Performance Appraisal and Management in Australian and New Zealand Organisations

It is now five years since we last reviewed performance management practices and fifteen years since we first began this important research project. Over this period we have witnessed four important developments in human resource management. First, the connection between an organisation’s performance and how it manages its people has now been established empirically: human resource practices directly impact both profitability and shareholder value, and longer term success (Huselid, 1995). Second, we can now demonstrate how people management practices impact performance (Pfeffer, 1998, Buckingham and Coffman, 1999 ). Third, both value creation and competitive advantage are increasingly sourced from our people: knowledge creation and management, relationship establishment and development, and branding and reputation. Fourth, in their search for sustained high performance corporate leaders and managers have realised that there is a war for talent (Chambers et al, 1998) and accordingly are paying considerably greater attention to how they are attracting, developing and retaining people (The Best Employers to Work For, Sydney Morning Herald, 2000).