HOMEIs Performance Appraisal An Outdated, Antiquated System?
It's not an outdated concept -- performance appraisal, but the methods used are often outdated and ill considered and based on some assumptions that are more appropriate for the workplace one hundred years ago.
The argument put forth by many of the "experts" on managing performance goes like this:
Performance appraisal was developed based on Taylorism, or "scientific management", in the late 1800's so it can't possibly be useful now. And that's a good argument, but it's based on the assumption that we can't change HOW we do it, rather than throw the baby out with the bath water.
Would it be that difficult to alter how performance reviews are done to reflect that companies no longer "own" employees, and can do with them what they will? Is it that difficult to move away from manager does TO employee, and to a more cooperative approach at setting goals, and measuring them?
Conceptually, it's not difficult at all.
One of the fundamental flaws coming from the "scrap performance appraisals" camp is that we need to kill it off rather than use it within a modern management framework. That's really like saying that because the original automobiles would be almost useless today, we should get rid of all cars. Of course, what happened is that cars are constantly being altered and improved to reflect the needs of car operators and buyers.
Unfortunately, we haven't done that with appraisals, or rather we've changed things cosmetically (forms, descriptions, metrics), but they haven't modified them to integrate into a modern understanding of management, and the nature of work.