In every
business organization, the performance of the employees is important in achieving
organizational goals. The success of every business organization can therefore
be attributed to performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is one of the
basic tools that make workers to be very effective and active at work. A
critical look out on this may bring about the need for motivation, allowances, development,
training and good human relationship in an organization.

The output of
every organization depends on how well and how much the performance of the
employee is appraised and evaluated. Productivity can therefore be defined as
“quality or volume of the major product or services that an organization
provides”. In short, productivity is what comes out of production.

Managers of
every business organization are charged with the responsibility to motivate
their employees to achieve organizational goals. The efficiency and effectiveness
of any work place whether the private or the public sector, largely depend on
the caliber of the workforce. The availability of competent and effective
labour force does not just happen by chance or accident but through an articulated
recruitment exercise (Peretomode and Peretomode, 2001) and performance
appraisal.

The whole
essence of the management activities of an organization culminates into the
system of performance appraisal adopted in that organization. This, in turn,
reflects the extent of the individual contributions and commitment of the employees
in different hierarchical levels toward the achievement of organizational
objectives. It goes without saying that an effective performance appraisal
system can lead an organization to take strides towards success and growth by
leaps and bounds. Conversely, an ineffective performance appraisal system can
seal the fate of an organization by creating chaos and confusion from top to
bottom in the administrative hierarchy. As a consequence the chances of success
and growth of that organization are doomed.

The Nigerian
economy has been plunged into a state of economic decline since the early
1980’s, following the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), by
Babangida’s Administration. Since then, productivity improvement has become a
major challenge facing all work and business organizations and the Nigerian
economy as whole. It has therefore become imperative for government and all
stakeholders to evolve adequate measures that would improve productivity in
Nigeria. It is on account of this, that most, if not all of the past leaders,
have tried in one way or the other to carry out at least one reform measure in
the public sector in order to enhance employee performance and productivity.

The nonchalant
attitudes of public sector workers towards their duties and responsibilities
have become a matter of great concern to the government at all levels and other
well meaning Nigerians. There has been a persistent public outcry in the mass
media indicting public sector employees for their negative attitude to work
which has lead to low productivity and declining revenue.

Igbokwe-Ibeto
(2011) observed that “people do not take their work seriously in many instances
because people do not like what they are doing”. This nonchalant attitude to
work is independent of geo-political zones, rural-urban residence, religious
affiliation, sex or age. This opinion if properly examined suggest that in many
cases, they see themselves as birds of passage, such notion and feeling is even
worsened by the fact that performance appraisal and productivity management is
not taken serious in most organizations.

A segment of
Nigerian scholars such as, Okoro (2003), Oko (2004) and Arhuidese

(2006) well
tutored in Nigerian history have traced the genesis of the negative attitude to
work prevalent among Nigerian to the event of colonial era. They argued that
during the struggle and fight against colonialism, many nationalist using
various approaches and strategies tended to give the impression that government
as an institution and its agencies should be impoverished and vandalized. The
public sector for example, was seen as a “white man’s job” and anything done to
frustrate its operations is well intended. The notion, they argued have spread
into all spheres of work in the present day Nigeria.

Some Nigerian
scholars such as, , Mustafa (2006), Nwachukwu (2008) and Fatile (2010),
emphasized the issue of poor performance appraisal and motivation at work as
the some of the causes of this national slide. They argued that poor performance
and low productivity is a direct consequence of inadequate motivation and
performance appraisal. In line with this proposition, Enyinta, (2001) noted
that, “there is general apathy on the side of the employers of labour to reward
a worker who is conscientious and dedicated to his duties”. Workers more often
than not go on strike resulting to loss of man-hours before they get their due
rights.

Afam (2003)
contributing to the above subject matter, believes that the Nigerian worker has
become a pawn in the hands of exploitative capitalist. He went further to
observe that workers are subjected to all kinds of ill treatments like
reduction in ranks, removal of fringe benefits, pay cuts, late payment of
salaries and wages and the prevalent retrenchment with or without benefits. He
concluded by saying that a situation where a worker is not adequately rewarded
for the cake he has painstakingly toiled to bake, is disheartening and left
much to be desired, as it amounts to killing the goose that lays the golden
egg.

1.2 Statement
of the Problem