PARTICIPANTS REACTIONS TO SUBORDINATE APPRAISAL OF MANAGERS - RESULTSOF A PILOT

Practitioners and scholars alike have proposed the use of subordinate appraisal of managers (SAM) as part of a multiple appraisal system. Th is paper reports the results of a study conducted in the Dade County P ublic School System to assess SAM's impact on central office administr ators-subordinates as well as supervisors. Subordinate ratings of supe rvisors were obtained on 19 managerial competencies. A performance pro file was sent to each supervisor rated by at least three subordinates. Subsequently, participants were given an opinion survey in order to a ssess SAM's impact on them. Results of a factor analysis of subordinat es' (n = 94) mean scores on the opinion survey indicated that there ar e three dimensions of SAM's impact on participants: overall acceptance of SAM, perceived validity of SAM, and perceived accuracy of subordin ate ratings. Overall, the majority of participants: 1) expressed their approval of SAM for self-development-only subordinates supported it f or evaluation purposes; 2) thought that SAM provided valid ratings; an d 3) believed that subordinate ratings were accurate. Finally, the maj ority of participants did not think that SAM would have adverse effect s on the supervisor-subordinate relationship.