PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT: A NEW APPROACH

Abstract

The intention of the present article is to show the importance of justice in the context of performance appraisals, in order to increase commitment to the organization. In light of this purpose, a review of the literature was conducted regarding the subjects under analysis: performance appraisal, organizational justice and organizational commitment. Measurement instruments (questionnaires) were then elaborated and validated and applied to two Portuguese banks. The results of multiple regression analyses led us to conclude that organizational commitment is influenced by all the dimensions of organizational justice. This result indicates that managers should be aware of the importance of conducting performance appraisals that are perceived by the employees of the organization to be just, in order to have a working team that is supportive, cooperative and willing to make every effort in order to accomplish the objectives of the organization. Keywords: Performance appraisal. Organizational commitment. Distributive justice. Procedural justice. Interpersonal justice. Informational justice.