Disentangling the purposes of staff appraisal

Abstract

The writing of this paper was prompted by long‐standing controversies surrounding the compilation of Annual Staff Reports (ASRs) in the Civil Service. Following a description of the ASR system the paper discusses the setting of corporate goals in the Civil Service, focusing on the Home Office and in particular the Prison Service, and comments on their relationship to individual objectives. To widen the perspective it then explores the literature of the related topics of management by objectives (MbO) and staff appraisal. Given that MbO was influential mainly in the private business sector, it critically examines the rationale and methods behind the introduction of similar techniques in the public sector. For illustrations of staff appraisal in operation it focuses on developments in two other parts of the non‐traded public sector ‐ the National Health Service and universities ‐ in search of helpful pointers. The paper argues that there is underlying confusion as to the purpose of ASRs. More precisely, the...