Performance appraisal : the experiences of nurses working in primary health care clinics

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Performance appraisals is a valuable tool to organisations for evaluation of staff member work productivity, motivating staff members, and subsequently enhancing productivity and service delivery.Organisations have performance appraisal procedure manuals in place; however, the implementation of the performance appraisal processes can be problematic as it could lead to something that is adored by the staff members or a process that is dreaded and leaves staff members disheartened. At the time of the study healthcare institutions in the public sector used The Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) for performance appraisal purposes.The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of nurses working in the primary health care clinics regarding performance appraisal.The objectives were to explore experiences related to: Procedural structure of the performance appraisal interview. The content of the performance appraisal interview. Goal setting during the performance appraisal interview. Practical issues contained in the performance appraisal interview. Feelings of motivation after the performance appraisal interview. Gathering of information on how to improve performance appraisal interviews.The study employed a descriptive design with a qualitative approach. A sample size of n=15 was drawn using purposive sampling. The researcher completed data collection utilizing in-depth interviews and a semi-structured interview guide. Data analysis was completed using the interpretive approach and manual analysis of the data. The trustworthiness of this study was assured using Lincoln and Guba's criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.Study findings: nine themes emerged from the interviews, namely, preparation for the performance appraisal interview; training regarding the performance appraisal interview; the actual interview; frequency of performance appraisal interviews; targets; evidence; monetary reward; capacity building and favouritism.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University