Performance Appraisals--An Opportunity for Improved Management

This article appeared in the GAO Review, Vol. 15, Issue 1, Winter 1980. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 requires federal agencies to use performance appraisals as the basis for such personnel actions as training, rewards, reassignment, promotion, reduction in grade, and removal. Agency performance appraisal systems must provide for: encouragement of employee participation in setting performance standards; use of the standards as the basis for appraisals; communication of the standards and critical job elements to employees at the outset of the appraisal period; and helping employees improve performance. GAO is required under the Act to spotcheck agency appraisal systems and report its findings to the Office of Personnel Management. In discharging this responsibility, GAO will consider several factors. First, the traditional trait-based systems which Federal agencies have been using should be avoided. The appraisals should be diverse enough to serve the different management functions for which they are intended. Training in administering the appraisals should be thorough. Managers should be motivated to use the system and the system itself should be evaluated to determine if it is achieving its goals. Much time, resources, and expertise should be spent designing, implementing, and administering performance appraisal systems to ensure that the link between appraisals and personnel actions is as clear, fair, and objective as possible.