Effect of Performance Appraisal on Employee Productivity in a Nigerian University

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of appraisal system in Niger Delta University on employee productivity. The ineffective practice of performance appraisal could affect employee productivity. The methodology employed was a survey study design. During the research process, the population of study comprises about 3478 Academic and non-academic staff. The researcher sampled 3% of the total population using stratified random sampling. In course of investigation, instrument used were self developed questionnaire distributed to 104 respondents of which 102 were retrieved. Correlation coefficient was used to test the hypothesis. There was a significant relationship between performance appraisal and employee productivity and that effective appraisal system could boost the morale of workers especially when they are rated adequately. The findings also revealed that performance criteria also affect the relationship between performance appraisal and employee productivity. Performance appraisal should provide accurate and relevant rating of an employee performance as compared to pre-established criteria. Employees should not be appraised based on their personal trait but on performance variables.