Abstract:
In recent times there have been urgent calls for reforms in the public sector, and
thereby certain private sector management techniques have been advocated
to be implemented in the public sector. Special emphasis has been placed on
performance management and thereby performance appraisals in this regard.
However, research and observation show that performance appraisals have
failed in their duty in both the private sector and the public sector in their
design as well as their implementation. Performance appraisals literature
speaks of three models, namely, the rational, political and justice models.
However, they have been researched in isolation and conclusions drawn
socio political nature of performance appraisals within the public sector. The
conceptualization presented in this research attempts, therefore, to combine
the rational, political and justice models of performance appraisals and extend
the current knowledge of performance appraisals. Thereby, a qualitative
approach was adopted based on the post positivist philosophy when conducting
the research. In-depth interviews were used for data collection using two public
sector organizations in Sri Lanka, and thematic analysis was conducted with
appraisal for it to be effective, and also that user interpretation and manipulation
has an impact on the relationship between the due process of performance
appraisal and the purposes of performance appraisals. It further elaborates the
need for the appraisal process to be designed with the end in mind or rather a
retrogressive or backward-looking approach to be adopted. It has also paved
the way to create an extension to the conceptual model originally proposed.
