ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE AND PERFORMANCE: APPRAISAL AND FAIRNESS

In a changing economic climate, characterised by pressures to improve productivity and reduce costs, performance management has a more central role in helping to ensure competitive advantage. Appraisals have become an almost universal feature of modern organizations and it is essential that they are perceived as fair if they are to bring about commitment to discretionary effort, which is increasingly a key feature in gaining competitive advantage. This paper uses the concept of organizational justice to explore the outcomes, procedures and implementation of appraisal in contemporary organizations. It draws on a range of theoretical frameworks from both philosophy and social science, examines current practices and experiences and looks at future trends. Empirical research includes a ten year longitudinal study of practising managers and ethnography, questionnaires and interviews. It concludes that appraisal frequently creates both actual and perceived injustice in organizations and a tension between managing performance and encouraging engagement, which is dependent on perceptions of fairness.