Editing Performance appraisal (section)

{{Short description|Method to document and evaluate an employee's job performance}}
{{Redirect|Performance evaluation|the academic journal in science|Performance Evaluation{{!}}''Performance Evaluation''}}
{{redirect|Performance review|the television episode|Performance Review}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}

A '''performance appraisal''', also referred to as a '''performance review''', '''performance evaluation''',{{sfn|Howes|Muchinsky|2022|p={{page needed|date=September 2024}}}} '''(career) development discussion''',<ref>{{cite web |title=Conducting the Development Discussion – Manager's Tips |url=http://hrweb.mit.edu/system/files/Conducting%2Bthe%2BDevelopment%2BDiscussion%2B-%2BManager%2BTips_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327021924/http://hrweb.mit.edu/system/files/Conducting%2Bthe%2BDevelopment%2BDiscussion%2B-%2BManager%2BTips_0.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2010 |publisher=MIT Human Resources }}</ref> or '''employee appraisal''', sometimes shortened to "'''PA'''",{{efn|Often also called ''employee performance appraisal'' or ''employee performance review''}} is a periodic and systematic process whereby the job performance of an [[employee]] is documented and evaluated. This is done after employees are trained about work and settle into their jobs. Performance appraisals are a part of [[career development]] and consist of regular reviews of employee performance within [[organization]]s.

Performance appraisals are most often conducted by an employee's immediate [[manager]] or [[line manager]].<ref name="Tyskbo 2020 Line management involvement">{{cite journal |last1=Tyskbo |first1=Daniel |title=Line management involvement in performance appraisal work: Toward a practice-based understanding |journal=Employee Relations|date=8 March 2020 |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=818–844 |doi=10.1108/ER-06-2019-0236 }}</ref> While extensively practiced, annual performance reviews have also been criticized<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Samantha |last2=Tourish |first2=Dennis |title=Agency theory and performance appraisal: How bad theory damages learning and contributes to bad management practice |journal=Management Learning |date=July 2017 |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=271–291 |doi=10.1177/1350507616672736 |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/58816/3/Appraisal%20Revisions%20Sept%202016.pdf }}</ref> as providing feedback too infrequently to be useful, and some critics argue that performance reviews in general do more harm than good. It is an element of the principal-agent framework, that describes the relationship of information between the employer and employee, and in this case the direct effect and response received when a performance review is conducted.<ref name="Waterman Meier 1998 Principal-Agent Models">{{cite journal |last1=Waterman |first1=R. W. |last2=Meier |first2=K. J. |title=Principal-Agent Models: An Expansion? |journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory |date=April 1998 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=173–202 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a024377 }}</ref>