A SOCIOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE ON JOB-PERFORMANCE

This article presents a perspective on the relation between personalit y,job performance, and performance appraisal. The article is largely d escriptive and discursive, but the key assumptions are primarily data- based. We begin by defining personality in terms of motivation, identi ty, and reputation-as opposed to traits. We then describe the role of social skills in allowing people successfully to pursue their major oc cupational goals. Finally, we suggest that performance appraisals refl ect supervisors' judgments of rewardingness-the degree to which an inc umbent meets or fulfills his or her boss's expectations regarding his or her performance-and these expectations may not necessarily concern the degree to which important organizational goals are met.