A New Paradigm in Performance Management

Annual staff appraisals in various guises have been part of the corporate calendar for many years but now, many organisations are reconsidering their usefulness – this article explains why and how performance reviews are changing.

Up to the 1970s, organisations were largely command and control structures, delegating tasks and checking completion. Departments often worked in silos and the best route to promotion was keeping your nose clean and creeping up to the boss. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the corporate world was rocked by a wave of management gurus, such as Peter Drucker and Tom Peters, who encouraged employers to think in terms of mission, vision and values and get employees to understand their role in achieving corporate goals - enter the era of appraisals.