Ethical Issues in Performance Appraisal

In the field of management, there exist several issues that significantly determine the employees’ output level. These issues fall in several classes as discussed below.

A. Legal Issues

Such issues are caused by the influence of the employee’s evaluation process by factors that are from outside the control of a manager. They can also, however, be caused by the abuse of power by the management levels in the firm (Aswathappa, 2005, p. 251). As a result of this abuse of power by some management personnel, the evaluations  conducted is not free and fair, leading to the discrimination of some employees, mostly from lower ranks in terms of the hierarchical systems of employment. Hence;

a.Discrimination.

`This refers to the unfair act of favoring the interests of some employees at the expense of others. While carrying out performance evaluations, the employees who rank at a junior level might be subjected to this unethical discriminatory practice (Grote, 1996, p. 330). In most cases, the output of such employees is highly affected. This is because they feel as though not appreciated enough by the firm in which they work. Moreover, employees’ motivation is substantially reduced by such practices.

Just like in other fields, the employees’ rights ought to be conducted while conducting performance evaluations.

 b. Public Policy Issues

These refer to the administrative policies that a firm’s authority (e.g. Top board of governors) provides as a guide to the action of the management and administrative processes in the firm. These are essential as they provide for the fair conduct of a performance evaluation process in a company (Aswathappa, 2005). These provide for the rights and freedoms that employees have. Public policies also provide for the actions that act as a penalty in case any of the rights and freedoms of the employees are breached.

Hence public policy issues are a crucial part of the process of performance evaluation.

c. Contractual Issues.

A contract refers to a legal agreement between two or more parties who agree voluntarily, and in which the crucial element is the completion of the offer and acceptance agreed (Grote, 1996). Some employees in firms are employed on a contractual basis. This face ought to be carefully considered by the management bodies when conducting performance evaluations.

d.  Tort liability issues.

A tort refers to a civil wrong. In most employing authorities, the junior employees are viewed as having tort liability, meaning that the top level management in these companies view them as having no power and authority to express any form of tort subjected towards them (Bowman & Menzel, 1998, p. 48). Though a tort might not necessarily amount to an illegal act, the employees, under the existing laws, have a right to report any form of tort. Moreover, the law provides that any person(s) who suffers a tort, has a right to compensation; in terms of money or as payment of damages suffered by the plaintiff. Hence the management evaluation process should consider the freedom of the employees, irrespective of the hierarchical position.

B. Ethical Issues

Ethics is the codes of conducts that exist in a given society. These aim at defending, systematizing and recommending what amounts to a wrong or a right in any field of profession.

a. Laws and regulations of performance appraisals.

The laws and regulations of performance appraisals prohibit any employing authority from discriminating on any employees irrespective of physical, religious, gender or genetic attributes of the employees (Aswathappa, 2005, p. 593). For example, managers may refrain from performing performance appraisals on the argument that they would not like their employees to judge their careers. Some argue that they would not want to award negative feedback to their employees, arguing that it might be demeaning.

However, failure to be honest on the performance of the employees deceives employees and in the long run, it amounts to harm to not only the employee, but also the manager and also the firm at large (Maddux, 2010, p. 30).

b.   Evaluation errors

These are errors that are occurring when a manager conducts the process of management appraisal in a flawed manner. These can be done in several ways as shown below (Maddux, 2010, p. 32).

i.  Establishment of an arbitrary and unilateral performance standards or goals. This is because the application of false values means that the manager does not effectively communicate with his or her employers.

ii.  Lack of future orientation and lack of knowledge on how to measure success.

iii. Lack of interactive spirit, meaning that such managers do not consider the ideas of others in the organization.

iv.  Lack of the required management attributes required. This results to a lot of conflicts in the organization.

C.  Fairness Issues

For a management appraisal to reflect the true values and output of the employees and the organization in general there must exist several fairness issues that should be unbiased in the form of application. These are:

a. Rating Bias.

n performing a management appraisal, each employee’s contribution to the organizational success counts as of equal importance (Grote, 196, p. 331). Hence, a manager should practice true integral values, and practice no bias in terms of the amount of credit that he or she awards to all the individuals who are employees, irrespective of physical attributes or hierarchical position I the organization. This acts as a motivational tool to the employees since they acquire a feeling of affiliation to their organization. This form of organizational justice offers a multi-dimensional construct that promotes fairness in an organization. In the long run, the output levels of the employees are optimal, and hence, the company brags of growth.

b. Hypocrisy.

Management authorities ought to avoid hypocrisy in conducting the management evaluation task. Moreover, this applies to all employees in general. They are all expected to reflect their true characteristics and attributes under the performance evaluation’s presence as they always do in other instances (Furnham, 2004, p. 67). This is crucial as it aids the management of the organization to have a clear picture of the type of employees it has, their strengths and weaknesses, if any, and to determine the areas on which improvement is required. Hypocrisy ought to be avoided as it reflects a false perception of the image of the organization, both from an internal or external view.

c.  Poor communication.

Communication is a key element for the success of any organization. To promote the efficiency of communication, bureaucracy ought to be implemented in the organization (Maddux, 2010). If a performance is on the basis of bureaucracy, the communication conveyed at all levels is of a true and open perception of the organization. Moreover, the attitude that employees hold towards a management appraisal is changed for the better by the presence of good and effective communication.

In conclusion, the evaluation of employees’ job performance should be a continuous assessment process that takes into account long term improvements. Conducting performance on an annual basis creates loopholes that lead to discrimination of employees who are not in favor with the top management. In addition, there is need to involve junior employees and other stakeholders in planning for performance appraisal programs to allow for cooperation and collective participation. Without doubt, performance appraisal is a useful instrument for businesses and organizations to measure the achievement of their goals. In this regard, it is indispensable in institutional success. However, while performance appraisal encourages employee productivity, it should be regulated through the implementation of transparency policies to avoid abuse of power by the top management and discrimination when rating the performance of employees.