at any time before actually receiving an appraisal, were you informed of the criteria that you would be judged by? All three of the interviewees stated that they had never received any information of this type. One even mentioned that the forms had changed from one year to the next so he couldn’t even base his expectations on the previous appraisal. Before even getting into issues of self-image, one must acknowledge that the prerequisite for motivation is the knowledge of what one is supposed to be motivated to achieve. Clearly, in all three cases, the program that used these appraisals as motivational tools failed in this most basic requirement. Has your supervisor ever spoken to you about your view of your job and what you would like to achieve? One of the respondents answered no to this question, while the other two both mentioned that while they had never had the discussion in any other context, their performance appraisals had required them to describe what they would like to accomplish in the upcoming year. One these two people has not had another appraisal since but the other stated that they had recently been appraised and the goals they had been asked to outline had not been revisited. So, apparently some thought went into ascertaining what these individuals would like to achieve, but there was no follow-up nor was there any attempt to discover the motivations behind these goals. Was the feedback received during your appraisal helpful in improving your performance afterward? All three of the people interviewed were very negative in this regard. One stated that he didn’t think his supervisor had any idea of what his job entailed and how well (or poorly) he may have been doing. He said that even though he received a satisfactory pay increase, he found his supervisors lack of knowledge very demoralizing and was actually less motivated after his appraisal. Apparently, recognition and praise motivate this individual as ...
