EMPLOYEES PERCEPTION TOWARDS

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

ATUFLEX LIMITED

Summer Internship Project Report Submitted towards Partial

Fulfilment of

Post Graduate Diploma in Management

(Approved by AICTE, Govt. of India)

Academic Session

2011 – 2013

Submitted By:

Under the Guidance of:

Industry Guide Faculty Guide

CERTIFICATE OF DECLARATION

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I Ravi Shankar Dwivedy students of PGDM (2011-2013) 1st Year, Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad, hereby declare that the project report on “Employees perception towards performance appraisal at UFlex limited” has been done under the guidance and involvement OF …............................................................................................................................................................... for the period 20th April 2012 to 21st June 2012.

All information and data provided in this report are collected from primary and secondary

sources that are true to the best of my knowledge.

Date:

------------------------------

Student: Ravi Shankar Dwivedy

BM-011171

Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad.

PREFACE

Training is an integral part of our academic curriculum. During the training a student gets an opportunity to set the practical aspects of theory. Training makes the concept clear and it gives the perfect knowledge of the practical life.

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This project is the outcome of the training that I have undergone for “EMPLOYEES PERCEPTION TOWARDS PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL IN UFLEX LIMITED”.

Due to short span of time I analyzed a proper number of employees to fulfill my requirements of the project work through questionnaire and personal interview.

I offer my courteous thanks to ….............................for their guidance and help which they provided me while preparing this project report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMNT

It gives us immense pleasure and satisfaction in expressing our gratitude towards all individuals who

have indirectly helped us in this project report.

Working on this project was an excitement challenge and a new exposure in the field of marketing at

the outset we would like acknowledge our special thanks to

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…..................................................................................................................................................

.......................................... for his invaluable help and guidance without which this project would

not have been successful .

TABLE OF CONTENT

S.No. Topic Pages1 Executive Synopsis 8-92 Introduction 10-243 Company Profile 25-364 Objective 375 Literature Review 38-456 Research

Methodology46-47

7 Finding and Analysis 48-578 Statistical Tool 58-659 Conclusion &

Recommendation66

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10 Limitation 6711 Bibliography 6812 Annexure 69-70

Tables and Graphs

Fig & Tab. No.

Topic Page No.

Fig. 1 360 degree appraisal 17Fig. 2 MBO process 18Fig. 3 Potrait of Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman,

Uflex27

Fig. 4 Process plant of engg. Divison 33Fig. 5 Process model of chemical plant 34Fig. 6 Process plant of chemical divison 36Fig. 7 Graph showing performance monitoring 49Fig.8 Graph showing performance appraisal does

not contribute to job performance.50

Fig.9 Graph showing performance goals are clearly

defined in the process of appraisal.

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Fig. 10 Graph showing the performance appraisal is 52

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helpful in reducing grievance among the employees.

Fig. 11 Graph showing I do not need feedback to monitor my performance

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Fig.12 Graph showing the performance appraisal is helpful for improving personnel skill.

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Fig. 13 Graph showing promotion is purely based on performance appraisal.

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Fig. 14 Graph showing appraisal increases career growth.

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Fig. 15 Graph showing appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

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Table 1 Chi square on Performance appraisal improves job performance.

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Table 2 Chi square on the assessment of performance motivates to work harder.

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Table 3 Chi square on performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal.

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Table 4 Chi square on performance appraisal provides me with the opportunity to set personal goals.

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EXECUTIVE SYNOPSIS

The report embarks on the introduction about the company that is profile of the company,

HR departments, its products and services, business and quality policies of UFLEX.

In today’s competitive scenario, when ‘achiever more with less and in minimum time’ is mantra to

success, every organization is using Performance Appraisal for their employees.

The project is undertaken to study the perception of employees towards Performance

Appraisal at UFLEX.

Analysis helped to know that how the use of performance appraisals helpful for any of the

organization.

In order to know the impact of Performance , the survey questionnaire and the data provided

by the HR department was the primary source of data.

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Then the report leads to findings, suggestions, learning and conclusions followed by

references at the end of the report.

The company profile is followed organization structure, introduction to the topic. i.e.

benefits and impact of performance appraisal in employees.. In today’s era, performance

appraisal has become an integral part of organization and is playing its critical role in employees

performance.

Human resource management (HRM) conducts performance management. Performance

management systems consist of the activities and/or processes embraced by an organization

in anticipation of improving employee performance, and therefore, organizational

performance. Consequently, performance management is conducted at the organizational

level and the individual level whereas performance appraisal is for assessing employees to

know their strengths and weaknesses. It is done by HR managers to get the feedback of the

employees.

Performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual

employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria

and organizational objectives. Other aspects of individual employees are considered as well,

such as, accomplishments, potential for future improvement, strengths and weaknesses,

etc. To collect performance appraisal data, there are three main methods: objective

production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most

commonly used with a large variety of evaluation methods. A performance appraisal is

typically conducted annually. The interview could function as “providing feedback to

employees, counselling and developing employees, and conveying and discussing

compensation, job status, or disciplinary decisions”. Performance appraisal is often included

in performance management systems. Performance management systems are employed “to

manage and align" all of an organization's resources in order to achieve highest possible

performance.

It facilitates the communication between the employees, enhances the employees to focus

through promoting trust. It helps in goal setting and determining the objectives and also to

enhance their performance. Performance appraisals are conducted at least annually, and

annual employee performance reviews appear to be the standard in most American

organizations. However, “it has been acknowledged that appraisals conducted more

frequently (more than once a year) may have positive implications for both the organization

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and employee.” It is suggested that regular performance feedback provided to employees

may quell any unexpected and/or surprising feedback to year-end discussions.

During the internship in Uflex limited I found that the employees are more focused towards

their work. And their performance shows their leniency towards work and how they are

making their selves to work in that competitive environment. As Uflex has their major

business in packaging sector so they need a huge number of employees to earn their goal

and to be capable to survive in the competitive world.

Numerous researchers have reported that many employees are not satisfied with their

performance appraisal (PA) systems. Studies have shown that subjectivity as well as

appraiser bias is often a problem perceived by as many as half of employees. Appraiser

bias, however, appears to be perceived as more of a problem in government and public

sector organizations. Also, according to some studies, employees wished to see changes in

the PA system by making “the system more objective, improving the feedback process, and

increasing the frequency of review.”

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION

A performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objectives. Other aspects of individual employees are considered as well, such as, accomplishments, potential for future improvement, strengths and weaknesses, etc. To collect performance appraisal data, there are three main methods: objective production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most commonly used with a large variety of evaluation methods. A performance appraisal is typically conducted annually. The interview could function as “providing feedback to employees, counselling and developing employees, and conveying and discussing compensation, job status, or disciplinary decisions”. Performance appraisal is often included in performance management systems. Performance management systems are employed “to manage and align" all of an organization's resources in order to achieve highest possible performance. “How performance is managed in an organization determines to a large extent the success or failure of the organization. Therefore, improving performance appraisal for everyone should be among the highest priorities of contemporary” organizations.

Some applications of performance appraisal are performance improvement, promotions, termination, test validation, and more while there are many potential benefits of performance appraisal, there are also some potential drawbacks. For example, performance appraisal can

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help facilitate management-employee communication; however, performance appraisal may result in legal issues if not executed appropriately as many employees tend to be unsatisfied with the performance appraisal process. Performance appraisal created in and determined as useful in the United States are not necessarily able to be transferable cross-culturally.

Applications of Performance Appraisal Results

A central reason for the utilization of performance appraisals is performance improvement (“initially at the level of the individual employee, and ultimately at the level of the organization”).  Other fundamental reasons include “as a basis for employment decisions (e.g. promotions, terminations, transfers), as criteria in research (e.g. test validation), to aid with communication (e.g. allowing employees to know how they are doing and organizational expectations), to establish personal objectives for training” programs, for transmission of objective feedback for personal development, “as a means of documentation to aid in keeping track of decisions and legal requirements” and in wage and salary administration. Additionally, Performance appraisal can aid in the formulation of job criteria and selection of individuals “who are best suited to perform the required organizational tasks”. A performance appraisal can be part of guiding and monitoring employee career development.  Performance appraisal can also be used to aid in work motivation through the use of reward systems.

Potential Benefits of Performance Appraisals

There are a number of potential benefits of organizational performance management conducting formal performance appraisals. There has been a general consensus in the belief that Performance appraisal lead to positive implications of organizations. Furthermore, Performance appraisal can benefit an organization’s effectiveness. One way is performance appraisals can often lead to giving individual workers feedback about their job performance. From this may spawn several potential benefits such as the individual workers becoming more productive.

Other potential benefits include:

Facilitation of communication: communication in organizations is considered an essential function of worker motivation.  It has been proposed that feedback from Performance appraisal aid in minimizing employees’ perceptions of uncertainty. Fundamentally, feedback and management-employee communication can serve as a guide in job performance

Enhancement of employee focus through promoting trust: behaviours, thoughts, and issues may distract employees from their work, and trust issues may be among these distracting factors.  Such factors that consume psychological energy can lower job performance and cause workers to lose sight of organizational goals. [9] Properly constructed and utilized Performance appraisal has the ability to lower distracting factors and encourage trust within the organization.

Goal setting and desired performance reinforcement: organizations find it efficient to match individual worker’s goals and performance with organizational goals. Performance

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appraisal provides room for discussion in the collaboration of these individual and organizational goals. Collaboration can also be advantageous by resulting in employee acceptance and satisfaction of appraisal results.

Performance improvement: well constructed Performance appraisal can be valuable tools for communication with employees as pertaining to how their job performance stands with organizational expectations. “At the organizational level, numerous studies have reported positive relationships between human resource management (HRM) practices" and performance improvement at both the individual and organizational levels.

Determination of training needs: “Employee training and development are crucial components in helping an organization achieve strategic initiatives”. It has been argued that for Performance appraisal to truly be effective, post-appraisal opportunities for training and development in problem areas, as determined by the appraisal, must be offered. Performance appraisal can especially be instrumental for identifying training needs of new employees. Finally, Performance appraisal can help in the establishment and supervision of employees’ career goals.

Potential Complications of Performance Appraisals

Despite all the potential advantages of formal performance appraisals, there are also potential drawbacks. It has been noted that determining the relationship between individual job performance and organizational performance can be a difficult task. Generally, there are two overarching problems from which several complications spawn. One of the problem with formal Performance Appraisals is there can be detrimental effects to the organization involved if the appraisals are not used appropriately. The second problem with formal performance appraisal is they can be ineffective if the performance appraisal system does not correspond with the organizational culture and system.

Complications stemming from these issues are:

Detrimental to quality improvement: it has been proposed that the use of performance appraisal systems in organizations adversely affect organizations’ pursuits of quality performance. It is believed by some scholars and practitioners that the use of Performance appraisal is more than unnecessary if there is total quality management.

Negative perceptions: “Quite often, individuals have negative perceptions of Performance appraisal”. Receiving and potentially cause “tension between supervisors and subordinates”.

Errors: Performance appraisal should provide accurate and relevant ratings of an employee’s performance as compared to pre-established criteria (i.e. organizational expectations). Nevertheless, supervisors will sometimes rate employees more favourably than that of their true performance in order to please the employees and avoid conflict. “Inflated ratings are a common malady associated with formal" performance appraisal.

Legal issues: When performance appraisal are not carried out appropriately, legal issues could result that place the organization at risk. Performance appraisal are used in organizational disciplinary programs [as well as for promotional decisions within the organization. The improper application and utilization of Performance appraisal can affect employees negatively and lead to legal action against the organization.

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Performance goals: Performance goals and performance appraisal systems are often used in association. Negative outcomes concerning the organizations can result when goals are overly challenging or overemphasized to the extent of effecting ethnics, legal requirements, or quality. Moreover, challenging performance goals can impede on employees’ abilities to acquire necessary knowledge and skills. Especially in the early stages of training, it would be more beneficial to instruct employees on outcome goals than on performance goals.

Derail merit pay or performance-based pay: some researchers contend that the deficit in merit pay and performance-based pay is linked to the fundamental issues stemming from performance appraisal systems.

Who Conducts Performance Appraisals

Human Resource Management & Performance Management

Human resource management (HRM) conducts performance management. Performance management systems consist of the activities and/or processes embraced by an organization in anticipation of improving employee performance, and therefore, organizational performance. Consequently, performance management is conducted at the organizational level and the individual level. At the organizational level, performance management oversees organizational performance and compares present performance with organizational performance goals. The achievement of these organizational performance goals depends on the performance of the individual organizational members. Therefore, measuring individual employee performance can prove to be a valuable performance management process for the purposes of HRM and for the organization. Many researchers would argue that “performance appraisal is one of the most important processes in Human Resource Management”.

The performance management process begins with leadership within the organization creating a performance management policy. Primarily, management governs performance by influencing employee performance input (e.g. training programs) and by providing feedback via output (i.e. performance assessment and appraisal). “The ultimate objective of a performance management process is to align individual performance with organizational performance”. A very common and central process of performance management systems is performance appraisal. The performance appraisal process should be able to inform employees about the “organization's goals, priorities, and expectations and how well they are contributing to them”.

When Performance Appraisals are Conducted

Performance appraisals are conducted at least annually, and annual employee performance reviews appear to be the standard in most American organizations. However, “it has been acknowledged that appraisals conducted more frequently (more than once a year) may have positive implications for both the organization and employee.” It is suggested that regular performance feedback provided to employees may quell any unexpected and/or surprising feedback to year-end discussions. In a recent research study concerning the timeliness of Performance appraisal, “one of the respondents even suggested that the performance review should be done formally and more frequently, perhaps once a month, and recorded twice a year.”

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Other researchers propose that the purpose of Performance appraisal and the frequency of their feedback are contingent upon the nature of the job and characteristics of the employee. For example, employees of routine jobs where performance maintenance is the goal would benefit sufficiently from annual performance appraisal feedback. On the other hand, employees of more discretionary and non-routine jobs, where goal-setting is appropriate and there is room for development, would benefit from more frequent performance appraisal feedback.

Methods of Collecting Performance Appraisal Data

There are three main methods used to collect performance appraisal data: objective production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most commonly used with a large variety of evaluation methods.

Objective production

The objective production method consists of direct, but limited, measures such as sales figures, production numbers, the electronic performance monitoring of data entry workers, etc. The measures used to appraise performance would depend on the job and its duties. Although these measures deal with unambiguous criteria, they are usually incomplete because of criterion contamination and criterion deficiency. Criterion contamination refers to the part of the actual criteria that is unrelated to the conceptual criteria. In other words, the variability in performance can be due to factors outside of the employee’s control. Criterion deficiency refers to the part of the conceptual criteria that is not measured by the actual criteria. In other words, the quantity of production does not necessarily indicate the quality of the products. Both types of criterion inadequacies result in reduced validity of the measure. Regardless of the fact that objective production data is not a complete reflection upon job performance, such data is relevant to job performance.

The Happy-Productive Worker Hypothesis

The happy-productive worker hypothesis states that the happiest workers are the most productive performers, and the most productive performers are the happiest workers Yet, after decades of research, the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance produces only a weak positive correlation. Published in 2001 by Psychological Bulletin, a meta-analysis of 312 research studies produced an uncorrected correlation of 0.18. This correlation is much weaker than what the happy-productive worker hypothesis would predict. There is no clear relationship between job satisfaction and job performance.

Personnel

The personnel method is the recording of withdrawal behaviors (i.e. absenteeism, accidents). Most organizations consider unexcused absences to be indicators of poor job performance, even with all other factors being equal;[  however, this is subject to criterion deficiency. The quantity of an employee’s absences does not reflect how dedicated he/she may be to the job and its duties. Especially for blue-collar jobs, accidents can often be a useful indicator of poor job performance, but this is also subject to criterion contamination because situational factors also contribute to accidents. Once again, both types of criterion inadequacies result in

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reduced validity of the measure. Although excessive absenteeism and/or accidents often indicate poor job performance rather than good performance, such personnel data is not a comprehensive reflection of an employee’s performance.

Judgmental Evaluation

Judgmental evaluation appears to be a collection of methods, and as such, could be considered a methodology. A common approach to obtaining Performance appraisal is by means of raters. Because the raters are human, some error will always be present in the data. The most common types of error are leniency errors, central tendency errors, and errors resulting from the halo effect. These errors arise predominantly from social cognition and the theory in that how we judge and evaluate other individuals in various contexts is associated with how we “acquire, process, and categorize information”

An essential piece of this method is rater training. Rater training is the “process of educating raters to make more accurate assessments of performance, typically achieved by reducing the frequency of halo, leniency, and central-tendency errors”. Rater training also helps the raters “develops a common frame of reference for evaluation” of individual performance many researchers and survey respondents support the ambition of effectual rater training. However, it is noted that such training is expensive, time consuming, and only truly functional for behavioral assessments.

Another piece to keep in mind is the effects of rater motivation on judgmental evaluations. It is not uncommon for rating inflation to occur due to rater motivation (i.e. “organizationally induced pressures that compel raters to evaluate ratees positively”). Typically, raters are motivated to give higher ratings because of the lack of organizational sanction concerning accurate/inaccurate appraisals, the rater's desire to guarantee promotions, salary increases, etc., the rater's inclination to avoid negative reactions from subordinates, and the observation that higher ratings of the ratees reflect favorably upon the rater.

The main methods used in judgmental performance appraisal are:-

Graphic Rating Scale: graphic rating scales (see scale (social sciences)) are the most commonly used system in performance appraisal. On several different factors, subordinates are judged on 'how much' of that factor or trait they possess. Typically, the raters use a 5- or 7-point scale; however, there are as many as 20-point scales.

Employee-Comparison Methods: Rather than subordinates being judged against pre-established criteria, they are compared with one another. This method eliminates central tendency and leniency errors but still allows for halo effect errors to occur. The rank-order method has raters ranking subordinates from “best” to “worst”, but how truly good or bad one is on a performance dimension would be unknown The paired-comparison method requires the rater to select the two "best" subordinates out of a group on each dimension then rank individuals according to the number of times each subordinate was selected as one of the "best". The forced-distribution method is good for large groups of ratees. The raters evaluate each subordinate on one or more dimensions and then place (or ”force-fit”, if you will) each subordinate in a 5 to 7 category normal distribution. The method of top-grading can be applied to the forced distribution method. This method identifies the 10% lowest performing

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subordinates, as according to the forced distribution, and dismisses them leaving the 90% higher performing subordinates.

Behavioural Checklists and Scales: behaviours are more definite than traits. The critical incidents method (or critical incident technique) concerns “specific behaviours indicative of good or bad job performance”. Supervisors record behaviours of what they judge to be job performance relevant, and they keep a running tally of good and bad behaviours. A discussion on performance may then follow. The behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS) combine the critical incidents method with rating scale methods by rating performance on a scale but with the scale points being anchored by behavioural incidents Note that BARS are job specific.

Peer and Self Assessments

While most judgmental performance appraisal research is evaluated by a superior (e.g. supervisor, manager), peer assessments are evaluated by one’s colleagues. With self-assessments, individuals evaluate themselves.

Peer Assessments: members of a group evaluate and appraise the performance of their fellow group members. There are three common methods of peer assessments. Peer nomination involves each group member nominating who he/she believes to be the “best” on a certain dimension of performance. Peer ratings have each group member rate each other on a set of performance dimensions. Peer ranking requires each group member rank all fellow members from “best” to “worst” on one or more dimensions of performance.

Self-Assessments: for self-assessments, individuals assess and evaluate their own behavior and job performance. It is common for a graphic rating scale to be used for self-assessments. Positive leniency tends to be a problem with self-assessments.

360-Degree Feedback: 360-degree feedback is multiple evaluations of employees which often include assessments from superior(s), peers, and one’s self.

360 degree appraisal has four integral components:

1. Self appraisal.2. Superior’s appraisal3. Subordinate’s appraisal4. Peer appraisal.

Self appraisal gives a chance to the employee to look at his/her strengths and weaknesses, his achievements, and judge his own performance. Superior’s appraisal forms the traditional part of the 360 degree performance appraisal where the employees’ responsibilities and actual performance is rated by the superior. 

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Subordinates appraisal gives a chance to judge the employee on the parameters like communication and motivating abilities, superior’s ability to delegate the work, leadership qualities etc. Also known as internal customers, the correct feedback given by peers can help to find employees’ abilities to work in a team, co-operation and sensitivity towards others.

Fig.1

Self assessment is an indispensable part of 360 degree appraisals and therefore 360 degree a

360 degree performance appraisal is also a powerful developmental tool because when conducted at regular intervals (say yearly) it helps to keep a track of the changes others’ perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc.

The concept of ‘Management by Objectives’ (MBO) was first given by Peter Drucker in 1954. It can be defined as a process whereby the employees and the superiors come together to identify common goals, the employees set their goals to be achieved, the standards to be taken as the criteria for measurement of their performance and contribution and deciding the course of action to be followed. 

The essence of MBO is participative goal setting, choosing course of actions and decision making. An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the employee’s actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees themselves have been involved with the goal setting and the choosing the course of action

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to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities. 

THE MBO PROCESS

Fig.2

UNIQUE FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES OF MBO

The principle behind Management by Objectives (MBO) is to create empowered employees who have clarity of the roles and responsibilities expected from them, understand their objectives to be achieved and thus help in the achievement of organizational as well as personal goals. 

Some of the important features and advantages of MBO are:

Clarity of goals – With MBO, came the concept of SMART goals i.e. goals that are:

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● Specific● Measurable● Achievable● Realistic, and● Time bound.

The goals thus set are clear, motivating and there is a linkage between organizational goals and performance targets of the employees.

The focus is on future rather than on performance appraisalt. Goals and standards are set for the performance for the future with periodic reviews and feedback.

Motivation – Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing employee empowerment increases employee job satisfaction and commitment.

Better communication and Coordination – Frequent reviews and interactions between superiors and subordinates helps to maintain harmonious relationships within the enterprise and also solve many problems faced during the period.

Critical incident method of performance appraisal

1.  Definition of Critical incident method

Critical incident is a method used for many sectors.

Critical incident method- Recording of events by appraiser. An incident is critical when it illustrates what the employers has done or failed to do

The critical incidents for performance appraisal are a method in which the manager writes down positive and negative performance behavior of employees throughout the performance period.

Each employee will be evaluated as such and one’s performance appraisal will be based on the logs that are put in the evaluation form.

The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers behavior.

At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the evaluation of the workers’ performance.

The critical incidents file of performance appraisal is a form of documentation that reflect all data about employee performances.

2.  Disadvantages of critical Incident

This method suffers however from the following limitations:

● Critical incidents technique of evaluation is applied to evaluate the performance of superiors rather than of peers of subordinates.

● Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive incidents.● It results in very close supervision which may not be liked by the employee.● The recording of incidents may be a chore for the manager concerned, who may be

too busy or forget to do it.● The supervisors have a tendency to unload a series of complaints about incidents

during an annual performance review session.

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Weighted checklist

1. Definition of weighted checklist

This method describes a performance appraisal method where rater familiar with the jobs being evaluated prepared a large list of descriptive statements about effective and ineffective behavior on jobs.

2. Process of weighted checklist

HR department and Managers / Supervisors will set up checklist for each position.

If the rater believes strongly that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he checks the item; otherwise, he leaves the item blank.

3. Sample of weighted checklist● Does he give respect to his superiors? Yes/No● Does he follow instructions properly? Yes/No● Does he make mistakes frequently? Yes/No

The value of each question may be weighted equally or certain questions may be weighted more heavily than others.

4. Advantages and disadvantages of weighted checklist● This method help the manager in evaluation of the performance of the employee.● The rater may be biased in distinguishing the positive and negative questions. He

may assign biased weights to the questions.● This method also is expensive and time consuming.● It becomes difficult for the manager to assemble, analyze and weigh a number of

statements about the employee’s characteristics, contributions and behaviors.

Paired comparison analysis

1. Definition of paired comparison analysis● Paired comparison analysis is a good way of weighing up the relative importance

of options.● A range of plausible options is listed. Each option is compared against each of the

other options. The results are tallied and the option with the highest score is the preferred option.

2. Advantages and disadvantages of paired comparison analysis● It is useful where priorities are not clear.● It is particularly useful where you do not have objective data to base this on.● It helps you to set priorities where there are conflicting demands on your

resources.● This makes it easy to choose the most important problem to solve, or select the

solution that will give you the greatest advantage.

3. Steps to conduct paired comparison analysis● List the options you will compare (elements as A, B, C, D, E for example).

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● Create a table 6 rows and 7 column.● Write down option to column and row; A to row second, cell first from left and A

to row first, cell second from left; B to row third, cell first from left and B to row first, cell third from left etc; column seventh is total point.

● Identify importance from 0 (no difference) to 3 (major difference).● Compare element “A” to B, C, D, E and place “point” at each cell.● Finally, consolidate the results by adding up the total of all the values for each of

the options. You may want to convert these values into a percentage of the total score.

4. Paired comparison in performance appraisal● The term used to describe an appraisal method for ranking employees.● We use the above model to appraise employee’ s performance.

Definition of the rating scales

The Rating Scale is a form on which the manager simply checks off the employee’s level of performance. This is the oldest and most widely method used for performance appraisal. The scales may specify five points, so a factor such as job knowledge might be rated 1 (poorly informed about work duties) to 5 (has complete mastery of all phases of the job).

Content of appraisal

• Quantity of work. Volume of work under normal working conditions• Quality of work. Neatness, thoroughness and accuracy of work Knowledge of job.• Dependability. Conscientious, thorough, reliable, accurate, with respect to attendance, relief, lunch breaks, etc.• Judgment• attitude. Exhibits enthusiasm and cooperativeness on the job• Cooperation . Willingness and ability to work with others to produce desired goals.• Initiative.

Rating scales

Rating scales can include 5 elements as follows:

● Unsatisfactory● Fair● Satisfactory● Good● Outstanding

Advantages of the rating scales

● Graphic rating scales are less time consuming to develop.● They also allow for quantitative comparison.

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Disadvantages of the rating scales● Different supervisors will use the same graphic scales in slightly different ways.● One way to get around the ambiguity inherent in graphic rating scales is to use

behavior based scales, in which specific work related behaviors are assessed.● More validity comparing workers ratings from a single supervisor than comparing

two workers who were rated by different supervisors.

Essay evaluation method in performance appraisal

1. Definition of essay evaluation● This method asked managers / supervisors to describe strengths and weaknesses of

an employee’s behavior. Essay evaluation is a non-quantitative technique● This method usually use with the graphic rating scale method.

2. Input of information sources● Job knowledge and potential of the employee;\● Employee’s understanding of the company’s programs, policies, objectives, etc.;● The employee’s relations with co-workers and superiors;● The employee’s general planning, organizing and controlling ability;● The attitudes and perceptions of the employee, in general.

3. Disadvantages of essay evaluation● Manager / supervisor may write a biased essay.● A busy rater may write the essay hurriedly without properly assessing the actual

performance of the worker.● Apart from that, rater takes a long time, this becomes uneconomical from the view

point of the firm, because the time of rater is costly.● Some evaluators may be poor in writing essays on employee performance. Others

may be superficial in explanation and use flowery language which may not reflect the actual performance of the employee.

Forced ranking (forced distribution)Forced ranking method of performance appraisal to rank employee but in order of forced distribution. For example, the distribution requested with 10 or 20 percent in the top

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category, 70 or 80 percent in the middle, and 10 percent in the bottom. The top-ranked employees are considered “high-potential” employees and are often targeted for a more rapid career and leadership development programs.

In contrast, those ranked at the bottom are denied bonuses and pay increases. They may be given a probationary period to improve their performance.

Uflex ltd.

Company Profile

After Pioneering the growth of the flexible packaging industry in India, Uflex has gained an unchallenged identity. Since its inception in the year 1983 it has turned into a multibillion company that values quality and customer satisfaction amongst other priorities. With consumers spread across the world, Uflex enjoys a global reach. Headquartered in Noida (National Capital Region, New Delhi) it has state of the art manufacturing facilities in India & Dubai. It has also established offices in UAE, Europe, North America and enjoys a formidable market presence in more than 85 countries.

 

Uflex facility enjoys ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications and has FDA and BGA approvals for their products. It is also a part of the D&B Global Database and winner of various prestigious national and international awards like the top exporter of BOPET and BOPP films, and the Worldstar award for packaging excellence. FPA, AIMCAL and the DUPONT Awards in 2004-2005 are the latest in this series.

 

Being a multi faceted organization it has integrated its operations from manufacture of Polyester

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chips, Films (BOPET, BOPP and CPP - both in plain and metalized form), Coated Film, Laminates, Pouches, Holographic films Gravure cylinders, Inks and adhesives to all types of packaging & printing machines, offering total flexible packaging solution.

 

Uflex has always been committed to the industry by providing technical know-how and being the trend-setter in the flexible packaging industry . Being on the edge of innovation, Uflex endeavors to be the first to come up with advanced products that cater to the changing demands of the packaging industry.

 

As part of the Uflex Group, it has over twenty years of experience in polymer technology. Setting milestones of success and innovation, Uflex is widely known for manufacturing and supplying products, delivering apt services around the world.

Chairman’s Vision

Welcome to UFLEX - a world of complete flexible packaging solutions created with you at the centre.

With you at the centre we conceptualized an enterprise that has taken us to strategic locations across the globe so that you find us closer in terms of ideas, markets, challenges, solutions and services. Today, we are available for you just around the corner, around the world.

 

Putting you at the centre has also helped us evolve a corporate culture, flexible enough to respond to your demands and accommodate your needs. It has helped us to adapt our global

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industry insights to create solutions that keep your goals in focus. So across the world, you will find dealing with us as comfortable as with your local partner, yet backed with the formidable technological know-how of global players.

 

Thinking of you has made us invest in the best inputs on the entire range of the flexible packaging spectrum. It also helps us offer the right mix of competencies from the entire range of possibilities on the flexible packaging spectrum, so that you get precisely what you need, whenever you need it. All this has added up to an edge that gives you access to not only the perfect product but also the complete process consultancy. This helps you derive the maximum mileage out of the products that we engineer for you. It's a distinction that can be brought to you only by the people who know every link of the flexible packaging chain inside out.

 

So bring us a flexible packaging challenge and take back a relationship – a relationship with an unparalleled competitive and innovative edge.

Chairman’s Profile

Fig.3

The founder Chairman and Managing Director of The UFLEX Group, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, pioneered the growth of Flexible Packing industry in India. He is hailed as the leader of this fast growing segment of packaging business in India.

 

Mr. Chaturvedi's progressive thinking made him conscious of the need to offer solutions for Flexible Packaging and this led to the inception of a company for manufacturing packaging materials.

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Exhibiting inspiring innovativeness and entrepreneurial skills, Mr. Chaturvedi applied the latest international technologies for tailoring and designing packing material which adapted to the needs of the customers, winning markets globally.Appreciating the customer's needs for quality, prompt delivery and service, he decided to integrate backwards in the manufacture.

Board Of Directors

Name of the Director  

Shri Ashok Chaturvedi - Chairman & Managing Director

Shri Ravi Kathpalia  

Shri M.G. Gupta  

Shri A. Karati - ICICI Nominee

Shri N K Duggal - IFCI Nominee

Shri S.K. Kaushik - Whole-time Director

Committee Of Directors

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MEMBERS OF :

Audit Committee:

1. Shri Ravi Kathpalia – Chairman

2. Shri M.G. Gupta

3. Shri A. Karati

Remuneration Committee

1. Shri M.G. Gupta – Chairman

2. Shri Ravi Kathpalia

3. Shri A. Karati

Shareholders’/Investors’ Grievance Committee

1. Shri Ravi Kathpalia – Chairman

2. Shri M.G. Gupta

3. Shri S.K. Kaushik

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MILESTONES

September 1983:- Formation of the flex group of companies.

May 1984:- Formation of Flex Engineering Limited.

December 1985:- Formation of FCL Technologies and Product limited.

June 1988:- Formation of Uflex Limited. FIL is the largest manufacturer of polyester, polypropylene, and metallised films in India.

February 1990:- Formation of Flex Food Limited for mushroom plantation.

November 1994:- Launched the operation of First Line for the production of BOPET films under production capacity: 20,000 TPA.

January 1996:- Launched the operation of Second Line for the production of BOPET films under production capacity: 20,000 TPA.

June 1996:- Launched the operation of First Line for the production of BOPP films. Production capacity: 20,000 TPA.

January 1997:- Commercial production of Polyethylene Teraphthalate chips started.

June 1991:- M/s UFLEX America Incorporated, located in North Califoria, U.S.A., formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of M/s UFLEX Limited.

June 2002:- First Metallizer with a capacity of 6,000 TPA installed.

March 2003:- Cast Polyporpylene film line with a capacity to produce 6,000 TPA installed to produce CPP films.

October 2003:- Second Metallizer with a capacity of 6,000 MT/annum was installed.

December 2003:- Launched the operation of the second line for production of BOPP films with a capacity of 15,000 MT/annum.

April 2004:- Launched the operation of the third line for the production of BOPET Films with a capacity of 20,000 MT/annum.

July 2004:- A third metallizer with a capacity of 6,000 TPA was installed in Jabel Ali Fee Zone, UAE.

March 2005:- A state of art polyester line with a capacity of 20,000 TPA was setup in Jabel Ali Fee Zone, UAE.

July 2005:- A fourth Metallizer, with a capacity of 6000 TPA was installed with plasma treatment facility.

October 2007:- Launched the operation of Fifth line, 8.7 metres wide for the production of

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BOPET films with a capacity of 25000 MT/annum.

October 2007:- Launched the operation of 1.85 metres wide Thermal Lamination Machine for the production of Thermal Lam BOPP film with a capacity of 3600 TPA.

November 2007:- Production of shrink sleeves a new concept in packaging (Heat shrink and cold seal) started.

December 2007:- New packaging and Holography plant was started in Jammu.

January 2008:- New WPP plant was started in Noida.

BUSINESS DIVISON

FILM DIVISON

INTRODUCTION

UFLEX Limited, the India-based flexible packaging giant, began its existence nearly two

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decades ago and has come a long way since then offering a vast array of innovative products and services that enrich life, improve performance and create value for the customers and shareholders. 

With a vision to “Progress with Distinction”, UFLEX is privileged to contribute to society by producing a variety of sophisticated products, on state-of-the-art imported equipment and machines, improving the quality of life for people across the globe.

We manufacture in-house Polyester chips, BOPET / BOPP / COATED / METALLISED / CPP Films, Packaging machines, converting equipment, inks, adhesives, Flexible Laminates and Pouches and have emerged as a “one stop shop” committed to providing customers with competitive advantage, placing top priority to “customer success”.

We, at the Film Division of UFLEX Limited, are one of the largest manufacturer, supplier and exporter of a variety of Plastic Films in the world. 

With consistent quality, production expertise, continuous innovation in products and technologies, a dedicated work force and a highly motivated corporate team, the Flex group is expanding at an immense pace.

We invite you to take a look at our wide range of products by browsing through these pages and then give us a chance to help you.

We’ll make sure to be there for you any time, every time!

HOLOGRAPHY DIVISON

Holography Division is a professionally managed division of UFlex Ltd., focusing on the production of top-of-the-line holographic products.

At UFlex holographic division, our goal is to deliver quality that will ensure the confidence of our discerning buyers globally and become a benchmark for others. We will be uncompromising in our adherence to excellence at every stage of production, from the selection of raw materials to final product delivery.

Equipped with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and technology tie-ups with world leaders, provide an access to leading innovations in the industry, hence ensure latest technology and processes in place.

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Entire supply-chain is attuned to ensure minimum lead-time for execution of large orders, offer customization of products based on buyer specifications and an assurance of innovation and flexibility in product design.

R & D: With a strong foothold in innovating products and design, research & development of holography division is committed to refine and upgrade the processes and products being manufactured. Our fully equipped research laboratory is a result of core technical strength & commitments to manufacturing holography and related products.

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In addition maximum emphasis is placed on security of making of hologram housekeeping and hygiene in relation to materials, processes, storage and handling. Moreover all environmental laws, guidelines and commitments are unfailingly adhered to. 

All emissions kept below permissible levels

Minimal process waste generation - Almost all products made from eco-friendly materials

Continuous employee education and motivation

Secured execution & delivery of any job is an important pillar in holographic industry. Flex has ensured the same by installing, card access system bio-matrix technology (Thumb Recognition System), fully trained in-house armed guards to restrict any unauthorized entry to the facilities and maintain high-level security zone.

ENGINEERING DIVISON

UFLEX Limited - Coverting Division engaged in the business of Packaging and Converting Machines, established in Noida(adjacent to the national capital, New Delhi, India) in 1984, is an integral part of UFLEX Group of companies.The UFLEX group commenced its operations with a small investment and a pioneering spirit in 1983. Today, it is one of the leading corporate houses in the Asia Pacific Region offering, among the other things, a single window Total Packaging Solutions.

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Fig 4

Our Vision

"Safer Living Thru Better Packaging"

A better packaging helps deliver a better product to the consumer. To emerge as a world leader, in providing Total Flexible Packaging Solutions inspired by Total Customer Satisfaction.

CONVERTING DIVISON

UFLEX Ltd provides complete integrated packaging solutions, right from design to delivery. Catering to the specific need for Laminates and Pouches of each customer by constantly redefining cost effective packaging options, is the only tradition of service known to UFLEX. With almost 2 decades of experience in Flexible Packaging and significant investments, we have perfected our processes and technology to produce high quality Flexible Packaging Materials on time and within budgets.To ensure superior quality and timely delivery we have achieved full backward integration. Our in-company divisions and group companies located nearby produce all critical inputs, like the BOPET and BOPP films, Inks, Adhesives and substrates, Holographic Films, Metalisation facility, Blown Film and other such raw materials.

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Fig 5

Through our innovations in packaging, we have even helped our customers resolve a variety of problems. A few such cases are quoted below:

An auto major had serious problem in combating spurious spares. We designed very special Laminates with holographic designs incorporating the company's logo. This eliminated the problem almost immediately raising the sales to three times within a year.

A bed mattress manufacturer had no brand recognition inspite of giving the best quality, because of duplication. When all methods failed to contain this piracy, UFLEX Engineering Division created a Gravure printed pouch measuring 36"x96". The problem was nipped and the brand established its leadership in the market .

A leading snack food manufacturer sold a popular snack in 400gms packing. The quantity was too much for a person to finish in one go. But the snack needed to be sold in the 400gm packs. Uflex Zipouch division designed a reclosable pouch with zipper. The buyer could eat as much as desired and then seal the pack for reuse later.

CYLINDER DIVISON

UFLEX (An ISO 9000 certified company) is one of the key players in the global packaging industry. UFLEX a dynamic and creative organization, today offers a reliable single window access to almost everything related to flexible packaging. Printing Cylinder is one of the major products.Since its inception, the team has been driving hard to master each link in the chain of flexible packaging development and production. As a result of this drive started manufacturing rotogravure Cylinders in the year 1986 and today boasts of a production capacity of over 35,000 cylinders per annum.

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CHEMICAL DIVISON

Breaking through with exciting new innovations in the flexible packaging is part of the intrinsic value system at UFLEX Chemical Division. By offering a wide spectrum of colourful inks along with the requisite range of adhesives, Chemical Division adds a whole new dimension to flexible packaging.

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Fig 6

Chemical Dision , is part of the UFLEX Limited -name that is synonymous with the flexible packaging revolution in India, providing complete flexible Packaging solutions to over 60 countries. Today the UFLEX Group has Asia's largest state-of-the-art packaging plant and allied infrastructure at NOIDA (U.P.) spread over 70 acres.Uflex Chemical Division has established a US $ 6.5 million manufacturing facility at NOIDA (U.P) with ongoing technology transfer agreements with M/s. Color Converting Industries, U.S.A. and M/s. Sunkyong Industries Limited, South Korea-a Fortune 500 company. UFLEX Chemical Division also has an in-house Research & Development laboratory, approved and recognised by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. This research facility is manned by a dedicated team comprising of some of the best scientific minds in the business.UFLEX Chemical Division , an ISO 9001 certified company, is strongly focused on delivering the highest standards of quality with the single-minded intent of ensuring total customer satisfaction - over and over again. Every employee is completely committed to the organisation's goals, towards quality & service.

OBJECTIVES

● To find out the perception of employees towards performance appraisal.

● To study the impact of performance appraisal on employee’s performance.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

Also referred to as contextual behaviour, prosaically behaviour, and extra-role behaviour, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) consists of employee behaviour that contributes to the welfare of the organization but is beyond the scope of the employee’s job duties. These extra-role behaviours may help or hinder the attainment of organizational goals. Research supports five dimensions of OCB: altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, sportsmanship, and civic virtue. Researchers have found that the OCB dimensions of altruism and civic virtue can have just as much of an impact on manager’s subjective evaluations of employees’ performances as employees’ objective productivity levels. The degree to which

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OCB can influence judgments of job performance is relatively high. Controversy exists as to whether OCB should be formally considered as a part of performance appraisal (PA).

Performance Appraisal Interviews

The performance appraisal (PA) interview is typically the final step of the appraisal process. The interview is held between the subordinate and supervisor. The PA interview can be considered of great significance to an organization’s PA system. It is most advantageous when both the superior and subordinate participate in the interview discussion and establish goals together. Three factors consistently contribute to effective PA interviews: the supervisor’s knowledge of the subordinate’s job and performance in it, the supervisor’s support of the subordinate, and a welcoming of the subordinate’s participation.

Employee Reactions to Performance Appraisal

Numerous researchers have reported that many employees are not satisfied with their performance appraisal (PA) systems. Studies have shown that subjectivity as well as appraiser bias is often a problem perceived by as many as half of employees. Appraiser bias, however, appears to be perceived as more of a problem in government and public sector organizations. Also, according to some studies, employees wished to see changes in the PA system by making “the system more objective, improving the feedback process, and increasing the frequency of review.” In light of traditional PA operation defects, “organizations are now increasingly incorporating practices that may improve the system. These changes are particularly concerned with areas such as elimination of subjectivity and bias, training of appraisers, improvement of the feedback process and the performance review discussion.”

According to a meta-analysis of 27 field studies, general employee participation in his/her own appraisal process was positively correlated with employee reactions to the PA system. More specifically, employee participation in the appraisal process was most strongly related to employee satisfaction with the PA system. Concerning the reliability of employee reaction measures, researchers have found employee reaction scales to be sound with few concerns through using a confirmatory factor analysis that is representative of employee reaction scales.

Researchers suggest that the study of employees’ reactions to PA is important because of two main reasons: employee reactions symbolizes a criterion of interest to practitioners of Performance appraisal and employee reactions have been associated through theory to determinants of appraisal acceptance and success. Researchers translate these reasons into the context of the scientist-practitioner gap or the “lack of alignment between research and practice.”

Performance Appraisal and Legal Implications

There are federal laws addressing fair employment practices, and this also concerns performance appraisal (PA). Discrimination can occur within predictions of performance and evaluations of job behaviors. The revision of many court cases has revealed the involvement

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of alleged discrimination which was often linked to the assessment of the employee’s job performance. Some of the laws which protect individuals against discrimination are “the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).” Lawsuits may also results from charges of an employer’s negligence, defamation, and/or misrepresentation. A few appraisal criteria to keep in mind for a legally sound PA is to keep the content of the appraisal objective, job-related, behaviour-based, within the control of the ratee, and related to specific functions rather than a global assessment. Some appraisal procedure suggestions for a legally sound PA is to standardize operations, communicate formally with employees, provide information of performance deficits and give opportunities to employees to correct those deficits, give employees access to appraisal results, provide written instructions for the training of raters, and use multiple, diverse and unbiased raters. These are valuable but not exhaustive lists of recommendations for Performance appraisal.

Cross-Cultural Implications of Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal (PA) systems, and the premises of which they were based, that have been formed and regarded as effective in the United States may not have the transferability for effectual utilization in other countries or cultures, and vice versa. Performance “appraisal is thought to be deeply rooted in the norms, values, and beliefs of asociety”. “Appraisal reflects attitudes towards motivation and performance (self) and relationships (e.g. peers, subordinates, supervisors, organization), all of which vary from one country to the next”. Therefore, appraisal should be in conjunction with cultural norms, values, and beliefs in order to be operative. The deep-seated norms, values and beliefs in different cultures affect employee motivation and perception of organizational equity and justice. In effect, a PA system created and considered effectual in one country may not be an appropriate assessment in another cultural region.

For example, some countries and cultures value the trait of assertiveness and personal accomplishment while others instead place more merit on cooperation and interpersonal connection. Countries scoring high on assertiveness consider PA to be a way of assuring equity among employees so that higher performing employees receive greater rewards or higher salaries. Countries scoring low on assertiveness but higher in interpersonal relations may not like the social separation and pay inequity of higher/lower performing employees; employees from this more cooperative rather than individualistic culture place more concern on interpersonal relationships with other employees rather than on individual interests. High assertive countries value performance feedback for self-management and effectiveness purposes while countries low in assertiveness view performance feedback as “threatening and obtrusive”. In this case, the PA of the high assertive countries would likely not be beneficial for countries scoring lower in assertiveness to employ. However, countries scoring lower in assertiveness could employ PA for purposes of improving long-term communication development within the organization such as clarifying job objectives, guide training and development plans, and lessen the gap between job performance and organizational expectations.

Perception (from the Latin perceptio, percipio) is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to fabricate a mental representation through the process of transduction, which sensors in the body transform signals from the environment

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into encoded neural signals. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs. For example, vision involves light striking the retinas of the eyes, smell is mediated by odor molecules and hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not the performance appraisalsive receipt of these signals, but can be shaped by learning, memory and expectation. Perception involves these "top-down" effects as well as the "bottom-up" process of processing sensory input. The "bottom-up" processing is basically low-level information that's used to build up higher-level information (i.e. - shapes for object recognition). The "top-down" processing refers to a person's concept and expectations (knowledge) that influence perception. Perception depends on complex functions of the nervous system, but subjectively seems mostly effortless because this processing happens outside conscious awareness.

Since the rise of experimental psychology in the late 19th Century, psychology's understanding of perception has progressed by combining a variety of techniques. Psychophysics measures the effect on perception of varying the physical qualities of the input. Sensory neurosciencestudies the brain mechanisms underlying perception. Perceptual systems can also be studied computationally, in terms of the information they process. Perceptual issues in philosophy include the extent to which sensory qualities such as sounds, smells or colors exist in objective reality rather than the mind of the perceiver.

Although the senses were traditionally viewed as performance appraisalsive receptors, the study of illusions and ambiguous images has demonstrated that the brain's perceptual systems actively and pre-consciously attempt to make sense of their input. There is still active debate about the extent to which perception is an active process of hypothesis testing, analogous to science, or whether realistic sensory information is rich enough to make this process unnecessary.

The perceptual systems of the brain enable individuals to see the world around them as stable, even though the sensory information may be incomplete and rapidly varying. Human and animal brains are structured in a modular way, with different areas processing different kinds of sensory information. Some of these modules take the form of sensory maps, mapping some aspect of the world across part of the brain's surface. These different modules are interconnected and influence each other. For instance, the taste is strongly influenced by its odor.

Process and terminology

The process of perception begins with an object in the real world, termed the distal stimulus or distal object. By means of light, sound or another physical process, the object stimulates the body's sensory organs. These sensory organs transform the input energy into neural activity—a process called transduction. This raw pattern of neural activity is called the proximal stimulus. These neural signals are transmitted to the brain and processed. [2] The resulting mental recreation of the distal stimulus is the percept. Perception is sometimes described as the process of constructing mental representations of distal stimuli using the information available in proximal stimuli.

An example would be a person looking at a shoe. The shoe itself is the distal stimulus. When light from the shoe enters a person's eye and stimulates their retina, that stimulation is the proximal stimulus. The image of the shoe reconstructed by the brain of the person is the percept. Another example would be a telephone ringing. The ringing of the telephone is the distal stimulus. The sound stimulating a person's auditory receptors is the proximal stimulus,

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and the brain's interpretation of this as the ringing of a telephone is the percept. The different kinds of sensation such as warmth, sound, and taste are called "sensory modalities".[6][8]

Psychologist Jerome Bruner has developed a model of perception. According to him people go through the following process to form opinions:.[

When a perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target we are opened different informational cues and want to learn more about the target.

In the second step we try to collect more information about the target. Gradually, we encounter some familiar cues which helps us categorize the target.

At this stage the cues become less open and selective. We try to search for more cues that confirm the categorization of the target. At this stage we also actively ignore and even distort cues that violate our initial perceptions. Our perception becomes more selective and we finally paint a consistent picture of the target.

According to Alan Saks and Gary Johns, there are three components to Perception.

The Perceiver, the person who becomes aware about something and comes to a final understanding. There are 3 factors that can influence his or her perceptions: experience, motivational state and finally emotional state. In different motivational or emotional states, the perceiver will react to or perceive something in different ways. Also in different situations he or she might employ a "perceptual defence" where they tend to "see what they want to see".

The Target. This is the person who is being perceived or judged. "Ambiguity or lack of information about a target leads to a greater need for interpretation and addition."

The Situation also greatly influences perceptions because different situations may call for additional information about the target.

Stimuli are not necessarily translated into a percept and rarely does a single stimulus translate into a percept. An ambiguous stimulus may be translated into multiple percepts, experienced randomly, one at a time, in what is called "multistable perception". And the same stimuli, or absence of them, may result in different percepts depending on subject’s culture and previous experiences. Ambiguous figures demonstrate that a single stimulus can result in more than one percept; for example the Rubin vase which can be interpreted either as a vase or as two faces. The percept can bind sensations from multiple senses into a whole. A picture of a talking person on a television screen, for example, is bound to the sound of speech from speakers to form a percept of a talking person. "Percept" is also a term used by Leibniz,[10] Bergson, Deleuze and Guattari[11] to define perception independent from perceivers.

Perception and reality

In the case of visual perception, some people can actually see the percept shift in their  mind's eye. Others, who are not picture thinkers, may not necessarily perceive the 'shape-shifting' as their world changes. The 'esemplastic' nature has been shown by experiment: an ambiguous image has multiple interpretations on the perceptual level.

This confusing ambiguity of perception is exploited in human technologies such as camouflage, and also in biological mimicry, for example by European Peacock butterflies,

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whose wings bear eye markings that birds respond to as though they were the eyes of a dangerous predator.

There is also evidence that the brain in some ways operates on a slight "delay", to allow nerve impulses from distant parts of the body to be integrated into simultaneous signals.

Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects (for example, testing how much darker a computer screen can get before the viewer actually notices). The study of perception gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach.

Effect of motivation and expectation

Main article: Set (psychology)

A perceptual set, also called perceptual expectancy or just set is a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way. It is an example of how perception can be shaped by "top-down" processes such as drives and expectations. Perceptual sets occur in all the different senses. They can be long term, such as a special sensitivity to hearing one's own name in a crowded room, or short term, as in the ease with which hungry people notice the smell of food. A simple demonstration of the effect involved very brief presentations of non-words such as "sael". Subjects who were told to expect words about animals read it as "seal", but others who were expecting boat-related words read it as "sail".

Sets can be created by motivation and so can result in people interpreting ambiguous figures so that they see what they want to see. For instance, how someone perceives what unfolds during a sports game can be biased if they strongly support one of the teams. In one experiment, students were allocated to pleasant or unpleasant tasks by a computer. They were told that either a number or a letter would flash on the screen to say whether they were going to taste an orange juice drink or an unpleasant-tasting health drink. In fact, an ambiguous figure was flashed on screen, which could either be read as the letter B or the number 13. When the letters were associated with the pleasant task, subjects were more likely to perceive a letter B, and when letters were associated with the unpleasant task they tended to perceive a number 13.

Perceptual set has been demonstrated in many social contexts. People who are primed to think of someone as "warm" are more likely to perceive a variety of positive characteristics in them, than if the word "warm" is replaced by "cold". When someone has a reputation for being funny, an audience are more likely to find them amusing. Individual's perceptual sets reflect their own personality traits. For example, people with an aggressive personality are quicker to correctly identify aggressive words or situations

One classic psychological experiment showed slower reaction times and less accurate answers when a deck of playing cards reversed the color of the suit symbol for some cards (e.g. red spades and black hearts)

Philosopher Andy Clark explains that perception, although it occurs quickly, is not simply a bottom-up process (where minute details are put together to form larger wholes). Instead, our brains use what he calls Predictive coding. It starts with very broad constraints and expectations for the state of the world, and as expectations are met, it makes more detailed

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predictions (errors lead to new predictions, or learning processes). Clark says this research has various implications; not only can there be no completely "unbiased, unfiltered" perception, but this means that there is a great deal of feedback between perception and expectation (perceptual experiences often shape our beliefs, but those perceptions were based on existing beliefs).

Theories

Perception as hypothesis-testing

Cognitive theories of perception assume there is a poverty of stimulus. This (with reference to perception) is the claim that sensations are, by themselves, unable to provide a unique description of the world. Sensations require 'enriching', which is the role of the mental model. A different type of theory is the perceptual ecology approach of James J. Gibson. Gibson rejected the assumption of a poverty of stimulus by rejecting the notion that perception is based in sensations – instead, he investigated what information is actually presented to the perceptual systems. His theory "assumes the existence of stable, unbounded, and permanent stimulus-information in the ambient optic array. And it supposes that the visual system can explore and detect this information. The theory is information-based, not sensation-based." He and the psychologists who work within this paradigm detailed how the world could be specified to a mobile, exploring organism via the lawful projection of information about the world into energy arrays. Specification is a 1:1 mapping of some aspect of the world into a perceptual array; given such a mapping, no enrichment is required and perception is direct perception

Perception-in-action

An ecological understanding of perception derived from Gibson's early work is that of "perception-in-action", the notion that perception is a requisite property of animate action; that without perception action would be unguided, and without action perception would serve no purpose. Animate actions require both perception and motion, and perception and movement can be described as "two sides of the same coin, the coin is action". Gibson works from the assumption that singular entities, which he calls "invariants", already exist in the real world and that all that the perception process does is to home in upon them. A view known as constructivism (held by such philosophers as Ernst von Glasersfeld) regards the continual adjustment of perception and action to the external input as precisely what constitutes the "entity", which is therefore far from being invariant.

Glasersfeld considers an "invariant" as a target to be homed in upon, and a pragmatic necessity to allow an initial measure of understanding to be established prior to the updating that a statement aims to achieve. The invariant does not and need not represent an actuality, and Glasersfeld describes it as extremely unlikely that what is desired or feared by an organism will never suffer change as time goes on. This social constructionist theory thus allows for a needful evolutionary adjustment.

A mathematical theory of perception-in-action has been devised and investigated in many forms of controlled movement, and has been described in many different species of organism using the General Tau Theory. According to this theory, tau information, or time-to-goal information is the fundamental 'percept' in perception.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology Adopted

Research Design : Descriptive research

Research Instrument : Structured Questionnaire

Sampling Plan

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i) Sample Method : Non-Probability Sampling

(Convenience Sampling)

ii) Sample Size : 100

iii) Sample Unit : Employees who do not hold a

supervisory position

Sampling Design

Convenience Sampling, as the name implies, is based on the convenience of the

researcher who is to select a sample. Respondents in the sample are included in it merely

on account of their being available on the spot where the survey was in progress.

Source of Data

1. Data Source:

There are two types of data; primary and secondary data.

Primary data

In this project work primary data has been collected by:

● Questionnaires have been done on several respondents in the local area and perception about the data card were collected.

Secondary data

The data collected from secondary source is through Magazine , newspaper, internet.

2. Data Analysis:

Statistical Tool

The statistical tool used in this project is chi square.

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FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

HYPOTHESIS

NULL HYPOTHESIS: There is no relation between employees perception and performance appraisal.

ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS: There is relation between employees perception and performance appraisal.

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My performance is adequately monitored during performance appraisal.

Fig7

● From the above data we find most of the employees whose salary is below 10,000 and

above 30,000 they are strongly agree that their performance is adequately monitored

during performance appraisal

● Maximum employees whose salary is in between 10,000-20,000 and 20,000-30,000, they

are agree.

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Performance appraisal does not contribute to job performance.

Fig 8

● From the above data we find most of the employees whose salary is below 10,000 and

above 30,000 they are disagree that performance appraisal does not contribute to job

performance.

● Maximum employees whose salary is in between 10,000-20,000 and 20,000-30,000, they

are strongly disagree.

Performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal.

45

Fig 9

The above graph represents maximum number of employees whose salary is below 10,000 and

10,000 are Disagree that the performance goals are clearly defined in the process of performance.

Whereas, those employees whose salary is 20,000-30,000 they are agree and above 30,000 give no

response.

The performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among the employees.

Fig 10

The above graph represents most of the employees whose salary is below 10,000 and 10,000-20,000

they disagree that the performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among the employees.

Whereas, maximum employees whose salary in between 20,000-30,000 and above 30,000 they are

strongly agree.

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I do not need feedback to monitor my performance

Fig 11

● The above graph represents maximum number of employees whose salary is below 10,000 are disagree that they do not need feedback to monitor their performance.

● Most of the employees whose salary in between 10,000-20,000 and 20,000-30,000 they agree that they do not need feedback to monitor their performance.

● And Maximum employees whose salary is above 30,000 they are strongly agree.

The performance appraisal is helpful for improving personnel skill.

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Fig 12

● Above graph shows that most of the employees whose years of service up to 2 years and 6-10 years are strongly agree that appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

● Maximum number of employees whose years of service is 2-6 years and above 10 years are agree that the appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

Promotion is purely based on performance appraisal.

Fig 13

● The above graph represents maximum number of employees whose years of service up to 2 years and above 10 years are strongly agree that the promotion is purely based on performance.

● Most of the employees whose years of service is 2-6 years and 6-10 years are agree that promotion is purely based on performance.

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Appraisal increases career growth.

Fig 14

● From the above graph we find that maximum number of employees whose years of service up to 2 years and 2-6 years are agree that the Appraisal increases career growth

● Most of the employees whose years of service is 6-10 years and above 10 years are strongly agree that the appraisal increases career growth

Appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

Fig 15

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● Above graph shows that most of the employees whose years of service up to 2 years and 6-10 years are strongly agree that appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

● Maximum number of employees whose years of service is 2-6 years and above 10 years are agree that the appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

STATISTICAL TOOL

CHI-SQUARE TEST

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS—Performance appraisal improves job performance.

O E O-E (O-E)² (O-E)²/E

Strongly agree

Agree

No response

Disagree

Strongly disagree

48

32

9

7

4

20

20

20

20

20

28

12

11

13

16

784

144

121

169

256

39.2

7.2

6.05

8.45

12.8

Table 1

Where, O is Observed value

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and, E is expected value.

Σ(0-E)²/E = 73.7

χ² = Σ(O-E)²/ E = 73.7

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e. Performance Appraisal does not improves job performance, this statement is rejected.

So, from the result we can say that performance appraisal improves job performance.

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ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS- The assessment of performance motivates to work harder.

O E O-E (O-E)² (O-E)²/E

Strongly agree

Agree

No response

Disagree

Strongly disagree

32

36

14

11

7

20

20

20

20

20

12

16

6

9

13

144

256

36

81

169

7.2

12.8

1.8

4.05

8.45

Table 2

Where, O is Observed value

and, E is expected value.

Σ(0-E)²/E = 34.3

χ² = Σ(O-E)²/ E = 34.3

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

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So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e. the assessment of performance does not motivates to work harder. This statement is rejected.

So, from the result we can say that the assessment of performance motivates to work harder.

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ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS- Performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal.

O E O-E (O-E)² (O-E)²/E

Strongly agree

Agree

No response

Disagree

Strongly disagree

26

39

15

9

11

20

20

20

20

20

6

19

5

11

9

36

361

25

121

81

1.8

18.05

1.25

6.05

4.05

Table 3

Where, O is Observed value

and, E is expected value.

Σ(0-E)²/E = 31.2

χ² = Σ(O-E)²/ E = 31.2

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e. performance goals are not clearly defined in the process of appraisal. This statement is rejected.

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So, from the result we can say that Performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal.

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS- Performance appraisal provides me with the opportunity to set personal goals.

O E O-E (O-E)² (O-E)²/E

Strongly agree 26 20 6 36 1.8

55

Agree

No response

Disagree

Strongly disagree

36

16

12

10

20

20

20

20

16

4

8

10

256

16

64

100

12.8

0.8

3.2

5

Table 4

Where, O is Observed value

and, E is expected value.

Σ(0-E)²/E = 23.6

χ² = Σ(O-E)²/ E = 23.6

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e Performance appraisal does not provides me with the opportunity to set personal goals. This statement is rejected.

So, from the result we can say that Performance appraisal provides me with the opportunity to set personal goals.

1. As it is cleared by the analysis part that the performance appraisal enhances the performance of the employees and assessment of performance motivates to work harder these two satisfy our first objective which is to find out that the perception of

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employees towards performance appraisal and by this it is clear that employees are very much depended upon the appraisal system and and they are likely to do the work for their appraisal and by this their performance enhance.

2. And by other to analysis i.e. performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal and the last one i.e. performance appraisal provides with the opportunity to set personal goals and by these it is cleared that the second objective which is the study of the impact of performance appraisal on employees’ performance and by this it is clearly defined that the performance appraisal has a positive impact on the employees’ performance.

And by this it is cleared that our alternate hypothesis which is there is relation between employees perception and performance appraisal has been justified.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

Performance Appraisal assesses an individual employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objectives. Performance appraisal plays a very important role in the organization because it improves job performance. From the study it is conclude that performance appraisal provides the opportunity to set personal goals. It is also conclude that the assessment of performance motivates to work harder. The performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among the employees. From this study it is found that performance appraisal increases career growth. And performance appraisal helps in the promotion of the employees. It is cleared by the analysis part that the performance appraisal enhances the performance of the employees and assessment of performance motivates to work harder these two satisfy our first objective which is to find out that the perception of employees towards performance appraisal

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This shows that there must be some necessary changes made and to look after for the proper growth of the firm and as well as of the employees’ performance. The recommendation which must be followed for that are as follows:-

● The performance appraisal must be measured on the continuous time period.● There must be proper monitoring of the employees performance.● There must be performance appraisal to improv the personnel skills of the employees.● Promotion must be done on the basis of performance appraisal.● There must be assessment of performance to motivate the employees to work harder.

LIMITATIONS

There are various limitations in the completion of the project and they are as follows:  

 

● Few employees were having problems in filling the questionnaire due to time constraint.

● Few employees were taking the exercise as a mere formality.

● Even after much care was taken while formation of the questionnaire, few employees got

confused regarding the questions..

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● The employees had to be assured that it is for academic purposes only and the response

given by them will be kept anonymous.

● The common query was why these questionnaires are filled.

● Few employees got irritated because they felt it was a waste of time.

● Comparatively small sample size (total employees-100 approx.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www . google . com

www . uflexltd . com

www . flexfilm . com

www . uflexengg . com

www . wikipedia . org

Thornton, G.C. & W.C. Byham (1982) Assessment centres and Managerial Performance, Academic

Press, New York .

T.V.Rao & U. Pareek (1978) Performace Appraisal and Review: Operating Manual, Learning System,

New Delhi.

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H. Richl (1996). ‘A Skilful Approach to High Productivity’, H.R. Magazine, August, 97-102

J.A.D Conger Finegold & E.E.Lawler (1998).’Appraising Boardroom Performance’. Harvard Business

Review, January- February.

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: …………………………………………………………………………..

Sex:

[ ] Male [ ] Female

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Age:

[ ]Upto 20 years [ ] 20-30 years [ ] 30-40 years [ ] above 40 years

Marital Status:

[ ] Married [ ] Unmarried

Years of service:

[ ]Upto 2 years [ ] 2-6 years [ ] 6-10 years [ ] above 10 years

Monthly Income:

[ ] below 10,000 [ ] 10,000-20,000 [ ] 20,000-30,000 [ ] above 30,000

STUDY FACTORS:

S.no. Particulars SA A NR DA SDA

7 Performance appraisal improves job

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performance

8 The assessment of performance motivates to work harder 

9 Performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal

10 My performance is adequately monitored during performance appraisal

11 Performance appraisal does not contribute to job performance

12 The performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among the employee

13 I do not need feedback to monitor my performance

14 The performance appraisal is helpful for improving personnel skill

15 Promotion is purely based on performance appraisal

16 Is the Performance assessment match to your expectations

17 Appraisals encourage career growth

18 Appraisals enhances the chances for promotion

19 Performance appraisal provides me with the opportunity to set personal goals

20 The Performance Appraisal System give a proper assessment of your contribution to the Organization

SA- Strongly agree, A- Agree, NS- No response, DA- Disagree, SDA- Strongly Disagree

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