ABSTRACT
The role of training in determining the success of an appraisal scheme cannot be overestimated. Fletcher and Williams (1992b) have shown how the effectiveness of performance appraisal is related to the training effort put into it by the organisations concerned. Surveys show that training is offered to appraisers by nearly 80 per cent of UK organisations (Industrial Society, 2001). Unfortunately, this does not mean that the training was taken up by all appraisers; another survey of managers themselves indicated that 30 per cent of them had not been trained (Strebler et al., 2001). Nor does it say anything about the quality of the training. On both these criteria, there is great room for improvement. One of the main failings of appraisal training in the past has been the emphasis on the procedure and paperwork rather than on the process and the skills needed to carry out appraisal in a sensitive and constructive manner. It is, of course, important that everyone knows what the scheme consists of and how it is to be operated, but this is really the easy part. Because it has a high ‘comfort factor’, there is a tendency to focus on the report forms etc. as if they were the main purpose of the exercise, which they are not – in fact, they often just get in the way (Hirsh, 2006).
