PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Performance Appraisal



Introduction

The FE sector which includes Bournemouth & Poole College of Further Education (B&P) has experienced rapid and significant change as colleges have undergone radical reorganisation following incorporation. The changes have been underpinned with a system which describes the FE role in terms of serving a market and identifies colleges as business within the market. The Education Acts of 1988 and 1992 finished local authority control to enable them to function as business units. They exist in a competitive environment under the auspices of the Further Education Funding Council. The language of business has entered the world of FE. Hard strategic management structures have entered the framework. Gerwitz et al (1995) discuss how deep the professional challenge became with a move from bureau professional to the “new managerialism.” The arena shifted from the public service ethos to a customer orientated culture. Gerwitz outlined strategic decisions made on the basis of professional standards, and value of equity care, and social justice being overridden by efficiency cost effectiveness, and the search for a competitive edge.

The current process of performance appraisal is part of the drive for a competitive edge. The present system at B&P is now much more open and offers some scope for self-appraisal by the employee and the rationale behind the scheme is to provide the customer with the best possible deal. The self-appraisal is followed by a joint discussion with a superior and then a decision is taken by the department head on promotion potential , training and other external needs. The feedback relating to performance is directly given to the employee. Thus performance appraisal process has gone through the phase of non-transparency to transparency. This part of the process appears to be fairly non contentious for B&P staff but it will be checked in survey work to follow in the research method. The definition of employee in this project will be full and Part time academic staff working in the Faculty of Professional and Academic Studies (PAS) In this transparency phase, the performance appraisal at B&P can be defined as a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or bi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. However, the efficacy of this process it is proposed is problematical and again this will be checked in survey work.

B&P has had five Principals' in the last fifteen years and the drive toward business professionalism continues. This is even more so in terms of staff appraisal with the schemes to facilitate this having undergone a number of changes in the last ten years. This Research Project will we examine the Staff Appraisal scheme at B& P College focussing on areas outlined, and will suggest how it can be improved to satisfy the management aim of improving standards by driving ...