The Performance of Performance Appraisal Systems: A Theoretical Framework for Public Organizations

• Author: Marta Barbieri,Lorenza Micacchi,Francesco Vidè,Giovanni Valotti
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X211043560
• Published date: 01 March 2023
• Date: 01 March 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X211043560

Review of Public Personnel Administration

2023, Vol. 43(1) 104 –129

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0734371X211043560

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Article

The Performance of

Performance Appraisal

Systems: A Theoretical

Framework for Public

Organizations

Marta Barbieri1, Lorenza Micacchi1,

Francesco Vidè1, and Giovanni Valotti2

Abstract

Performance appraisal (PA) plays a strategic role in public sector human resource

management (HRM), acting as a driver for better performance. Drawing from

previous theoretical research on the social context of performance appraisal systems

and their effectiveness, the study develops a generalizable theoretical framework for

classifying performance appraisal systems according to their structural and process

proximal variables: purpose, rating source, and structured face-to-face feedback

sessions. Through a multiple case study analysis, the theoretical framework has been

applied to a sample of Italian PA systems for senior civil servants, aiming to explore

the relationship between the structural and process proximal variables of PA systems

and rating discriminability, intended as a measurement of performance effectiveness.

The results show that the framework accurately represents the variation of the

design of performance appraisal systems in the Italian context, highlighting the central

role played by multi-source feedback and face-to-face rater-ratee interactions in

promoting rating discriminability.

Keywords

performance appraisal, performance appraisal systems, public administration, rating

discriminability, performance appraisal effectiveness

1SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy

2Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

Corresponding Author:

Francesco Vidè, SDA Bocconi School of Management, Via Lampugnano, 156, Milan 20151, Italy.

Email: francesco.vide@sdabocconi.it

1043560ROPXXX10.1177/0734371X211043560Review of Public Personnel AdministrationBarbieri et al.

research-article2021

Barbieri et al. 105

Introduction

Performance appraisal (PA) systems represent a distinctive function of human resource

management (HRM), used to measure the performance of individuals along a given set

of dimensions (DeNisi & Murphy, 2017). It specifically refers to the assessment of

employee work with a view to outline and foster their performance by defining indi-

vidual strengths and weaknesses (Daley, 1992), and is recognized as one of the most

powerful tools for managing human resources (Murphy & Cleveland, 1995).

Despite its relevance, the academic literature has struggled to define a unique

measure of PA effectiveness (Rubin & Edwards, 2020), defined as the multidimen-

sional construct or ultimate criterion for mapping the success of PA systems (Cardy

& Dobbins, 1994). Measures of PA effectiveness range from quantitative criteria,

such as rating accuracy (Ikramullah et al., 2016) to qualitative ones, related to

employee reactions (Murphy & Cleveland, 1995). Furthermore, measuring PA effec-

tiveness within the public sector is rendered harder by the administrative pursuit of

ambiguous goals (Rainey & Jung, 2015), which are not easily translated into objec-

tive performance measurements, both at the organizational and individual level

(Huber, 1983). Research on public PA systems has primarily focused on merit pay,

which rarely results in better organizational performance and increased employee

motivation (Park & Berry, 2014; Perry et al., 2009), since public employees tend to

be less extrinsically motivated than their private sector counterparts (Belle &

Cantarelli, 2015).

Moreover, previous contributions have relied on different characteristics of PA sys-

tems to explain their effectiveness. Among the numerous variables considered and

nomenclatures adopted, scholars have attempted to introduce theoretical systematiza-

tions (DeNisi & Murphy, 2017), focusing on the social context of the PA and distin-

guishing between structural and process proximal variables of PA systems (Levy &

Williams, 2004).

Drawing upon the contribution by Levy and Williams (2004), this study develops a

theoretical framework for assessing PA systems in public sector organizations, analyz-

ing both the structural and process proximal variables of appraisal systems, as well

as their potential impact on rating discriminability. In doing so, the study intends to

address the research gaps that characterize extant scholarship on PA systems.

Differently from previous research on this topic, this contribution addresses PA effec-

tiveness from an organizational standpoint. Whereas the literature mainly investigates

rating discriminability either at the level of the individual raters (e.g., based on their

ability to differentiate the ratings) or within a single organization (e.g., comparing rat-

ings across raters within the same organization), this article compares rating discrim-

inability across different organizations.

Furthermore, as opposed to other academic systematizations focused on single

variables of PA systems (e.g. Abu-Doleh & Weir, 2007), this study addresses the fol-

lowing research question: How does a specific combination of both structural and

process proximal variables of PA systems affect rating discriminability in different

public organizations? With this aim, the study provides a theoretical framework drawn