PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE AT KIBABII UNIVERSITY IN BUNGOMA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Performance appraisal linked to employee performance at Kibabii University is not effectively being used thereby making it a lesser activity of Human Resource Management. The activity is mostly conducted as a mere exercise with no relevance to the journey of individual career growth and improvement. Kibabii University has a weakened system installed to assess and give feedback on employees’ performance to inform and guide their future behavior. As a result, the study sought to investigate the influence of performance appraisal on employee performance at Kibabii University in Bungoma County focusing on evaluation, management by objectives, performance appraisal design and 360 degrees’ appraisal. The anchoring theories were Organizational Justice, Goal Setting and Expectancy. A case study design was adopted on a target population of 400 employees where stratified random sampling was adopted to sample 200 respondents. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data which was analysed through descriptive, correlation and regression statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results indicated a positive and significant influence of evaluation, management by objectives and 360 degrees Appraisal Method on employee performance but positive and not significant influence of performance appraisal design. This significance of the results is that an increase in performance evaluation, management by objectives practices, an improvement in performance appraisal design as well as 360 degrees’ appraisal methods significantly improves employee performance. The study recommends an improvement in the performance appraisal practices in the institution if there is a need to significantly improve employee performance.

Key Words: Appraisal, Evaluation, MOB, Appraisal Design, Employee Performance