Premium
Doing it for themselves? P erformance appraisal in project‐based organisations, the role of employees, and challenges to theory
Author(s) -
Keegan Anne,
Den Hartog Deanne
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
human resource management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.44
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1748-8583
pISSN - 0954-5395
DOI - 10.1111/1748-8583.12216
Subject(s) - performance appraisal , human resource management , context (archaeology) , knowledge management , line management , human resources , business , equity (law) , transparency (behavior) , process (computing) , social exchange theory , resource (disambiguation) , project appraisal , process management , public relations , management , computer science , psychology , political science , economics , finance , social psychology , computer network , law , biology , operating system , paleontology , computer security
We explore performance appraisal in project‐based organisations and provide novel insights into appraisal processes in this context. These include the central role of employees in orchestrating the appraisal process, the multiple actors that have input to appraisal including project managers, the distance between employees and their official line managers, and the weak coordinating role of human resource specialists in these systems. We draw attention to the drawbacks of current theorising on appraisal to predict and explain outcomes from appraisal systems that are not premised on stable line manager/employee dyads. Theorising based primarily on social exchange theories needs to be reconsidered in this context and new theories developed. We also question how human resource specialists can better support employees, and managers of all kinds, in their implementation roles in polyadic human resource management systems to ensure transparency, equity, and fairness of appraisal processes in a project‐based organisational context.