HOMEHas Performance Appraisal Failed?
Seems like a simple question, but it doesn't have a simple answer.
If the question is: "Do most performance appraisal systems fail?", then the answer is yes. Most do. That is, if performance appraisal means and consists of a once a year process done TO the employee. Of course that's going to fail, particularly, since that approach comes from the 1900's, and not this millenium.
But it's even more complicated, because in order to answer the general question, one has to ask: "What is the purpose of performance appraisal?" and evaluate it against the things its supposed to accomplish.
Even if the annual review approach doesn't improve future performance, if the primary goal is to have SOME system to protect employers from law suits, and the system is designed to do that, and succeeds, is it a failure?
That's an important issue, and one that has a lot to do with why companies are loathe to scrap performance appraisals.
So, the prior question to ask, is "What is this "thing" for?"
In a nutshell, though, the sobering answer is that if you do a thing badly, as is often the case with annual reviews, the results are...well, bad.
See "Can Performance Appraisals Work?"