The Influence of Performance Appraisal Justice on Employee Job Performance: A Dual Path Model

Abstract

Performance appraisal, as a powerful tool for human resource management, has become an important driving force for organizations to achieve sustainability. However, only when employees believe that a performance appraisal is fair can an organization’s performance appraisal truly work and have a positive impact on employees. Hence, based on social exchange theory and social identity theory, we theorized and validated a dual path model to explore the influence of performance appraisal justice on employee job performance through work engagement and organizational identification. Survey data from 404 Chinese employees and their direct supervisors in high-tech enterprises were analyzed using multiple regression and structural equation modeling. Results indicate that performance appraisal justice of employees has a positive impact on their work engagement, organizational identification, and job performance. In addition, both work engagement and organizational identification of employees partly mediated the relationship between performance appraisal justice and their job performance. Our conclusions mean that when employees perceive justice in organizational performance appraisals, they will actively engage in their daily work and truly identify with their organizations, thus improving job performance, which is conducive to the sustainable development of organizations. The limitations and implications for future research and practice are also discussed.