Assignment 2 RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Assignment # 2

Research Proposal

Impact of performance appraisal on employee motivation

Submitted by: Anum Ahmed Sajan (6258)

Submitted to: Syed Faisal Ali

Table of Contents
Contents:
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Research problem statement
4. Objective of Study
5. Literature Review
6. Hypothesis
7. Methodology
8. Participants
9. Instrumentation
10. References

ABSTRACT:
The aim of this research proposal is to evaluate the impact of performance appraisal approach on
employees motivation and also investigates the relation between performance appraisal and employees
motivation
Performance appraisal is a comparatively new approach to assess employees performance. It is
commonly used in organizations to bring successive change in employee performance, and it is an
opportunity for employees to participate and resolve all kinds of work related matters including wages, job
recognition. The main objectives of this review for employers are to identify the areas of employees
training and development needs.
KEYWORDS: Performance appraisal, Motivation, Employee involvement.
INTRODUCTION:
Before going to make a concept of performance appraisal system clarify it is necessary to have brief
introduction of performance appraisal system.
Appraisal system is a review exercise of assessing employees that how they are progressing on job front.
The process, observes, measures for appropriate training and development, and assesses the
performance of employees at workplace.
The key uses of appraisal system at workplace are to weigh up decision and develop decision. And it is
also an instrument to give confidence and praised strong performer to continue their outstanding
performance and motivate poor performer to do better job at workplace overall it is an opportunity for
employees to improves their working lives. It gives chance to employees to meet high level management
in organization to discuss their experiences and provides better chance of self evaluation in which area
they need to cover by training and development. Performance appraisal is also a technique for employers
to protect themselves against favoritism claims and distribute awards fairly.
It is important for the top management to develop strong relationship between the organization and
employees to fulfill the continuous changing needs of both parties. Organizations expect employees to
follow the rules and regulations, work according to the standards set for them, and the employees expect
good working conditions, fair pay, fair treatment, secure career, power and involvement in decisions.
These expectations of both parties vary from organization to organization.
Interestingly, performance appraisal is a very controversial managerial issue. Some researchers have
expressed doubts about the validity and reliability of the process. On the other hand, there are advocates
of performance appraisal who claim that it may well be the most critical of all Performance Appraisal
and Motivation. Motivational research conducted by many theorists including Elton Mayo Frederick Taylor,
who have recognized the power of recognition as an incentive (Maslow and theExpectancy Theory of
Motivation). Performance appraisals provide employees with recognition for their work efforts. The
appraisal system provides the supervisor with an opportunity to indicate to employees that the
organization is interested in their performance and development. This recognition can have a positive
motivational influence on the individual's sense of
worth, commitment and belonging.
RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT:
What are the effects of performance appraisal on employee motivation?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

The study sought to find out the relationship between performance appraisal and employee motivation.
Specifically, the study found out the methods of appraisal used by the institutions and the level of
employee involvement in the appraisal process. The study also examined the effect of employee
involvement and the manager-subordinate relationship in the appraisal process.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
Performance appraisal is the evaluation of an individuals work performance in order to arrive at objective
personnel decisions (Robbins et al, 2000). It is also the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording
information about the relative worth of an employee (Dowling, Welch and Schuler, 1999; Moorhead and
Griffin, 1992). Thus, performance appraisal is a planned interaction between employees and their
supervisors during which the former examine the performance of the latter to identify strengths and
weaknesses with the view to improving future performance.

The theoretical bases of PAS are equity and expectancy theories (Kellough and Nigro, 2002; Perry, 2003;
Risher, 2002; Vroom, 1964) and path-goal theory (Armstrong, 2006). Adams (1965) formulated the equity
approach as an appropriate way to effective supervision. Equity simply means fairness. Workers are
motivated when they discover that they are treated fairly in compensation, promotion and that there is
transparency in their evaluations. Workers reduce their efforts if they feel that they are treated inequitably
(Fulk, Brief and Barr, 1985; Hyde, 2005).Expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) indicates that employees will
be motivated to exert high level of effort when they believe that their efforts will lead to higher
performance (expectancy),higher performance will lead to rewards (instrumentality)and rewards are
valuable to them (valence).This effort will lead to good performance appraisal and followed by
organization rewards such as bonus, salary increment or promotion which later satisfy personal goals
(Vroom, 1964). Goal setting theory (Locke and Latham, 1979) states that motivation and performance are
higher when individuals are giving specific goals, when goals are difficult but accepted and when there is
feedback on performance. Motivation and performance will improve if people have challenging but agreed
goals and receive feedback (Armstrong, 2006).

There are numerous methods for measuring employees performance but some of these methods are
not suitable in some cases. Effective appraisal system should address clarity, openness and fairness,
recognize productivity through rewards and be cognizant of appraiser leadership qualities (Winston and
Creamer, 1997). Decenzo and Robbins (1998) denominate three approaches to performance appraisal:
absolute standards, relative standards and management by objectives. The absolute standards are
appraisal methods through which employees performances are compared to a standard and their
evaluation is independent of any other employee in a work group (Dessler, 2000). Relative standards are
appraisal methods where performances of individuals are compared against other individuals.
Management by objectives are where employees are evaluated on how well they accomplished a specific
set of objectives that have been determined to be critical in the successful completion of their job. If
employees are not given sufficient explanation of the method by which qualifications are evaluated at the
end of the year, if even need may be considered unfair. Employees must not only meet the standard, but
also must know the outcome of the interview that the decision of how and in what has been done.

HYPOTHESIS:
H0: There is a relationship between performance appraisal and employee motivation.
H1: There is no relationship between performance appraisal and employee motivation.

METHODOLOGY:
To find out employees motivation level towards performance appraisal and impact of performance
appraisal on employees motivation, and to determine the relationship between the both. The chapter
shows the design methodology of research and I will use here as a theoretical framework to describe the

research methodology. There are two common approaches being used to explain the reasons behind the
application of theory in research is deductive and inductive approaches.The deductive approach involves
developing a theory or hypothesis first and then design a research strategy in order to test them.And the
inductive approach is collecting preliminary data and the theory is developed based on evaluation of data
collected.The inductive process of data collection method commonly used in qualitative research.
(Mackenzie, J. 2005).
Research strategy is a plan of how the researcher will answer the research question.The selection of
research strategy facilitates the researcher to collect enough date to be necessary to achieve the
research objectives.Some of the most prominent and widely used strategies are experiment, survey, case
study, grounded theory and result of the action (Saunders et al., 2000) I will use the case study strategy in
order to meet the goal of my research.

PARTICIPANTS:
Participants will be individual and businessman, age 20-50 located in Karachi.

INSTRUMENTATIONS:
Our main data collection instrument is questionnaires consisting of structured closed and open-ended
questions. It is selected due to easy access It covers the survey and personal interview.

REFERENCES:
1. Examination of the Impact of Appraisal on Employees at Workplace By lalzada24100, November 2008 |
10 Pages (2,406 Words) |.
2.Mushin Lee; Byoungho Son, (1998), The effects of appraisal review content on employee's reaction and
performance, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. :1, pp. 203 - 214 To visit
this article click on following link: URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/095851998341279.
3. Swan, William S., (1991) How to do Superior Performance Appraisal, Toronto, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
4. Relationship between Rewards and Employee Motivation By toseg2001, March 2011 | 8
Pages (1,955 Words) | .
5. http://studygalaxy.com/ordinaryview2.php?rep=261
6. ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Vol.2 Issue 6 June 2012, ISSN 2231 5780.

7. A STUDY ON IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROGRAM ON EMPLOYEES IN

SURGICAL EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTORS by Rinosha Banu on Thursday 13 September 2012.

The effects of motivation on organizational performance An investigation on public

organizations in Kenya

1.0 Overview
This study proposes to explore the effects ofmotivation on the performance of the
employees working in public sector in Kenya. Several previous studies have already proven the
interplay between motivation andorganizational performance and most organizations confirm
the results. However, there are several emergent influencers of motivation today that affect the
employees performance. Organizations from different industries have different organizational
structures and functions, and thepublic organizations in Kenya are not an exemption. It would
be then desirable to dig deeper into which among the several factors influence performance
of Kenyan employees working for public organizations.
The contemporary organizations including both public and private have
witnessed changes that require the shift on organizational mindset. Organizational performance
at individual, collegial and organization levels are being jeopardized and subjected to such
changes. Specifically, as public organizations became larger, more complex and more
problematic, concerns about organizational performance competenciesdevelopment and how it
could likely to impact culture and direction of the organization have been in the forefronts of
business dialogues. There had been much talk about the role of motivation and
their development but very little has been done on developing motivation-based performance
and much little progress on investigating organizational performance and its relative effect
on employees working in the public setting particularly in Kenya.

Common to all organizations is the fact that they are relying on their people for the
continued survival and existence of their organization. People, or the employees, are the key in
sustaining the organization and this importance in their role gives responsibility to the
organization to motivate them so as they can function more effec6ively. Motivation gives
impetus to behavior by means of arousing, sustaining and directing such towards a thriving
attainment of goals. Therefore, motivation is directly related with performance. Performance
refers to the working effectiveness by which the employees does their job and judged according
to their effectiveness and relevance.
2.0 Research Aim and Objectives
The main aim of this study is to evaluate and confirm the effects of motivation on the
performance of Kenyan employees working in the public sector. In lieu with this, the following
research objectives will be addressed.

Assess the importance of motivation as taken from the perspectives of the employees
working in the public sector

Evaluate in what specific aspects of organizational performance does motivation plays

greater role

Analyze how public organizations motivate their people to enhance performance

3.0 Statement of the Problem

While many organizations believe that motivation will positively affect the performance of
the employees and the organization as a whole, the changing nature of organizations, its
dynamics and structure could affect the delivery of motivation. Likewise, how sectoral approach
to motivation should be investigated on how such approach will impact the performance of the
employees.
4.0 Methodology
The study will explore the problem in an interpretative view, using a descriptive approach
which uses observation and surveys. To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell
(1994) will guide the researcher when he stated: Descriptive method of research is to gather
information about the present existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to
describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s
of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the
desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate
rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.
Primary and secondary research will be integrated. The reason for this is to be able to
provide adequate discussion for the readers that will help them understand more about the
issue and the different variables that involve with it. In the primary research, public managers
will be surveyed. A structured questionnaire will be developed and it will be used as the survey
tool for the study. On the other hand, sources in secondary research will include previous

research reports, newspaper, magazine and journal content. Existing findings on journals and
existing knowledge on books will be used as secondary research. The interpretation will be
conducted which can account as qualitative in nature.
5.0 References
Creswell, J W 1994, Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches, Sage
Publications, Thousand Oaks, California.
6.0 Timeframe
TASK

Weeks
1st

Read Literature
Finalize Objectives
Draft Literature
Review
Devise Research
Approach
Review Secondary
Data
Organize Survey
Develop Survey
Questions
Conduct Survey
Analyze secondary &
primary data
Evaluate data
Draft Findings
Chapter
Complete remaining

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

chapters
Submit to tutor and
await feedback
Revise draft and
format for submission
Print, Bind
Submit