Determinants of Effectiveness of Employee Performance Appraisal System in Institution of Higher Learning: A Survey of Public Universities in Nakuru County

Abstract

A performance appraisal system is important to any organisational work performance;  it determines the organization’s success or failure. Several studies such as Nzuve (2007), Yee and Chen (2009) define PA as a means of evaluating employees’ work performance over a given period of time. According Horsoo (2010) reports that employees viewed performance appraisal as discriminatory, punitive and judgemental processes, where cronyism and biased considerations dominated objectivity and thus ineffectiveness of the appraisal system.  The main objective of the present study was to assess the effects of job related factors on the effectiveness of employee performance appraisal system in institutions of higher learning in Nakuru County.  The study adopted a survey design.  The study population comprised of all academic personnel in public universities Nakuru County.   A sample size of 224 respondents was selected randomly from a population of 507.  This number was distributed among academic staff across all the departments and sections.  The instrument for collecting data was a questionnaire which was used to collect get both qualitative and quantitative data.  The questionnaire was distributed amongst the all academic staff in public universities in Nakuru County.  A total of 220 out of 224 academic staff completed questionnaires, which represented all public universities in the county with varying demographic backgrounds.  Analysis of quantitative data was done to test hypothesis using the ANOVA and regression analysis.  The results indicated that job related factors (training and development, promotion and tasks in organisation had a positive impact on the effectiveness of employee performance appraisal system among the selected institutions of higher learning in Nakuru County.  An effective performance appraisal system enables organizations realize their goals as well as employees personal growth.

Keywords: Employee performance appraisal system, organisational work performance