Performance Appraisal Research: A Critical Review of Work on “The Social Context and Politics of Appraisal”

Abstract

This paper reviews existing literatures on the analysis of performance appraisal (PA) paying special attention to those which try to take into account the “social context” of appraisal systems and processes. The special place of political action within these processes is underlined and the different levels at which politics need to be considered in research are outlined. Research on politics is considered and shown to lack an adequate consideration of the social relations involved in the reciprocal interactions between PA tools and processes and users interpretation and manipulation of them.Performance appraisal; Social context; Politics