Impact of personal bias on performance of employees in public sector banks

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1924
• Date: 01 May 2019
• Published date: 01 May 2019

ACADEMIC PAPER

Impact of personal bias on performance of employees in public

sector banks

Zhang Wei

1

|Abdul Waheed Siyal

1

|Shaharbano Bhand

1,2

1

School of Management, University of Science

and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, PR

China

2

Department of Economics, University of

Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan

Correspondence

Abdul Waheed Siyal, School of Management,

University of Science and Technology of China,

No 96, JinZai Road Baohe District, Hefei,

Anhui 230026, PR China.

Email: waheed@mail.ustc.edu.cn

Purpose: This study discusses the multitude of challenges that employees in public

sector banks face regarding their annual performance appraisal due to personal bias

exercised by their supervisors.

Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected by interviewing 50 people

working in five leading public sector banks in Pakistan to draw the outcomes of the

present research.

Findings: Problems lie in the implementation and justification of evaluation policies

that affect employees' career growth, progression, and monetary rewards and fringes,

which ultimately hit employees' annual performance appraisal. This study evidences

the record deterioration in progression of employees due to personal bias as the

appraisers give partial evaluations to those with whom they have any differences

and favor their nears and dears or those who are more visible to them or remained in

their good books due to personal reasons. This leads employees to feel unfairly treated

because the evaluation criterion for performance appraisal seems unjust and illogical.

This develops despair, distress, hostility, and distrust among employees when the

appraisals are being conducted. The appraisal system does not differentiate between

performers or nonperformers due to biased evaluations; therefore, decisions on pro-

motions or career progression cannot be based on such appraisals. The problem of

demotivation among employees is also a result of an ineffective performance appraisal

mechanism, as no differentiation exists between star performers and nonperformers.

Practical implications: While considering the prevalent biased evaluation patterns

in public sector banks, requisite changes in appraisal design need to be contemplated

to rectify the process of performance appraisal and cope with employees' despair,

hostility, and distrust.

Originality/value: The paper is an early attempt to investigate impact of supervi-

sors' personal bias on employees' performance management, growth, and progression

in public sector banks.

1|INTRODUCTION

Career growth, progression, and performance incentives remain the

core antecedents to judge employees' job satisfaction (Stringer,

Didham, & Theivananthampillai, 2011), and the role of human

resource management is to ensure an effective and balanced criterion

for all the employees to establish health of an organization (Crossman

& Abou‐Zaki, 2003). Satisfaction level of employees ascertains the

quality of services and overall health of an organization. Extent

research of Heneman, Fay, and Wang (2002); Merchant, Van der

No funding is granted/available to support this research.

Received: 7 February 2019 Accepted: 23 February 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1924

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1924.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1924

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of7