ISSN: 2222-6990
Open access
This empirical study explores academic staff’s feedback on performance appraisal exercises and consequences on job satisfaction at an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) university. Today, amidst the competitive landscape of higher education, performance appraisals play a critical role in shaping employees’ job satisfaction and organisational effectiveness, particularly within private universities and colleges. This is a descriptive study leveraging a quantitative research design. A structured questionnaire was distributed via Google Forms to 88 academic and only 54 responding. The aims is to capture insights into their perceptions and satisfaction levels on the two respective constructs. A purposive sampling technique was deployed in this study. The composite reliability for the two constructs (performance appraisal and job satisfaction) surpassed 0.7; 0.954 and 0.943 respectively. The Cronbach's alpha values for both constructs were also greater than 0.7; 0.944 “performance appraisal” and 0.937 “job satisfaction”. The findings demonstrate that the academic staffs nearly have a balanced score between agreement and disagreement with the performance appraisal exercise but are slightly more negative towards it, with 51.8% (28) expressing disagreement and 48.1% (26) agree. Consequently, 57.4% (31) of participants reported a low level of job satisfaction. This reflects broader concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the appraisal exercise and its impact on job satisfaction. Furthermore, a significant proportion of the academic staff disagreed with the notion that current appraisal practices effectively promote job satisfaction. Thus, critical measures need to be taken to improve the performance appraisal exercise to ensure they are both fair and transparent, fostering a more satisfied and motivated academic staffs. In term of demographic factors such as gender and years of employment, the study also sheds light on varying perceptions among male and female groups. Overall, the study contributes to the ongoing discourse on optimising performance appraisal exercise within ODL settings to better meet the needs and expectations of academic staffs. Further research should explore longitudinal studies on the effectiveness of revised performance appraisal systems and investigate how demographic factors such as age and years of service influence perceptions of fairness and job satisfaction.
Ahuja, K. K., Padhy, P., & Srivastava, G. (2018). Performance appraisal satisfaction & organisational commitment. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(4), 675-692.
Ajibola, K. S., Mukulu, E., & Simiyu, A. (2019). Performance appraisal and employee engagement: Does tenure matter? Evidence from South-West Nigeria. Quest Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 1(2), 146-164.
Ali, W. (2016). Understanding the concept of job satisfaction, measurements, theories, and its significance in the recent organisational environment: A theoretical framework. Archives of Business Research, 4(1).
Al-Jedaia, Y., & Mehrez, A. (2020). The effect of performance appraisal on job performance in the governmental sector: The mediating role of motivation. Management Science Letters, 10(9), 2077-2088.
Bentley, P. J., Coates, H., Dobson, I. R., Goedegebuure, L., & Meek, V. L. (2013). Factors associated with job satisfaction amongst Australian university academics and future workforce implications. Job satisfaction around the academic world, 29-53.
Cappelli, P., & Conyon, M. J. (2018). What Do Performance Appraisals Do? ILR Review, 71(1), 88-116.
Chandhana, K., & Easow, D. T. (2015). Performance appraisal method used in top 10 IT companies-360-degree feedback & balanced scorecard: A Review. Bonfring International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management Science, 5(2), 73- 77.
De Cannière, M. H., De Pelsmacker, P., & Geuens, M. (2009). Relationship quality and the theory of planned behavior models of behavioral intentions and purchase behavior. Journal of business research, 62(1), 82-92.
Dasanayaka, C.H., Abeykoon, C., Ranaweera, R.A.A.S., & Koswatte, I. (2021). The Impact of the Performance Appraisal Process on Job Satisfaction of the Academic Staff in Higher Educational Institutions. Educ. Sci. 11, 623. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100623
Garcia-Bernal, J., Gargallo-Castel, A., Marzo-Navarro, M., & Rivera-Torres, P. (2005). Job satisfaction: empirical evidence of gender differences. Women in Management Review, 20(4), 279-288.
Griffin, K. (2006). Striving for success: A qualitative exploration of competing theories of high-achieving black college students’ academic motivation. Journal of Higher Education, 47, 384–400
Harvey, W., Peterson, R., & McLaughlin, H. (2021). "The impact of employee tenure on organizational performance and innovation in academia." Journal of Organizational Behavior.
Holdsworth, S., & Thomas, I. (2020). Competencies or capabilities in the Australian higher education landscape and its implications for the development and delivery of sustainability education. Higher Education Research & Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/
Ibeogu, P. H., & Ozturen, A. (2015). Perception of justice in performance appraisal and effect on satisfaction: Empirical findings from Northern Cyprus Banks. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 964-969.
Iqbal, M. Z., Akbar, S., & Budhwar, P. (2015). Effectiveness of performance appraisal: An integrated framework. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(4), 510-533.
Jensen, T., Howard, M., & Neely, P. (2022). "The Relationship Between Performance Appraisals and Job Satisfaction in the Academic Environment." Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability.
Johnson, W. B., Smith, D. G., & Turner, S. C. (2018). "Age-related patterns in faculty hiring and career advancement in higher education." Research in Higher Education.
Kim, T., & Holzer, M. (2016). Public employees and performance appraisal: A study of antecedents to employees’ perception of the process. Review of Public Personnel Administration. Sage Journals, 36(1), 31-56.
Kim, T., & Holzer, M. (2016). Public employees and performance appraisal: A study of antecedents to employees’ perception of the process. Review of Public Personnel Administration. Sage Journals, 36(1), 31-56.
Klein, S., & Nguyen, C. (2021). "Perceived Fairness in Performance Appraisals and Its Effect on Employee Outcomes: A Gender Perspective." Journal of Business Ethics.
Kotter, J. P. (2017). Leading Change with a New Preface by the Author. Harvard Business Review Press.
Lee, J., & Won, D. (2021). "Work-Life Balance in Academia: Relation to Job Satisfaction and Performance." Journal of Educational Psychology.
Lopez, M., & Scott, D. (2023). "Recognition Disparity: Exploring Gender Bias in Employee Acknowledgment Practices." Journal of Organizational Behavior.
Mahmoud, A. B., & Reisel, W. D. (2015). Exploring personal experience of wartime crisis effects on job insecurity in Syria. Psihologia Resurselor Umane, 13(2), 245-256.
Mahmoud, A. B., & Reisel, W. D. (2014). Relating patient satisfaction to nurses' job satisfaction, job security, and obedience OCBs. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 8(1), 47-61. doi:10.1108/ijphm-01-2013-0001
Mahmoud, A. B., Sitladin, M., Tehseen, S., Fuxman, L., Reisel, W. D., Purkayastha, H., & Grigoriou, N. (2020). Job satisfaction as a mediator between performance appraisal effectiveness and organisational outcomes in the Caribbean. British Academy of management.
Marschke, R., Laursen, S., Nielsen, J. M., & Rankin, P. (2017). "Gender differences in the academic staffing of higher education institutions." Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management.
Martin, L., & Cullen, J. (2023). "Reforming Academic Performance Appraisal Systems for Enhanced Staff Satisfaction." Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education.
Memon, M. A., Salleh, R., Mirza, M. Z., Cheah, J. H., Ting, H., & Ahmad, M. S. (2019). Performance appraisal satisfaction and turnover intention: The mediating role of work engagement. Management Decision.
Munyengabe, S., Yiyi, Z., Haiyan, H. & Jiefei, S. (2017). Similarities and Differences in Factors and Levels Associated with Lecturers’ Motivation and Job Satisfaction. A Comparative Study between Rwanda and China. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 12(5), 945-964.
Nair, M. S., & Salleh, R. (2015). Linking Performance Appraisal Justice, Trust, And Employee Engagement: A Conceptual Framework. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences,211, 1155-1162.
Park, S. (2014). Motivation of public managers as raters in performance appraisal: Developing a model of rater motivation. Public Personnel Management, 43(4), 387-414.
Park, J., & Burgess, J. (2020). "The Impact of Gender on the Effectiveness of Performance Appraisals." Performance Management Review.
Peterson, R. (2022). "Exploring turnover intentions among early-career academics: The impact of organizational support and career prospects." Journal of Higher Education Management.
Prasad, P. (2015). Performance appraisal: An empirical study to understand job satisfaction and motivation of personnel through the system. International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS), 2(4), 118-125.
Ramirez, Y., & Richardson, J. (2018). "Gender Inequality and Career Advancement in Academia: The Mediating Role of Performance Appraisal." Journal of Gender Studies.
Reisel, W. D., Probst, T.M., Chia, S. L., Maloles, C. M., & König, C. J. (2010). The effects of job insecurity on job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviour, deviant behaviour, and negative emotions of employees. International Studies of Management & Organization, 40(1), 74-91.
Sanyal, M. K., Biswas, S. B., & Ghosh, R. (2017). Implication of Performance Appraisal process on Employee Engagement Mediated Through the Development and Innovation Oriented Culture: A Study on the Software Professionals of IT Companies in West Bengal. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Communication (pp. 277-294). Springer, Singapore.
Sullivan, P., & Bhattacharya, D. (2020). "Factors Influencing Faculty Job Satisfaction: Insights from American Universities." Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management.
Teckchandani, A., & Pichler, S. (2015). Quality results from performance appraisals. Industrial Management, 57(4).
Thompson, J., Smith, H., & Lindsay, A. (2022). "The Evolutionary Mismatch of Performance Appraisals and Role Complexity in Higher Education." Journal of Educational Administration.
Usop, A. M., Askandar, D. K., Langguyuan-Kadtong, M. (2013). Work performance and job satisfaction among teachers. Int. J. Humanit. Soc. Sci., 3, 245–252.
Wang, X., Li, C., Chen, Y., Zheng, C., Zhang, F., Huang, Y., & Birch, S. (2022). Relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, burnout and job performance of healthcare professionals in a district-level health care system of Shenzhen, China. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 992258.
Webber, K. L. (2019). Does the environment matter? Faculty satisfaction at 4-year colleges and universities in the USA. Higher Education, 78(2), 323–343.
Musa, N., Siew, W. H., Zakaria, A., Khan, B. N. A., Ismail, Z., & Zakariah, Z. (2024). Academic Staff’s Feedback on Performance Appraisal Exercise and their Job Satisfaction in ODL Institution. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(10), 17–33.
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode