Personnel Evaluation

Personnel evaluation in an important component of the performance management process in organizations. Also referred to as a performance appraisal, it provides developmental feedback for increasing competence, enhancing performance, and making personnel decisions such as distributing rewards. These activities are expected to contribute to an overall improvement in organizational effectiveness. Because of its perceived importance, research on evaluating personnel performance has been a major focus of organizational scholars and practitioners since the first half of the 20th century. More recently, however, the validity of personnel evaluations and the overall effectiveness of traditional approaches to them have been challenged, and alternative approaches to performance management have been proposed. This entry describes the key approaches to personnel performance evaluation, challenges to ensuring the effectiveness of the evaluation ...