An Imperfect Test: The Problem with Job Performance Appraisals

Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli has spent decades studying the complicated dynamics of employment. In a post-recession world, his research is more timely than ever as companies large and small struggle to adapt to a new normal that relies on fewer employees handling a larger, shifting workload. One practice that has persisted in this changing business landscape is the ubiquitous performance evaluation, which Cappelli describes as universally despised by both supervisors and subordinates.

In their latest research, Cappelli and colleague Martin Conyon, a professor at Bentley University in Massachusetts and a senior fellow at Wharton, question the usefulness and accuracy of performance appraisals and find some surprising answers.

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