Predictors of participation in performance appraisal: A voluntary system in a blue-collar work environment

Organisations have long acknowledged the value of performance appraisal in both administration decisions and in motivating employees. However, it woul d appear that most empirical research has focused on compulsory systems des igned for use with executives and managers (Bannister and Balkin 1990; Ilge n, Fisher and Taylor 1979; Klein 1989). The reluctance to implement apprais al systems with lower level and base-grade employees may be due to several factors, including employee and union resistance to compulsory systems of a ppraisal (Nankervis 1990). Faced with this problem, appraisal can be viewed by appraisees and appraisers as an 'innovation'. In a climate with growing emphasis on participative management styles, self-regulated or voluntary s ystems of performance appraisal may become increasingly prevalent and impor tant. Thus, 476 base-grade (shop floor) employees of an Australian governme nt business enterprise completed a survey regarding issues such as attitude to performance appraisal, source credibility, system satisfaction, anticip ated feedback, perceived consequences of participation and intention to ent er the system. Roger's (1983) innovation-decision model was utilised in the structure and analysis of the data and provided useful insights regarding the factors which are related to participation in a voluntary system of per formance appraisal. Findings indicated that attitude towards, and support o f, performance appraisal in general, perception of consequences of performa nce appraisal, satisfaction with the supervisor, anticipated feedback, and awareness and knowledge of the system in place in the organisation, were im portant in predicting the decision to adopt or reject the performance appra isal scheme.