Marks and Spencer PLC

Performance appraisal is considered among one of the key material of the performance management system that incorporates various measurements within the organisations. Performance appraisal could be considered as the most important process if and only if the organisation is willing to derive maximum advantage of its most valuable asset, which is the employees (Harrington and Lee, 2015). Therefore, it can be stated that if the organisations are willing to obtain the human capital advantage they should make sure to implement as appropriate performance appraisal system within their human resource management structure. As argued by LePine et al., (2016) performance appraisal can leave an effective impact over the performance of the employees. In other words, performance appraisal is an effective tool for identifying the skills and competencies of the employees. This helps the organisation to recognise those skills and competencies and thereby rewarding them for their hard work. This in turn motivates the employees and marks and impact on their performance (Zhong et al., 2016). This research work has shed light on the detailed process through which performance appraisal system affects the performance of the employees of Marks and Spencer.

Marks and Spencer PLC was formed in the year 1884 by a Polish refugee Michael Marks and its first stall was opened in Leeds. Presently the company can be identified as one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom. It owns 300 Marks and Spencer’s stores in the United Kingdom alone (Annualreport.marksandspencer.com, 2017). These stores generally sell footwear, gift items, apparels, food and home furnishing products among which most of the products are labelled St Michael Brand which is a private brand of M & S. The company also owns more than 100 exclusive Marks and Spencer stores in Europe, Canada and Hong Kong and at the same time it also franchises 85 M & S stores in Europe, Bahamas, Middle East and Australia. Marks and Spencer also operates in the food industry and 60% of its UK business turnover is generated from the food industry. The Marks and Spencer first spread its wings in the food market during 1931 selling the canned foods and produces. Currently the company sells food products through 942 UK based stores that includes 253 company owned and 383 franchise food only stores (Annualreport.marksandspencer.com, 2017). The company has depicted a significant growth rate since the past few years and is expected that it will further flourish in near future.

Research Aim and Objectives

This specific research work is concentrated on determining the impact of employee appraisal system on the performance of the employees of Marks and Spencer. Marks and Spencer has always implemented a succinct performance appraisal system and the employees of M & S are also found to be performing as efficiently as possible leading to a drastic success of the organisation. However, investigating the relationship between the performance appraisal system and employee performance may in turn help the organization to enhance its employee performance.

The research is concentrated on the issue of determining the impact of performance appraisal on the performance and productivity of an employee. In the era of globalization and with the emergence of ever increasing competitiveness almost all the organisations are striving to sustain the market profitably (Iqbal et al., 2015). In order to do so the organisations are required to increase their productivity and profitability. The most effective way of increasing the productivity of an organisation is to motivate and drive their employees efficiently. As the previous researches suggest if there is an effective performance appraisal process in place then an organisation will certainly be able to enhance the performance of its employees (Ohme and Zacher, 2015). Hence the impact of performance appraisal over the performance of the employees is considered as the key issues of the research.

As market competitiveness is increasing over time and it can easily be inferred that it will further increase in near future, organisations are always required to be prepared to cope with such situation (Budworth et al., 2015. Therefore, enhancing the employee performance through an effective performance appraisal system is considered as a major issue of research now. This research work will investigate the key factors of performance appraisal and its role in the performance management system. Later on the research work has minutely focused on determining the impact of performance appraisal over the performance of the employees.

The aim of the research was to determine the key impact of performance appraisal system on the performance of the employee. It attempted to review whether the system affects the employee performance positively or negatively. As well as the research also aimed at determining the most effective performance appraisal method through which employees could be influenced more.

The objectives of the research can be summarized as follows,

• To get a detailed overview of the performance appraisal system of Marks and Spencer
• To determine the key factors of the performance appraisal system of Marks and Spencer
• To determine the factors affecting the employee performance in Marks and Spencer
• To determine how and in which direction employee performance is affected by performance appraisal system in Marks and Spencer

The key questions of the research can be stated as follows

• What is performance appraisal system?
• What are the factors or elements of performance appraisal system of Marks and Spencer?
• What are the factors affecting employee performance in Marks and Spencer?
• How employee performance is affected by performance appraisal system in Marks and Spencer?

Performance appraisal is characterized as a formal system designated for reviewing and evaluating the performance of an individual or team. A noteworthy point in the definition is the use of the word “Formal” this is because the managers usually evaluate the performance of individual on a continuing basis (Zhong et al., 2016).

Performance Appraisal and Performance Management System

Performance appraisal is an essential component of the performance management system. As argued by Cascio (2018), performance appraisal is a component of the performance management system it is important in a sense that it directly reflects the strategic plan of the organization. However, the evaluation of the performance of a team is also essential if teams exist within an organization, in most of the organizations performance appraisal focuses only on evaluating the performance of individual employees. Irrespective of the emphasis an effective performance appraisal system in turn enumerates the accomplishments of the employees and thereby designs an effective plan for development, goals and setting up objectives (Kehoe and Wright, 2013).

A group of researchers have observed that performance appraisal have often been regarded as a negative or disliked activity. Managers dislike giving performance appraisal while employees do not like receiving them. As per the data obtained through a survey it has been observed that 80 percent of the employees were not satisfied with their performance appraisal. Despite of all these facts performance appraisal system is still in its place because it serves several purposes and improved performance and efficiency of the employees are crucial in today’s competitive market environment. Therefore following the words of Pichler (2012), deserting the only process that is concerned about performance and focuses on employees would never be an effective decision.

The conventional performance appraisal system possesses the following characteristic features.

Performance appraisal in only a systematic approach rather it can be identified as a process that incorporates several steps.

Employee’s strengths and weaknesses are assessed systematically on the basis of a given task through performance appraisal system (Anitha, 2014).

The basic objective of the performance appraisal system is to know how well an employee is doing within the organization and what are the key areas which are needed to be improved.

A scientifically justified and similar approach is adopted for evaluating the performance of every employee. On the other hand, the evaluation process is also periodic which means the evaluation will take place in periodic intervals (Grant, 2012).

The figure below depicts the process of performance appraisal briefly. As it can be observed that the first point of performance appraisal process is to identifying specific goals of performance. It has been argued that an appraisal system evidently will not be able to serve each of the desired purposes. Henceforth, the management should effectively identify the specific goals which are most important and can be achieved realistically (Posthuma et al., 2013). For instance there are certain organizations which focus on development of employees while the other firms may stress on pay adjustments. Enacting too many performance appraisal system will not work as the management expects too much from a single system and does not determine what it is willing to achieve through the system.

Characteristics of Performance Appraisal System

Next step of the process concentrates on setting up performance standards and communication those desired performance standards to the concerned people. Then the task is performed and the supervisor responsible performs the appraisal. At the end of the process of appraisal the employees and the supervisor review the report of work performance and evaluates the report against the previously stated performance standards (Wong and Laschinger, 2013). This specific review helps to determine whether the employees have met the performance standards, determining the key areas of deficiency and thereby designing a strategic plan through those deficiencies could be mitigated. At this point of time the goals are set and communicated for the next period of evaluation and the same process is repeated (Jenter and Kanaan, 2015).

There is an old saying that “What gets watched, gets done”. Hence it can be stated that the management should design the performance standards as efficiently as possible as it is the key to achieving corporate goals. The most common criteria of appraisal are traits, behavior, goal achievement, competencies and potential of improvement.

Traits

A few traits of the employees for instance the appearance, attitude and initiatives are the basis on which evaluation is performed. However, Buller and McEvoy (2012), argued that most these rigorously used qualities are subjective and may not be defined or unrelated to job performance. In such a case inappropriate evaluation may follow and give rise to legal complications. On the other hand, there are certain traits which are useful in relating to job performance. Hence using these traits may be useful for the organizations. Traits like judgment, adaptability, appearance and attitude could be considered as the useful traits while the connection between these traits and job performance is established (Cerasoli et al., 2014).

Behaviors

When it becomes difficult to outcome of an individual’s task, organizations may opt for evaluating the task related behavior of the employee. For instance the most suitable behavior to evaluate the performance of a manager would be leadership style (Chen et al., 2014). In the context of the individual employees who are working in a team, developing other employees, teamwork and cooperation might seem to be appropriate. Desired behavior of the employees could be considered as appropriate, this is because if these are recognized and rewarded the employees are more likely to repeat these activities (Daley, 2012).

Competencies

Competencies may incorporate a wide range of knowledge, traits, behavioral activities and skillsets that may seem to be technical in nature and related to interpersonal skills.

Criteria for Performance Appraisal

Some of the managers have argued that cultural competencies like integrity and ethics can be used for jobs of all kinds. Some competencies are there as well which are specific to jobs. For instance the competency of analytical thinking or achievement orientation can be considered as essential for professional jobs (Bakker et al., 2012).

Goal Achievement

If an organization considers the end to be more important than the means, the factors of goal achievement becomes an important factor that should be evaluated. The established outcomes should certainly be within the control of the team or the individuals and certainly be those results which in turn leads the firm towards success (Rummler and Brache, 2012). At the upper level the goals would be associated with the financial aspects of the organization such as profits and losses or maintaining cash flow and maintaining the position in the market. At the lower level the employees of the organization should be concerned about mitigating the needs of the consumers by enhancing the quality of the products and improving aftersales services.

In most of the cases the human resource management department is held responsible for effectively designing and implementing the performance appraisal program. However, it has been argued that the line managers should always play an important role from the beginning to the end of the performance appraisal process (Muogbo, 2013). These are the individuals who conduct the process of appraisal and they should certainly participate in the program in order to make it successful.

From a logical viewpoint the immediate supervisor of an employee is considered to be the most appropriate person to evaluate the performance of the employees. The supervisor will always be in an advantageous position to oversee the job performance of the employees and the supervisor is also held responsible for managing a particular unit at the workplace (Thornton and Byham, 2013). It is a matter of fact that whenever another person is designated with the responsibility of evaluating the performance of the employees the supervisor’s authority may get undermined. Providing training to the subordinates and developing the employees are the most important elements of every manager’s job. At the same point of time employee development and appraisal programs are generally related closely.

On the other side of the spectrum, it can be said that the immediate supervisor may emphasize over certain aspects of the employees and neglect the others. Van De Voorde et al., (2012), stated that managers are often known to be manipulative towards the evaluation process for increasing pay and ensuring promotions.

Traits

Evaluation by the subordinates has historically been considered as an inefficient approach. However, a change in this thinking has been observed nowadays. Some of the organizations have expressed the view that evaluation of the managers by the subordinates is sometimes needed and it is feasible as well (Franco-Santos et al., 2012). The justification behind this is that the subordinates are always in an excellent position to observe the managerial capabilities of their superiors. Researchers believe that this approach concerns the supervisors to evaluate the needs of the work groups effectively and discharge better management services.

Using peers for the process of performance appraisal is beneficial in a sense that they close work with the employees evaluated and may possess undistorted views on the performance of those employees especially when they are working in a group (Phillips, 2012). Presently the organizations are increasingly using the team members for performance appraisal.

The key problem of performance appraisal through peers is that they may reflect reluctance to criticize the people with whom they work closely. On the other hand, if the employee is in odds with the other employee he or she may not provide the correct feedback which will in turn give rise to an unfair evaluation (Fricker et al., 2012).

A firm’s degree of success is widely determined by the behavior of the customers. Hence many firms trust the view that it will be fruitful to obtain performance input from these valuable sources. Mainly the organizations use this approach as it makes the employees responsible, increases commitment towards the customers and promotes organizational change (Bititci et al., 2012).

There are numerous methods of performance appraisal and the managers are free to select one over the other. Mainly the selection of performance appraisal method depends on its sole purpose. If the major focus in on sorting and selecting people for training, promotion and pay increase a traditional method of appraisal like rating scale would be appropriate (Jiang et al., 2012). Collaborative methods that include obtaining opinion from the employees may be more appropriate for developing employees. The major methods of performance appraisal are stated below,

The 360 Degree Feedback Method of evaluation is popular for performance appraisal in various organizations and it involves collecting in inputs from different levels within the firm or from sources outside the firm (Andreeva and Kianto, 2012). The traditional method of performance appraisal that provides the employees with feedbacks only from the supervisors is not similar to the 360 Degree method. In this particular method people who are all around the employee to be rated would provide feedback which may include the senior managers, team members, peers, supervisors or subordinates. It has been observed that almost 90 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies use the 360 degree method of performance appraisal.

Behaviors

The rating scale method is a widely used method of performance appraisal in which the employees are rated on the basis of some predefined factors.

Under this approach the evaluators note their inputs regarding the employee performance on a scale. The scale generally includes numerous categories at least 5 to 7 which are defined by some adjectives like outstanding, needs improvement and meets expectation (McDavid et al., 2012). Though the system sometimes provide an overall rating the method also uses different performance criterion as well.

Under the critical incident method of performance appraisal written records are maintained for highly favorable and unfavorable employee actions at work (Briscoe et al., 2012). Whenever a critical action affects the organizational performance either positively or negatively the manager notes it down. At the end of the process of appraisal the evaluator uses these documents along with the other data for effectively evaluating the employee performance.

Organizations are established with the purpose to achieve certain objectives. These are the objectives which can effectively be achieved by utilizing the resources like human capital, machines, money and other materials. As pointed out by Menezes et al., (2012), the productivity and operability of an organization depends on the people working with it. Hence employees can be considered as the most important factor for achieving organizational objectives. Therefore it can be stated that employees are important resource to the organization and they are required to be trained and developed in order to ensure effective achievability of the organizational goals and objectives. Performance is strictly associated with the quality, quantity and timeliness of output, attendance rate on the job as well as efficiency of the completed work. As opined by author the definition of performance does not incorporate the result of employee behavior but only the behavior of the employees. It is solely concerned about what the employees do and not about what they produce or the outcomes of their work. Employee performance can be considered from the perspective of three major factors which are “declarative knowledge”, “motivation” and “procedural knowledge” (Noe et al., 2014).

Hodge (2018), pointed out five human resource management factors which in turn affects the performance of an employee. These factors are establishing a competitive compensation, recruitment package, performance appraisal, training and development and maintaining morale. On the other hand, Tims et al., (2013), opined that recruitment and selection process, placement process, performance appraisal and training compensation affect the employee performance effectively. Hence it can be stated that there is a prompt relationship between the process of performance appraisal and employee performance.

As pointed out by the researchers there are certain factors which individually or collectively affect the performance of employees either in a positive and negative manner.

Leadership is a process or system through which an individual manipulates a group of individuals towards achieving a shared goal. The leadership style is simply a combination of behaviour and attribute of a leader that gives rise to certain patterns while dealing with the followers. The leadership style prevailing within an organization may possess a positive or negative effect over the employee performance (Bernardin and Wiatrowski, 2013).

Presently coaching is considered as an important factor for improving the employee performance. It is a two way communication process that identifies what needs further improvement and determines the process of improving that particular area (Jiang et al., 2012). Furthermore, the coaches effectively identifies the behaviors and beliefs that hinders the employee performance. On an added notion it can be stated that coaching is something that is used for assisting someone to improve performance.

The process of evaluating the performance of an employee is an interactive process where the manager puts forward his or her input on employee performance and the employee gets the chance to know what he or she has performed throughout (Pichler, 2012). Managers or supervisors are generally held responsible for designing a plan with the employees and clearly communicating the expected outcomes to the employees as well. The more engaging the process will be the performance of the employees will improve. The evaluation system must be clear and concise so as to influence the employee performance in a positive manner.

Motivation is a crucial factor for improved job performance a demotivated or poorly motivated workforce will in turn be costly to the organization in terms of high employee turnover rate, increased expenses and excessive use of management’s time. Hence the management must be well aware about the factors that stimulates their staff in a way that resources are efficiently allocated and no dissatisfaction arises among the employee. As stated by Elnaga and Imran (2013), motivation can be described as being proactive with the employees who are better performers and in those cases motivation is quintessential or their performance may decline. On the other hand, motivation is considered as a prerequisite factor while dealing with the employees who are identified as low performers. Else these employees will drag down the overall result of the organization with their low productivity and they will also not leave the organization (Abdulkadir et al., 2012).

From the organizational perspective a highly motivated workforce is crucial as the wishful participation of the workforce will drive the profitability of the organization. In other words motivation is defined as the activity of educating the employees so that they can efficiently channelize their efforts towards the organizational boundaries and enhancing the overall performance even beyond the said boundary. As pointed out by Salleh et al., (2013), a highly motivated workforce will in turn give rise to better understanding, commitment towards the organization and implementation of knowledge and skills. There are six key elements of motivation which are rewards, profit, pay, promotion, sharing, job enrichment and recognition.

Training is characterized as the development process of the employees through which their performance is improved. Training is somewhat a planned and systematic activity that in turn enhances the skill, knowledge and competence level of the employees and enables them to work effectively. There are sufficient literature that substantiates the fact that training can evidently influence the performance of an employee in a positive manner. According to Boachie-Mensah and Seidu (2012), the competence level of the employees changes in accordance with the effective training procedures. Training has been identified as the process that gives rise to performance related benefits to the employees and for the organization as well through influencing the employees positively by developing the skills, knowledge and competencies of the employees (Kooij et al., 2013).

It has always been argued that most of the managers provide training to the employees for three broad purposes which are described as follows,

• In order to enhance the performance or the level of productivity of the employees.
• In order to increase the overall organizational productivity and achieving the goals of the organization.
• So as to invest sufficient capital on the employees so that they can support and safeguard the organization in competitive and turbulent business environment.

On an added notion it is noteworthy to mention that there are mainly three types of training methods which are namely, TNA or Training Needs Assessment, contents and delivery approaches of training and On the Job Training or OJT (Farndale and Kelliher, 2013).

The performance appraisal system in turn affects the overall performance of an employee by influencing a few key employee attributes and these impacts taken together influences the performance of the employee as a whole. The impact of performance appraisal over the key attributes are explained as below,

The fully committed employees feels that they are sharing a strong bond with the organization. This positively influences the employees and in turn makes them willing to perform better. It has been always argued that whether happiness is the only variable that determines whether the employees are committed towards the job or not (Caillier, 2014). However, later on a group of researchers came up with the idea that there exists several other factors as well which affects the level of commitment of an employee towards an organization or a specific job. Although it is a substantiated and established fact that the more autonomy and responsibility that a job offers to an employee the less monotonous will be the job and employees attached to those jobs are likely to be committed towards their roles and responsibilities (Hameed, et al., 2014).

There are empirical studies which suggests that the performance appraisal system of an organization affects the commitment level of the employees in both positive and negative manner. If the efforts of the employees are correctly recognized and the employees are rewarded for their performance it is quite likely that the employees will feel motivated and will perform better. On the other hand, an inefficient performance appraisal system will not be able to identify the efforts and inputs of the employees and these will left unrecognized. This in turn affects the level of commitment and motivation of the employees and they do not feel inspired to perform well. Hence, following West and Dawson (2012), it can be stated that whenever the employees get any incentive for their better performance through the appraisal system they feel motivated to perform well in future as well. This as a result increases the overall performance of the organization.

Organizations generally hire new employees in order to acquire some specific skillsets and capabilities or for enriching the organizational culture. This in turn helps the organization to maintain the sanctity of the workplace by establishing an effective, professional and proactive working environment. In most of the cases the key skills of the employees are often associated with the way people work and communicate or coordinate with each other (Espinilla et al., 2013).

In this context it can be stated that performance management can be considered as an effective method of rewarding the employees who have performed well. However, it is also necessary to emphasize over the skill development of the employees as well. Identifying and developing the employee’s skills is quintessential for any organization which is willing to improve its overall performance. In relation to this performance appraisal system is quite important as this process helps to evaluate the skills and competencies of the employees (DeNisi and Smith, 2014). An ineffective and inefficient appraisal system could not be able to evaluate the skills and competencies of the employees and as a result the overall development program would be ineffective. Henceforth it is necessary to ensure a proper performance appraisal program which will be able to determine and evaluate the areas or skills of the employees which needs further development and the development program would be designed in accord. As a result of this it can be expected that the performance of the employees will improve.

In order to summarize the findings of this chapter it can be stated that performance appraisal and the performance of the employees are intricately related with each other. The better and efficient the appraisal system will be the more motivated and enhanced the workforce will be.

3.0 Research Method

This chapter will help the reader to develop a brief understanding about the pattern of the research work and how the research has been conducted. After a person has gone through this chapter he or she will be able to understand the key steps that have been undertaken in order to obtain the desired outcome of the research. The type of research approach adopted, types of sampling method used along with the research design which has been selected are explained with justification in this methodology chapter.

In order to achieve the desired outcome a research work may involve adoption of several different techniques (Certo, 2015). In the context of the present research work pragmatic research approach is used because this approach has helped the research to investigate every corner of the research issue in great detail. The pragmatic research approach takes into consideration a mixed method which helps to achieve the desired outcome in an appropriate manner. The current research work is focused on determining the impact of performance appraisal program on employee performance. There are two types of research approaches which can be adopted and these are namely, positivism and interpretivism.

Positivism takes into account the relevant facts and figures available relevant to the research topic while interpretivism concentrates largely over the opinions and feelings of people (BNS and HV, 2013). As in this case the opinions of the managers of Marks and Spencer are considered. The pragmatic research approach takes into both of this approach which ensures that the research work is based on the empirical as well as qualitative data.

The main two alternative research approaches are namely inductive and deductive research approach. Under the inductive research approach information is accrued from various sources and a new theoretical framework is invented (Neuman, 2013). On the other hand, under the deductive approach the research work is conducted on the basis of the previously established theories and thereby the desired outcome is achieved. The current research work will strictly follow the deductive approach.

There prevails mainly three types of research design which are namely, explanatory research design, explanatory research design and descriptive research design.

Explanatory research design is adopted when the research does not possess a pre designed hypothesis. In such a case the researcher does not take help of a predesigned hypothesis and carries out the research as the data is retrieved (Taylor et al., 2015).

Certain research works are there which are conducted on the basis of the idea that a few happenings in the world is due to the law of nature. These types of research works are termed as exploratory research (Flick, 2015).

On the contrary to these, some research works take into account the opinions of the participants and perform a primary and secondary research to substantiate or refute the previously designed hypothesis. These are termed as the descriptive research works (Mackey and Gass, 2013).

As the current research work already possesses a pre-defined hypothesis it will certainly follow the descriptive research design. In this case the number of participants is also known to the researcher and hence the descriptive design would be perfect for this research work.

There are mainly two types of sampling techniques which are probability sampling and non-probability sampling.

While carrying out research on the basis of a social issue or a concept strictly aligned with the society or cultural aspects, the number of participants in the data collection process is evidently not known to the researcher (Lewis, 2015). The researcher starts to retrieve data from the respondents as soon as the research begins. It may be a case that there are large number of respondents or only a few people are there. This specific sampling type is termed as the probability sampling as the number of respondents is not known from the beginning and that is solely based on probability.

On the other hand, there are research work where the person responsible for carrying the research work known exactly the number of participants and the amount of data that would be required to substantiate or refute the research hypothesis. In this cases the non-probability sampling technique is used (Cicourel, 2016).

The preset research work will take into account non-probability sampling that is it will be conducted on the basis of non-probability sampling. Three managers of Marks and Spencer will be interviewed so as to obtain an idea about the impact of performance appraisal system on employee performance. At first the willing participants will be provided with a consent form and if they fill up the consent form final questionnaires will be sent to them via E-mail. They will be given a time period of 7 days to complete the questionnaire and afterwards the filled in responses will be collected.

Two types of data are mainly collected in order to complete a research work, primary data and secondary data (Silverman, 2016). The primary data in this case will be collected in the form of feedback from the managers of the organization. Feedback will be collected from 3 managers who will express their views and opinions regarding the impact of performance appraisal on employee performance. The performance appraisal method of Marks and Spencer will also be evaluated accordingly as per their feedbacks. The data that will be collected from published journal articles, books and various online sources will be considered as the secondary data. The relevant theories of performance appraisal and employee performance will be discussed as an integral part of the secondary research which will help the organization to design a specific performance appraisal system through which the performance of the employees will be enhanced.

This research will solely be based on the qualitative data collected from the managers of the organization. The primary data will be collected in the form of questionnaire responses. The method of collection has been mentioned in the previous section.

The qualitative data will be analyzed with the help of narrative analysis. Information that will be accrued through the primary research will be evaluated and explained in the research work. In addition to that the secondary data collected through reviewing various journal articles and books will also be analyzed through narrative analysis and will help to substantiate the findings of the current research work.

The participants of the current research work are the managers of Marks and Spencer who are responsible for managing the operations and functionality of the organization. The managers may not always be willing to respond to the questions they may be busy or engrossed in their work. Hence the researcher will first ask the managers whether they are willing to take part in the data collection process or not. If they agree to take part in the process then they were asked to fill up a consent form and then they are provided with the original survey questionnaire. No respondents were pressurized to provide their inputs and this ensured the quality of the data obtained.

In the context of the secondary data it is necessary to mention that not all the articles were accessible from the online sources. In most of the websites access was limited and needed to pay a high amount to get access to the articles or online publications. In such instances the researcher may have overlooked certain information.

As mentioned by author the researcher should always maintain a specific ethical consideration while conducting the research and collecting the data. The participants should not be forced to provide feedback or responses.  The participants should not be threatened to provide the desired feedbacks rather, the researcher should willingly accept whatever feedback the respondent provides. This ensures the reliability and trust ability of the research work. The respondents were also asked to fill up the response form within 7 days. This was done with the purpose to provide the respondents a proper environment. Moreover, the responses collected should be kept confidential and should not be disclosed to anyone for any purpose.

In the context of secondary data collection it can be stated that the researcher has not considered any case studies or journals which are older than 10 years. All the works dome by other researchers or authors are cited accordingly within the work. No academic malpractice has been performed on the part of the researcher while collecting and interpreting the secondary data.

Q1. What is the process used to assess performance appraisals at Mark’s and Spencer’s?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The behaviorally anchored rating scale method is used for performance appraisal at Marks and Spencer.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The second manager also stated the same.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager stated the same.

It is quite evident that Marks and Spencer uses the behaviorally anchored

Q2. Does the process of performance appraisal have a positive impact on the performance of the employees?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The first manager stated that the process performance appraisal followed by Marks and Spencer affects the level of motivation of the employees and hence it can be regarded as an effective and efficient system. The process is capable enough to assess the employee’s performance and reward them or punish them accordingly. As a result of which the employees always remain aware about these processes and try put their best in the work.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The second manager responded that there is no appraisal system which can be regarded as the best. Each and every system possesses its advantages and drawbacks. There are many instances where the employees are not happy with the appraisal. However, their performances were revalued twice to evaluate whether they have really performed well or not. On an overall sense it can be stated that performance appraisal influences the performance of an employee in a positive manner.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager just stated that according to his opinion performance appraisal of Marks and Spencer is up to the mark. According to him, overall impact of the system positively affects the performance of the employees.

The understanding that can be developed from the opinions of all the managers is that performance appraisal may affect the performance of the employees. Provided that of the performance appraisal system is designed in a systematic way it will positively influence the employee performance or else hinder the employee performance.

Q3. How would rate the performance appraisal process followed by Mark’s and Spencer’s?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The first manager stated that if he is asked to rate the rate the performance appraisal process of the company in a scale of 1 to 10, he will give it a score of 7. This is because he founds the system to be efficient enough in identifying and evaluating the performance of the employees and providing them with the required rewards for their better performance.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The 2^nd manager was asked the same question and he replied that he will rate the system with a score of 6. This is because he stated the system depicted certain incapability which needed further amendments. It failed to identify and substantiate the findings related to the performance of the employees.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The 3^rd manager stated that he will rank the system with a score of 8 because he thinks that the system is quite efficient. The employees are happy with the appraisal process and frequency.

From the opinion of these three managers it has become crystal clear that nearly all of them are almost satisfied with the performance appraisal system of Marks and Spencer. However, some minimal development could be incorporate within the process to enhance the satisfaction level furthermore.

Q4. How do the employees feel after being appraised? Do the employees feel confident?

Response of 1^st Manager:

According to the 1^st manager the employees generally feel confident after being appraised. This is because when the hard work and dedication of an employee towards his or her work is recognized they feel appreciated and important for the organization. This gives them a sense of satisfaction.

Certainly these activities boost the employees with satisfaction and hence gives rise to a feeling of confidence. However, whenever an employee is found to be underperforming and has not received the appraisal may feel demotivated though they are themselves responsible for such an event.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The 2^nd manager completely expressed the same view compared to that of the first manager. However, he just mentioned that the appraisal system of the organization should be so designed that it can effectively evaluate the performance of an employee which in turn increases the satisfaction level of the employees.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The 3^rd manager stated that the level of satisfaction or the factors that gives rise to satisfaction may vary on the basis of the preferences and personal attributes of the employees. However, from the overall scenario he has observed that most of the employees are satisfied with the appraisal process while some of them are not. This smaller proportion of the employees are not satisfied because they have not performed well as a result of which their performance appraisal did not provided with better results.

This manager also agreed that the employees feel confident after the appraisal and believe to perform better in order to get appraised again.

From the responses of the managers it is quite evident that the employees are satisfied with the performance appraisal system of Marks and Spencer and after the appraisal they feel confident. This sense of confidence will motivate them further to perform well.

Q5. What is the frequency of appraisals of the employees? Do you believe that the frequency of appraisal is suitable?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The frequency of appraisal in Marks of Spencer is annual. As per the opinion of the first manager this is not the appropriate frequency of appraisal. The most suitable frequency is to conduct the process twice a year.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The 2^nd manager also expressed the same view and stated that conducting the appraisal process twice in a year will in turn motivate the employees in a better way. This is because if an employee found that his or her co-worker got appraised for their better performance this will also provide them with a sudden motivation to perform and achieve the appraisal benchmark. In a long term this motivational factor may get lost.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The manager stated that the frequency of performance appraisal system of Marks and Spencer is perfect. According to him is it is changed employees will strive to achieve the highest mark which will create a tremendous level of competition within the organization and ultimately there is a chance that the employees will lose their focus.

Q6. Do you believe that the employees in your organization are satisfied with their work?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The first manager stated that most of the employees are satisfied with their work.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The feedback of the second manager was same as the first manager.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager stated that the employees who shirk their work generally are dissatisfied with their work.

Summarizing the feedbacks it can be stated that most of the employees are satisfied with their work at Marks and Spencer.

Q7. How are the results of performance appraisals evaluated by the organization?

Response of 1^st Manager:

Marks and Spencer generally makes use of a rating scale for evaluating the results of performance appraisal. This means at the first stage of the appraisal process the employees are informed about the expectations of the management and the desired level of performance. After the said time period their performance is evaluated on the basis of the pre decided benchmark criteria. If the performance meets or surpasses the desired performance level then and only then employees receive the appraisal benefits.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

This manager also stated that Marks and Spencer uses a Rating scale method for evaluating results of the performance appraisal of the employees. on an added notion, he added that the immediate supervisor or the first line managers always try to monitor ad guide the employees so that they can achieve the desired standard of performance. In certain cases they also provide the employees with a track of their weekly progress report so that they can improve their performance if they are lagging.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager also expressed the same view as the first and second manager. He stated that the company maintains a proper hierarchical structure specifically in the context of appraisal system. The decision of appraisal and evaluation is done by the people positioned higher while the people in the lower position of the hierarchy are responsible for coordinating and communicating the expected performance criteria and providing weekly performance feedback on the employee’s performance.

The idea that can be developed from the above discussion depicts the management of Marks and Spencer effectively evaluates the results of the performance appraisal and that is done by a marking scale.

Q8. Do you believe that fairness / impartiality is maintained in the performance appraisal process?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The 1^st manager stated that the appraisal process of Marks and Spencer is flawless and unbiased. While conducting the process it is ensured that no employees are favored over the other on the basis of personal relationships. Moreover, in certain cases it has been observed that employees are favored on the basis of gender, caste or creed. However, Marks and Spencer encompasses all these factors and establishes a strict supervision over the performance evaluators so as to ensure that there is no discrepancy in the entire process.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The second manager opined that in certain cases there may be discrepancy on the part of the managers who provide feedback about the performance of the employees. Sometimes they provide positive feedback if their performance is determined by the performance of his or her fellow team member.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager completely agreed with the fact that impartiality is maintained in Marks and Spencer while carrying out the performance appraisal process.

The conclusion that can be drawn from the feedbacks of the managers that Marks and Spencer maintains and carries out an unbiased performance appraisal process.

Q9. What are the challenges being faced by the organization in the present performance appraisal system?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The first and foremost challenge as pointed out by this manager is the problem of inexperienced appraiser. He traced out the fact that in several instances the person who is held responsible for evaluating the performance of the employees are less experienced which may cause inefficiency in the process.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The second manager also pointed out the fact of inexperienced assessor and along with that he mentioned that sometimes the employees do not find the rewards to be satisfactory. He also added that it is difficult to satisfy all the employees they will also succeed in finding out a loophole in the process.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager expressed the view that the organization is not experiencing any difficulties in the present performance appraisal process.

As a whole the deduction that has been derived from these opinions suggest that the performance appraisal procedure is efficient enough and is not facing any issues apart from the problem related to inexperienced appraisers.

Q10. Do you believe that the performance appraisal system can be improved? If yes, how?

Response of 1^st Manager:

The first manager stated that the performance appraisal system can further be improved if the organization starts using the Paired Comparison Method of appraisal.

Response of 2^nd Manager:

The second manager just stated that no further improvements are needed.

Response of 3^rd Manager:

The third manager also thinks that no improvements are needed in the present system

Conclusion

The overall concluding remarks that can be derived from the aforesaid study is that performance appraisal significantly affects the performance of the employees either in a positive or in a negative manner. An overview of the performance appraisal method used by Marks and Spencer have been provided. It has been observed that the organization mainly follows the traditional method of ranking scale is being used by the organization. In order to do so the researcher has conducted an in depth review of the literature available in this regard. This has helped to generate and gather substantial information about the methods of performance appraisal and its impact on the performance of the employees. While conducting the study it has also been observed that the process of performance appraisal may affect the performance of the employees in both ways it may be a positive manner or in a negative manner. A suitable and well efficient appraisal system will motivate the employees and hence improves their performance. On the other hand, if the appraisal system fails to identify the effort of the employees or their expertise it will certainly demotivate them. Moreover, a biased appraisal method also harms the sentiments of the employees and thereby reduces their ability to perform efficiently.

On the basis of the above analysis a few recommendations can be provided with the expectation that it would help marks and Spencer to flourish in near future.

• The present appraisal method adopted by Marks and Spencer’s is appropriate although it can try to improvise the system by incorporating a few additional criteria of performance evaluation.
• Marks and Spencer should certainly ensure that the performance who is acting as the assessor is experienced enough to evaluate the performance of a group of efficient employees.
• Appropriate supervision of the complete assessment process should also be taken into consideration. An appropriate supervision will ensure the absence of disparity.
• Marks and Spenser should also try effectively to maintain its current standard of performance appraisal system and collect the feedback of the various members so that if ant additional inputs can be provided within the system.

These recommendations are designed on the basis of the analysis of the feedbacks collected from the managers and on the basis of the literature review. It is expected that of the organization follows all of these it would certainly be helpful to ensure successful operability of its business.

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