Article 7: Performance Appraisal Evolution

Evaluation of performance dates back to the beginning of structured human activity. It has evolved in concept and application. This blog examines the development of assessment of performance into an extensive performance management system throughout history. 

The method of evaluating a person's performance is as old as humanity. “The Lord has filled him (Bezalel) with the spirit of God, in understanding and awareness, in every area of knowledge and expertise to create aesthetic works of art, to carve phrases and work in a number of creative methods, such gold, silver, and bronze” (Exodus, 35, pp. 31-3). Moses selected an Israelite tribesman who was considered as the best skilled artisan to construct and furnish the tabernacle of the Lord in around 1350 BC (Wiese and Buckley, 1998).

Around 3000 BC, the ancient Egyptians had to “encourage” inadvertently used their employees to build massive pyramids, To achieve this, they used systems for performance management. Their strategy was based on disciplining workers who did not meet objectives, To reach their goals. They built magnificent pyramids as evidence that the method worked for them. They built magnificent pyramids as evidence that the method worked for them. (Furnham, 2004).

Indus Valley (before 1500 BC) 

While slavery and forced labor played an essential part in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, It shows that trade and artisans were more significant to the Indus civilisation. Trading was made practicable by standardized weights. Authorities may have used weighing devices to collect taxes. The people of Indus of Mohenja-Daro and Harappan had a system of measurements. They smelted, cast and used copper and bronze. Harappa kilns produced millions of bricks. The Indus people used the wheel for transportation. The sum of every individual's production was utilized back then as their performance measuring criterion. Furthermore, product quality was essential. Potters who produced better-looking, of greater quality vessels were once valued.

However, this time period created a large number of artisans with a variety of talents. The remains of the ancient Indian civilisation unearthed at Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Kaushambi and the various inscriptions found all over the country show that the development of goldsmithy, blacksmithy, carpentry, ivory- carving, ceramics industries and spinning and weaving of yarn and cloth was phenomenal in ancient India (Saran, 1957) 

16th and 17th Century

Ignatius Loyala established a system for formal rating of the members of the Jesuit Society (Whisler & Harper, 1962). Ignatius was a nobleman who had a military background. He formed the Society of Jesus, which was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III. He wrote the Jesuit Constitution, adopted in 1553, which created a centralised Organizing and emphasizing acceptance of any mission to which the pope would call them. According to Pontes (2010), formal performance appraisal programs were not new. St. Ignatius of Loyola used a combined system of notes and reports of activities and potential of each of his Jesuits. In 1648, Dublin (Ireland) Evening Post has a system of assessing lawmakers by using a rating scale based upon personal qualities (Hackett, 1928), as cited in (Wiese & Buckley, 1998). 

18th and 19 th Century

In the 18th -19th centuries there were early forms of performance evaluation in Britain and USA, and most Western armies did appraisals in the 19th century (Furnham, 2004). In 1776 Adam Smith they talked about the application of principle of specialization to factory employees, its control and concept (Balasubramanian, 2002). With this, It was simple to evaluate and reward manufacturing workers' performance.

Theoretical and practical performance management in the United States started with the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. During the Industrial Revolution, the first evaluation methods were rather primitive and basic. Quantity was the main factor used to evaluate and reward workers. output -- the number of "pieces" they satisfactorily turned out. Frequently, In recognition of employees' contributions to the business, management provided bonuses and other tangible awards. (Pratt, 1991).

In 1800, James Watt established operating procedures standards, specifications, work methods, Christmastime rewards include bonuses and even salary based on accomplishment. However, it was Robert Owen who recognized the need for personal practices in 1810. He was the first who assumed duties for employee training (Balasubramanian, 2002).

At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, Military and government-related businesses tended to utilize performance reviews most frequently. – due to their large size, hierarchical structure, geographic dispersal, In addition to the requirement to advance the finest staff members to higher managerial positions. At that time, the majority of private firms reviewed worker efficiency using informal indicators before making administrative decisions. (Wiese & Buckley, 1998).

20th Century

In 1914, Development of performance evaluations in United States industry began with early work in salesman selection by industrial psychologists at Carnegie-Mellon University, who used trait psychology to develop a man-to-man rating system. The army used this system during World War I to assess the officer performance. After the war, business leaders, impressed by the achievements of the army researchers, majority of the personnel involved in the job were recruited in man-to-man appraisals. Industry aimed to utilize this new technology's contributions to breed of psychologist (Scott, 1941) as cited in (Wiese & Buckley, 1998). 

Between 1918 – 1950, the widespread use of performance appraisal techniques with blue-collar employees didn't start until after World War I. Appraisal systems for measuring managerial and professional employee performance weren't used extensively until about 1955 (Pratt, 1991). 

Prior to World War II, methods of performance evaluation tended to exclude top management, generally used graphic-rating scales and had just one or two forms for all employees regardless of the task done or talents required (Spriegel, 1962).

In the US, passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1966 and 1970 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Guidelines for Regulation of Selection procedures createdan expectation for better organizational appraisal processes. These legal considerations exerted strong pressure on formalizing organizations, validate, and organize appraisal systems (Murphy & Cleveland, 1995)

Table 1: Evaluation of performance Technique and Measurement in different timelines

Time Frame	Approach	Measure
3 rd AD	Qualitative judgement on character	How
Pre 1800s	First examples of traits / competencies	How
1800s	Narrative report	What / How
1920s	Task based output e.g., ‘piece work’	What
1950s	Trait-based, critical incident technique	How
1960s	Management by Objective	What
1970s	Assessment Centre	How
1980s	Hybrid	What / How
1990s	Performance Management Competency Development 360 feedback / evaluation Balanced scorecard	What / How How How What / How

(Mills, 2002).

21st Century

By the conclusion of 20th century, Evaluation of performance seems to be very ubiquitous, and the apparent importance of performance appraisal as a tool for managing human resources has increased. In certain businesses, innovative utilization is now being adopted. of a selfappraisal system, especially for managers and higher-level professionals (Pratt, 1991).

Almost all enterprises across the world employ evaluations of performance in some capacity. Every industry has seen a continual growth in the performance management system to keep up with the times, This makes it possible for people to work together with a company's aim. In 21st century, performance management system has become an integral part of Employee Engagement (Rath, 2018).

List of refernces:

Amstrong, M. (2009) ARMSTRONG’S HANDBOOK OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE. 11th edn [online].Available at: Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice by Armstrong, Michael. - PDF Drive [Accessed on 7th of  December 2022]

Balasubramanian, C.A. (2002) Personnel Management, Everest Publishing House, 5th Edition.

Furnham, A. (2004) Performance management systems, European Business Journal, 16(2), pp. 83-94.

Mills, C. (2002) Performance Management under The Microscope, Shri Publication, IndIa.

Murphy, K. R. & Cleveland, J. N. (1995) Understanding Performance Appraisal: Social, Organizational and Goal Based Perspectives, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Pratt, H. J. (1991) Principles of Effective Performance Management, ARMA Records Management Quarterly, 25(1).

Rath, A. (2018) "Evolution of Performance Management System: A Review of Literature", INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CREATIVE RESEARCH THOUGHTS, 6(2), p. 875 [Online]. Available at: https://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT1813200.pdf. [ Accessed on 7th of December, 2022].

Spriegel, W. R. (1962) Company practices in appraisal of managerial performance, Personnel, 39(77).

Whisler, T. L. & Harper, S. F. (1962) Performance Appraisal: Research and Practice, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Wiese and Buckley, 1998