Historically, performance appraisals have been used by companies for a variety of different purposes, including salary recommendations, promotion and layoff decisions, and training recommendations (Kulik, 2004). In general, “performance elements tell employees what they have to do and standards tell them how well they have to do it” (United States Department of the Interior, 2004). This broad definition, however, can allow for appraisals to be ineffective, even detrimental, to employee performance. “Second only to firing an employee, managers cite performance appraisal as the task they dislike the most”, and employees generally have a similar disposition (Heathfield, Performance Appraisals Don't Work). One key item that is often forgotten during the appraisal process (by managers and employees alike) is that the appraisal is for improvement, not blame or harsh criticism (Bacal, 1999).
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