The Development of Behavior-Based Performance Appraisal Processes in Smaller Local Governments: Lessons from a Case Study

Abstract

Managers in the public and private sectors alike seem to be engaged in a neverending search for an evaluation instrument that at once minimizes bias and subjectivity, promotes employee motivation and individual productivity, and maximizes the achievement of effectiveness and efficiency. Their search is anything but complete. While many different methods have been developed for the conduct of this vital organizational function, no single approach has emerged as the dominant practice in government (Gioia, Donnellon, and Sims, 1989). Moreover, the search for perfection in performance appraisal seems quite futile, given the existence of a great deal of diversity and complexity in organizations and organizational settings (Lovrich, 1990). No single technique or one best way is applicable to all situations (Tyer, 1983). Despite the lack of overall consensus on the specific type of performance appraisal that can .be judged the ideal, specialists in personnel management are agreed on the desirability of certain fundamental aspects of the performance appraisal process. For example, it is uniformly believed that trait-based