Performance appraisals, employee satisfaction and organisational justice in the fast-moving consumer goods sector in Western Cape

Abstract

The performance appraisal supplies a good opportunity to formally recognize employees’ achievements and contributions to the organisation and to ensure that a clear link is proved and maintained between performance and reward. However, the appraisal process has been studied broadly over prior decades, yet researchers and academics cannot agree on the strengths and merits of these systems. Due to the inconsistency of the performance appraisal system, serious issues in relation to a complex dynamic connection between employee satisfaction and feeling of fairness are raised. Thus, one of the key objectives of performance appraisal is to reward performance and address weaknesses. Through literature review, the research presented a conceptual model that established the relationship among employee appraisal, organisational performance, and justice through the mediating effects of employee satisfaction, motivation, and loyalty. Using a quantitative survey and collecting data from 80 employees in the fast-moving consumer goods sector in the Western Cape the conceptual model was empirically tested. From empirical evidence, the study concludes that there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between performance appraisal in enhancing organisational justice, employee motivation, satisfaction, and loyalty. The study contributes a novel conceptual framework that seeks to explain the relationship among employee appraisal, organisational justice, and performance through the mediating effects of employee motivation, loyalty, and satisfaction.