ABSTRACT
In many respects, the appraisal of employees is a constant source of concern for the personnel department. Appraising others is, and will remain, a sensitive matter, especially if this appraisal is negative, and this has to be communicated to the person in question. This may activate all kinds of psychological mechanisms (resistance, denial, aggression, discouragement) in the person appraised which can seriously upset the relationship between the assessor and the assessed. Consequently, or in fear of these consequences, the assessor too may be subject to all kinds of psychological mechanisms, which in turn fail to do justice to the objectivity and fairness of the assessment.
