female 3 4 0 7 1 0 0 0 15
Total 3 6 1 7 1 4 1 1 24
The majority of employees 84% are permanent employees and the remaining employees 15.38 percent% are temporary (part time) within the company
How long have you worked in Kelly’s Supervalu? Crosstabulation
How long have you worked in Kelly’s Supervalu? Total
0-6 months 1- 5 years 5-10 years 10+ years Gender? Male 0 4 2 4 10
Female 1 8 3 5 17
Total 1 12 5 9 27

Most of the participants (44.44 %) have been working for the Supervalu from 1 to 5 years. 33% of all participants have been employed for 10 + years. Nearly 50 % of employees have worked up to five years. 18.52 per cent of the employees fall into the category of working with the company between 5 and 10 years.

Almost (96.3%) every employee have completed a performance review in Kelly`s Supervalu. 3.7 % of employees who participated in the questionnaire did not. The appraisal process has many benefits for the workplace this is why it is extremely important that all members of staff take part in the appraisal process.

96 percent% of all employees that have gone through the performance review process in the organisation responded that they have had their performance appraisals within the last 12 months. The remaining percent%age (3.7 percent%) answered that it was between 12- 18 months since their last performance review happened. Fisher (1995) recommends that performance review meetings should be carried out at the least once a year and if they can be done more than that it would benefit the organisation more.

Research Question 1: Do Employees perceive that performance appraisals are important for the company and do they believe that they should be conducted more frequently? Do you think the company should conduct performance appraisals more frequently? Crosstabulation
Do you think the company should conduct performance appraisals more frequently? Total
No Yes Gender? Male 4 6 10
Female 11 6 17
Total 15 12 27

Do you think the company should conduct performance appraisals more frequently? Crosstabulation
Do you think the company should conduct performance appraisals more frequently? Total
No Yes Gender Male 4 6 10
Female 11 6 17
Total 15 12 27
Employees at the organisation were asked “do they think the company should conduct performance appraisals more frequently”, just over 50 percent% of employees felt that once a year was enough. Almost 45 percent% felt that performance appraisals need to be conducted more frequently than once a year. The organisation tries to review most of the employee`s performance within the first four months of the year.

A high number of the employees nearly 82 percent% believed that it was important for the company to conduct performance appraisals. The remaining number of employees thought that it was not important for the company to conduct them. Studies have shown that if employees do not fully understand the process or benefits of the process they do not involve themselves fully or honestly when taking part in the process (Corcoran, 2006).
The organisation needs to make sure all employees fully understand why they conduct performance reviews and the benefits of the process.

The next section will present and discuss the responses given by the employees in relation to why the company conduct performance appraisals. The respondents were given five statements and were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement.
Research Question 2: What perceptions do employees of Kelly`s Supervalu hold about whether performance appraisal is used to evaluate employee pay increase and rewards
Does the company conduct performance appraisals to help determine pay increases and rewards Crosstabulation
To help determine pay increases and rewards Total
Agree Disagree Gender? Male 5 4 9
Female 10 6 16
Total 15 10 25
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .116a 1 .734 Continuity Correction .000 1 1.000 Likelihood Ratio .115 1 .734 Fisher’s Exact Test 1.000 .530
Linear-by-Linear Association .111 1 .739 N of Valid Cases 25 a. 1 cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.60.

b. Computed only for a 2×2 table
The difference is not statically significant because the Pearson’s chi square value is above 0.05.

More than half of respondents believe that the company performs performance appraisals to help determine pay increases and rewards. Prowse (2009) suggested that pay performance scheme will have a positive influence on employee’s individual effort. Sometimes linking appraisals with payment and rewards can weaken the effectiveness of the performance appraisal system. Employees may not want to be open and honest about their problems if they think that it might affect any kind of reward or pay increase.

Nearly 90 % of employees believe that the company performs performance appraisals to review employee performance. Performance appraisal reviews is a good way for the appraiser and appraise to discuss performance. Performance should be looked at and a discussion should happen throughout the year. Tsai and Wang (2013) states that performance appraisals is a crucial tool that managers can use to assess the performance of employees.

The results indicated that over 80 % of employees agreed that performance appraisals help set targets for the coming year. Employees are usually assessed based on how they performed on the targets and specific objectives given to them. They are measured on how well they have performed. (Dessler 2004, 194). This means, that setting objectives plays an important role when it comes to performance appraisal. Employees need to understand how important their role in the organisation. This requires being familiar with the organisation’s vision, and their objectives. The next requirement is being familiar with their personal tasks and knows how to do them. The last necessary prerequisites are having clear objectives and be committed to them. (Sydänmaanlakka 2000, 81)
Research Question Three: Do employees believe that performance appraisal is used as a way to provide feedback, identify strengths and weaknesses and establish training and development needs?
Does the company conduct performance to discuss training and development .Crosstabulation
Count
To discuss training and development Total
Agree Disagree Gender? Male 8 1 9
Female 13 4 17
Total 21 5 26
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .584a 1 .445 Continuity Correction .058 1 .809 Likelihood Ratio .628 1 .428 Fisher’s Exact Test .628 .420
Linear-by-Linear Association .562 1 .454 N of Valid Cases 26 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.73.

b. Computed only for a 2×2 table
The difference is not statically significant because the Pearson’s chi square value is above 0.05.

21 employees agreed one of the reasons why the company conduct performance appraisals was to be able to discuss training and development needs of employees. Training and developing employees is extremely important for any organisation. When the employee is trained to do their role they will perform well. Training and development is one of the most important objectives that should be gotten out of performance reviews. Five5 employees disagree with this statement
The next question the researcher asked was” Does the company conduct performance appraisals to provide an honest discussion between the employee and manger?” Over 95 % of respondents agreed with this statement. This suggests that the employee can openly discuss their feelings or concerns about their employment or workplace to the manager. Employees are more satisfied with the process when they can be honest and open with their manager.

Research Question Four: Are employees satisfied with the current performance appraisal method that is being used?
Are you satisfied with the current performance appraisal method that is being used? * Gender? Crosstabulation
Count
Gender? Total
Male Female Are you satisfied with the current performance appraisal method that is being used? No 3 4 7
Yes 7 13 20
Total 10 17 27
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .137a 1 .711 Continuity Correctionb .000 1 1.000 Likelihood Ratio .136 1 .713 Fisher’s Exact Test 1.000 .525
Linear-by-Linear Association .132 1 .716 N of Valid Cases 27 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 2.59.

b. Computed only for a 2×2 table
The difference is not statically significant because the Pearson’s chi square value is above 0.05

Nearly 75 % of employees suggest that they are satisfied with the current performance appraisal method that the organisation uses suggest that they have a good understanding of the process. Thus the result of this question suggests that the company’s appraisal system is effective. 25 % of employees think that the company needs to change the current performance appraisal method, maybe this is something the human resource management team should look into.

Research question Five: Do employees think that the appraisal process is fair?
The performance appraisal process is fair * How old are you? Crosstabulation
Count
How old are you? Total
18-24 25-34 35-49 50+ The performance appraisal process is fair No 1 2 1 2 6
Yes 3 4 7 6 20
Total 4 6 8 8 26
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .885a 3 .829
Likelihood Ratio .928 3 .819
Linear-by-Linear Association .072 1 .789
N of Valid Cases 26 6 cells (75.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .92.

The difference is not statically significant because the Pearson’s chi square value is above 0.05.
Selvarajan & Cloninger (2012) explained that higher levels of fairness and accuracy can lead to employee appraisal satisfaction and motivation. This will help improve employee performance within the organisation in the future. Performance appraisals need to be seen as fair otherwise employees will not participate fully with the whole process. 77% of respondents feel the PA process as fair while the remaining 23% of employees (nearly five employees) suggest by their answers that they don`t feel that the process is fair. Management of the organisation need to look deeper into this and try to establish why they suggest this.
Denisi & Pritchard, (2006) point out that employee will feel that the process is fair when they
are allowed to participate in the appraisal process. Brown and Benson (2003) maintain that employees will participate better when the performance appraisal process is fair. Pettijohn et al, (2001) concurs that employee participation will lead to job satisfaction and motivation. Mullins (2007) claims that when an employee believes the appraisal process in an organisation might present an opportunity to receive feedback promotion and help with personal development they will be motivated to perform.

Gender? * Performance appraisals increase employee motivation? Crosstabulation
Count
Performance appraisals increase employee motivation? Total
No Yes Gender? Male 1 8 9
Female 4 13 17
Total 5 21 26

When 80 % of employees feel that performance appraisal increase employee motivation they need to have a good understanding of the whole process and need to be getting something out of it. The result of this question clearly positively highlights how the organisation`s current appraisal system is effective in motivating their employees. The organisation needs to make sure that this is the same for the remaining 20 % that don’t feel motivated.

This section will present and discuss the responses given by the employees in relation to what they think of their manager as an appraiser for their department. The respondents were given five statements and were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement.

The first question asked was does their manager conduct all appraisals in a consistent and professional manner. All employees answered yes on this question. Most of the employees that participated in the research find their manager supportive and feel that their opinions are heard. Fisher (1995) states that when there is a good relationship between employee and their manager it will help benefit the performance appraisal process. Having performance meetings with their manager, gives employees the opportunity to discuss their performance and targets. This can help build relationships and improve communication between the employee and manager. Just over 34% of employees feel that their manager does not treat all employees fairly. Considering all the positive feedback from the previous questions in relation to the manager that conducts the appraisal, this has led the researcher to believe that the employees that answered no to this question did not understand the question being asked.
Research Question Six: Do employees perceive that their manager is competent as an appraiser?
Do you feel that the right person is conducting your performance appraisal? Total
No Yes Gender? Male 0 9 9
Female 2 15 17
Total 2 24 26

Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.147a 1 .284 Continuity Correctionb .089 1 .766 Likelihood Ratio 1.787 1 .181 Fisher’s Exact Test .529 .418
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.103 1 .294 N of Valid Cases 26 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .69.

Computed only for a 2×2 table
The difference is not statically significant because the Pearson’s chi square value is above 0.05
Research Question Seven: Are employee’s opinions taken into account and involved in the appraisal process?
My views of my performance were taken into account by my manager when the results of the previous year’s appraisal was assessed? Total
No Yes Gender? Male 1 8 9
Female 4 11 15
Total 5 19 24
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided) Exact Sig. (2-sided) Exact Sig. (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .825a 1 .364 Continuity Correctionb .152 1 .697 Likelihood Ratio .887 1 .346 Fisher’s Exact Test .615 .360
Linear-by-Linear Association .791 1 .374 N of Valid Cases 24 a. 2 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.88.

b. Computed only for a 2×2 table
The difference is not statically significant because the Pearson’s chi square value is above 0.05.

19 members of respondents felt that their views were taken into account by their manager when the previous year’s appraisal was assessed. That accounts for nearly 80%.

Setting objectives and targets is a very important factor that can affect both the employee being appraised and the person/manager that is conducting the process. Objectives that are set need to be both realistic and achievable for the employee. Nelson (2002) states that when an employee is involved with the process of setting objectives and targets they become more motivated. This will also help improve their performance. 85 percent% of employees believe that the targets they were given at their last performance appraisal was fair and achievable
Chapter 5 Conclusions & Recommendations
The aim of this dissertation was to examine how employees of Kelly’s Supervalu perceived performance appraisals. The researcher examined past literature that was based on performance appraisal and area`s that related to the performance appraisal process. When research was examined a survey was conducted on the current appraisal system that Kelly`s Supervalu had in place.

Past and present literature researched on performance appraisal`s reveals that an organisation can benefit greatly by having a good process in place. There is different ways the process can be used and research states that it is important to have a good system in place and when it is used correctly it can have great benefits to the organisation. Employees in the organisation stated that they have completed a performance appraisal within the last year. This suggested that an appraisal meeting is conducted with employees at least once a year. Samelius et al (2014) claims that performance appraisals are one of the most crucial process in HRM. Regular appraisals represent an overall view of each employee`s performance, potential and development needs. (Foot ; Hook 2011, pg 252-254)