The influence of performance appraisal practices on employee productivity: A case of Muheza District, Tanzania

Abstract

Human resources are the most valuable assets in an organization and as such when effectively managed, they can contribute significantly to employee performance. Performance appraisal has proved to be an effective tool that can enable organizations to realize employee productivity. This paper investigated the Influence of Performance Appraisal Management Practices on Employee Productivity in Muheza District in Tanzania. A sample of 339 employees participated in the study through questionnaires and interviews. Validity was ensured through expert judgment and reliability ranged between 0.682 and 0.955 Cronbach’s Alpha implying all items in the questionnaire were reliable. Descriptive statistics represented mean scores while Pearson Product moment correlational Coefficient evaluated potential relationships between the independent and dependent variables. The findings of this study highlight the fact that performance appraisal tools such as recognition and feedback are vital to employee’s performance and indeed influence employee productivity in the organization. However, surprisingly training and development and promotion did not have a significant effect on employee productivity. The study recommends that to improve employee productivity, training and promotion should focus on increasing employees’ commitment and should be based on performance. Furthermore, raising employee satisfaction through recognition should be used as a tool for maintaining competent employees and screening out less effective.

Keywords: Employee, productivity, performance, appraisal, practices, organization