PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEES EFFICIENCY IN NIGERIA

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEES EFFICIENCY IN NIGERIA MINERAL WATER
 
Abstract
 
This study is on performance evaluation and its effect on employees efficiency in Nigeria. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Nigeria mineral water Limca, Lagos. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up production managers, administrative staff, senior staff and junior staff was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
CHAPTER 
INTRODUCTION
1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
It is a very clear fact by both definition and common understanding that every organization is formed for an objective. Through two objectives may be profit or non profit commonly for any organization to succeed, the efforts of its employees must be directed towards the realization of their individual set objectives. The efforts of each of the employees or group of employees in each organization may be directly or not and normally varies in degrees and relevance to the corporate objective, but should not for any reason be rejected in the interest of the corporate objectives. Out performance by any employee or group of employees in a department will surely result to underachievement of the co-operate organizational goals.
In recognition of the importance of one employee to the corporate existence and goal attainment, the need to have a set goal or standard at each level of the organizational structures becomes imperative. This arrangement will make it possible and help in checking and appraising of the employee by various superiors in the organization. This objective standard will be proportionate and appropriate to the level and position of the employees in the organizational structures as the expectations of each employee depends on his position and level in the organizational hierarchy.
It was in recognition of this Fredrick will show Taylor, the father of scientific management in his article in the journal transaction urged for the establishment of performance standard. This was with this aim to determining the employee’s productivity as their performance evaluation could be measured if standards are set. He added that he could perform up to the established standard will be rewarded. He that performs above the standard will be entitled to bonus. On the other hand, employees that failed to perform up to subjecting him to training to improve. But where this effort to improve this fail the next line of action will be punish the employee either by demoting or firing him. These were with the intention that the employees might be motivated to high performance and discouraged from under achieving.
As was urged by Taylor (1968) in his article in “transaction” to reward the worker who performed up to the set standard; to give bonus to those who are above the standards and demote or fire the employees who performed below the standard and failed to improve after training. The question that calls to mind is how do you know the employees who performed above or up to or below the set standard. It is aimed that at objectively deciding which employee deserves which treatment from management praise or course. By definition, performance evaluation could be the analysis and appraisal of individual workers performance and productivity based on the objective set. Sluck (1970) in his own, defined performance evaluation as a personnel activity by means of which the enterprise determines the extent of which the employees is performing the job effectively.
Evaluation system are systems that have ultimate connections within all forms of organization set up that aim at determining the employees effectiveness and reward fairly made accordingly. Failure to administer regards in consistence with the performance will undoubtedly bring some sets back in an organizational productivity this is the case when the most efficient employee is not reward accordingly. Many evaluation methods have been critical as not suitable designed to yield the position result that could be a fair guide to compensating the efficient employees.
Effective implementation is another problem that is associated with performance evaluation. A good evaluation system or institution has to be effectively implemented or executed to yielding a reliable result. A person desirous of good plant the good species, he also aims the duties of tending, feeling watching the plant grow to give the expected good yield/performance evaluation is live is that, when a good and suitable system is installed in an organization to give a fair and reliable result it has to be strictly and objectively implemented by the appraisers.
In carrying out the exercise the lowest level employees are evaluated by their immediate supervisor. Their performance against each set objective should be assessed and perhaps graded setting an objective is therefore an element in carrying out the evaluation exercise. Regarded less of what method adopted, the primary objectives are the same. It aims at developing the employees so that the best could be obtained from them for the benefit of the entire organization.
Nigeria mineral water Limca is located in No. 1 Limca road, P.M.B 1549 Onitsha Anambra state Nigeria. Mineral water Limca company is working on water treatment business activities – It is a multilateral organization. It has branches all over the states in Nigeria. It was established in Nigeria enterprises Gold sport, Limca fairly soda and Paani table water. The company has branches all over Nigeria with its corporate headquarters in Lagos and offices and Depot in Enugu, Onitsha and Port-Harcourt. They engaged in selling of various Limca products to Nigeria and also involved in water serving the company provide employment to Nigerian thereby helping in the country. Through its staff strength is about one hundred under sales and less that the under general trade. No doubt limca Nigeria is working a good impact water treatment as the name limca is not new to many household in Nigeria.
1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Performance evaluation is universal and its universality undoubtedly epitomize it importance to many organizations. Every organization, ministry or department has a peculiar function it carries out or performance to encourage efficiency and effectiveness. Ideally performance evaluation result should e unquestionable, undoubtful guide to improve and developed the performance of the employees who are appraised. The rewards and promotion of the employees if based on the result of performance evaluation should not be doubted by the employees and should not discourage them putting in more effort to achieve the best. The essence of performance evaluation in any organization, ministry or department is to achieve the organizational goal by making plan and looking for a way to actualize what they have planned for effective performance result to harmony in any organization and this constitutes to increase in productivity of both human and material resources in any given organization.
Emphasis in this research will be hand the best way of encouraging the Nigeria water Limca to consider performance as essential tool for central in an organization and as a matter of fact Nigeria water Limca Onitsha is faced with many problems as a result of not having adequate personnel’s who can have out effective performance which will enable the organization to carry its functions successfully. It is intended in the research to go into these analyzing and discussing them with a view of facilitates performance in the organization. These problems although is difficult to go into solved, will make the organization to be in a better position to attain its aims successfully.
1.3   PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The general purpose of this study is to examine the performance evaluation and its effect on employee efficiency. Other purposes include: To examine the effect of performance evaluation on employees efficiency. To identify the problems associated with staff career development in Limca. To find out workable solution for an effective evaluation.
1.4   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of this study is to find out how the employee is performing in his responsibility. Hence many workers in different organization do not attain the organization goal required of them. Employee performance evaluation provides legal, ethical and visible evidence that employees were actively involved in understanding the requirements of their jobs and their performance. The accompanying goal setting, performance feedback and documentation ensure that employees understand their required outputs. In the event that an employee is not succeeding or improving in his job performance, the performance evaluation documentation can be used to develop a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). This plan provides more detailed goals with more frequent feed back to an employee who is struggling to perform. The goal is improvement but non performance can lead to disciplinary action up to and including employment termination.
1.5   RESEARCH QUESTION
This study sought answers to the following research questions:
To what extent does performance evaluation affect employee’s efficiency?
What are the problems associated with staff career development in Limca?
What are the workable solutions for an effective evolution of Limca employee?
1.6   SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study of performance appraisal in Nigeria public enterprises will not deal with all aspects of annual performance appraisal; it will treat mainly the area where mistakes and mismanagement most commonly occur. Concentration will be the degree of achievement of objective result, the reliability of the result and the effectiveness of the result on future performance of workers.
1.7   DEFINITION OF TERMS
The terms used in the study, which have unique meaning that could be subjected to different interpretation by different readers of this project report are defined as follows:
Effective: An exercise or action is said to be effective when it realized its intended result or purpose.
Performance: In the context of the study performance could be look at as the execution and going on work towards the achievement of objectives.
Evaluation: This means estimates of values among and quality.
Negative Evaluation: This means that employees are negatively evaluation does not favour them.
Appraisal: To evaluate especially in an official capacity, to estimate the quality amount size, and other features of judgement.
Performance standard: The aim to determining the employee’s productivity as their performance evaluation could be measured is standards are set.
Employees: A person or group of person who is paid to work for somebody.
Efficiency: The quality of doing something well with no waste of time or money.
CHAPTER 
RELATED LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Performance appraisal has been with us for long time. Being such a very important management concept by virtue of relationship with organization productivity many management writers or theorist have immensely paid attention commented on it on this note a lot of literatures have been made on performance appraisal. Drucker (2015) has this to say about performance appraisal insistence on high goals and high performance requires that man’s ability to set goals and attain their systematically appraise based on high appraisal of a man and his performance in assigning work to him which automatically leads him to promotion hence the set objective. Hodject (2015) in his research in organizational behavior narrated some of the purpose for which performance appraisal can be used includes: Training and developing decisions, promotion, separation and transfer decision feedback to the employee regarding love the organization views his/her performance. Rewards decision including merit increases.
EVALUATION OF TRAINING: The need for staffing training and development cannot be over emphasized. This calls for employees taking more specific tasks, responsibilities and high moral thereby increasing productivity in order to achieve the organization goals. Molokwu (2013) opined that efficiency of any organization depends on how well its workers and taking to their jobs while the other ones require training to keep alert to the demands of their present jobs and to prepare for transfer the promotions. Training motivates employees to work harder. Employees who understand their jobs are likely to have morale, they see close relationship between their efforts performance.
According to Nwachukwu (2014) an employee who has undergone a good training programme has confident that he is capable of executing his job, unlike one who has not been trained and finds his job very difficult. In the actual business world, the unfair objectives or purpose of comprehensive evaluation is simply to determine whether or not the instruction policy decision and directives issued on job performance down the hierarchy have actually succeeded and if so to what extent. How effective training programme are on helping the employees to acquire desirable knowledge, skills, outlook orientation and attitude. The possible advantages or values and limitation of the training methods so employed. Few instruments of evaluation of training programme is using are.
Interviews before and after course attendance observation of trainee at work discussion by training officers with trainees and their basses. Follow-up test before and after training questionnaire used at the end of training extent of gaps and variable between standards and actual performance abstinence obtainable from the shop flow. There are three (3) approaches for training evaluation common to all organization. They includes the following.
Controlled experimental: this approach involves the use of group viz training group plus control group”, certain criteria measures or indices a reselected for both groups training while the later group is not. After the training exercise, criteria measures are applied separately to assess the actual performance of each group, subsequent compassion of finding will be made to establish a training given the resulted in improved performance. Before and after evaluation, the after training evaluation method involves a single training group. But with performance criteria measure being obtain and carefully applied only after successful completion of training course for any evaluation pattern to be employed, these simple four (4) stages model may be applied.
STAGE (1): Reaction level, using the criteria measures or indices to evaluate the reaction of the trainees to the subject matter the way it is though participation of trainees, motivation and mood of learners.
STAGE (2): Immediate level using qualified criteria measures to assess by scoring whether learning has actually take place as regards trainees, attitude and knowledge and follow-up with a “fest” and perhaps “retention test” to ascertain perception and regards trainees, attitude and knowledge and follow up with.
STAGE (3): Intermediate level, these lowers the transfer of trainee from the learning situation to the actual work situation.
STAGE (4): Ultimate level, ultimate goal of firm is the increased effectiveness measured in financial terms, including improvement in quality, quality, reduction in time requiring wastage scraps etc.
In practice, using the indices a good and statistically reliable increase in the final score for the group as in whole caused by the training will means an evidence for charge and improvement intended to be achieved, it is worthy of note that a good evaluation exercise can only be best made after the proper launching of a desired staff development programme. Every performance evaluation scheme must be consistent reliable and be a continuous creative management process be jointly carried out by trainees, trainers team of specialist plus the head of other departments, their structural fields of specialization notwithstanding.
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AS A GOAL CONSCIOUS: Eyre (2012) commented that in whatever way jobs a regarded it is inevitable that serve workers will perform better than others and desire more pay order to reward the efficient workers in many organizations use system merit. A regular appraisal usually of job performance of each worker will be carried out objectively manager. Systematic evaluation is everyday activity in every organization, to know this potentials and forthcomings. Gulick (2010) opined that after a new employee is on for a while, it is doing performance appraisal is the system used by organization to regularly and systematically evaluate the staff performance to see how he/she is meeting the minimum standard or objective. It has been established job to achieve desired result through people.
According to Ubeku (2015) “performance appraisal is in exercise that require co-operative and team effort on the part of the manager therefore is to decide with his men the objectives of his department within frame of the entire organizations”. Yuil (2014)on his own contribution pointed out that performance appraisal involves increasing it is the responsibility of the supervisor to assess the performance of these entrusted under this care”. That assessment can be used for improving placement transfer promotion or dismissing those performance are below satisfactory levels for supervisor see them too, improving their performance and for developing training programme. Performance appraisal involves increasing productivity. As it is a difficult exercise where results cannot be quantified. Ubeku (2015) contented that it is true that where result cannot be quantified. It is not always easy to measure productivity. However, he further stressed that with careful analysis such result can be judge and rise or fall in productivity ascertained.
BENEFITS OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: The benefits that accrue from appropriate setting of performance appraisal are numerous and cannot be over emphasized. Because it brings about provision of clear information about behaviours and capability of workers in an organization, thereby giving them the vacuum for amendment and improvement in their different disciplines by so doing according to succor to the life of the organization and to workers in general. More so, it improve productivity in organization, because every worker needs from option based on that fact, he or she will be working hard to earn a better ranking or rating in the organization by so doing enhancing the growth of productivity in the organization.
Performance appraisal tells the organization the capability or rather the quality of staff in stock and whether there is need for more adequate training nor not and the impact of the training receive by its workers. Above all, it harmonizes the minds of the supervisor offices, and that is their subordinate while working and that of their subordinates while working since each other knows what to do, how to do it and who best to handle it.
PROBLEMS OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS: In identifying and criticizing some of the problems boarding affecting performance appraisal Yonder and Standalar (1980) revealed in the book, personal management and industrial relations that source appraisers reflect the personal prejudices of the individual being rated. He also contended that some appraisal though may be unbiased, but he looks more at the behavior of the rate than his contribution to their organizational effectiveness in support of the appraisal, William Glueck (2010) said that various studies have indicated that evaluators biases influence the evaluation better than others, this influence the rating they give to them. Also Ubeku (2015) in his famous said that “the practice of sitting down once a year on December to write a report, he said is not objective that it amounts to trying with the like hood, the progress, the development and future of all the employees concerned and consequently the development of the organization. Boyee (2017) opined that different managers have different standards of what is good and very good performance, by this he means that appraisers differ in many ways both character test attitude. Idiocracy and it has great influence on them appraising the employees.
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: William (2010) in giving remedy to the problems suggested that their biases can be reduced through the use of such evaluation system as forced choice evaluation system as forced choice field staff review, performance test and Management by Objectives (MBO). Mortinko (2015) in his own contribution to the solution of the problems facing performance appraisal in his book. The practice of supervision and management “suggested forcer general guidelines that can help supervisors conduct an effective appraisal interview briefly they include:
Listening
Maintaining open mind
Feed back
These are aimed at ameliorating the problems that premade the appraisal. They also highlighted five (5) biggest rating errors that must be recognized and accepted by the appraisers. These errors include;
Distribution error: these areas are result of undertaking. Underrating, over rating or simple failing to recognize individual employees who has shoe outstanding performance. According to Motinko the best way to avoid this, is by the supervisor grading the entire groups ratings before appraising to make sure that rating are evenly distributed as possible.
REGENCE ERRORS: This is the problem encountered when the employees are rated on the based of recent performance over the time period for the appraisal. The problem is more pronounced if the supervisor haves the appraisal exercises until then and of the evaluation period. This he fail to record important relevant positive or negative performance on an ongoing basis through the rating period.
PRIMARY ERRORS: This is the opposite of regency errors. Here appraiser and rated. To correct this, there is also need to review the employee’s records both the previous and present ones and rate to the rated accordingly.
JOB ERRORS: Occasionally the waters fall into the habit of rating the job instead of performance for example an appraiser might.
HALD EFFECT/ERROR: This is error of based on a very far desirable traits and characteristics that are not necessarily related to job performance. Because of this halo effect an employee may receive a rating than deserved because of favourable morton held mount him, maybe he dresses sharply and good looking etc to avoid this error the appraisers should direct their attention to what the employee can do and not to his countenance.