EMPLOYEES PERCEPTION TOWARDS

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
AT
UFLEX LIMITED
Summer Internship Project Report Submitted towards
Partial
Fulfilment of

Post Graduate Diploma in Management

(Approved by AICTE, Govt. of India)
Academic Session
2011 2013

Submitted By:
Under the Guidance of:

Industry Guide

Faculty Guide

CERTIFICATE OF DECLARATION
1

I Ravi Shankar Dwivedy students of PGDM (2011-2013) 1st Year, Institute of Management
Studies, Ghaziabad, hereby declare that the project report on Employees perception
towards performance appraisal at UFlex limited has been done under the guidance and
involvement
OF
..................................................................................................................................................
............. for the period 20th April 2012 to 21st June 2012.
All information and data provided in this report are collected from primary and secondary
sources that are true to the best of my knowledge.

Date:
-----------------------------Student: Ravi Shankar Dwivedy
BM-011171
Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad.

PREFACE

Training is an integral part of our academic curriculum. During the training a

student gets an opportunity to set the practical aspects of theory. Training makes
the concept clear and it gives the perfect knowledge of the practical life.

This project is the outcome of the training that I have undergone for EMPLOYEES
PERCEPTION TOWARDS PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL IN UFLEX LIMITED.

Due to short span of time I analyzed a proper number of employees to fulfill my

requirements of the project work through questionnaire and personal interview.

I offer my courteous thanks to .............................for their guidance and help

which they provided me while preparing this project report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMNT

It gives us immense pleasure and satisfaction in expressing our gratitude towards all individuals who
have indirectly helped us in this project report.
Working on this project was an excitement challenge and a new exposure in the field of marketing at
the

outset

we

would

like

acknowledge

our

special

thanks

to

..................................................................................................................................................
.......................................... for his invaluable help and guidance without which this project would
not have been successful .

TABLE OF CONTENT
S.No.
1
2
3
4

Topic
Executive Synopsis
Introduction
Company Profile
Objective

Pages
8-9
10-24
25-36
37
4

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Literature Review
Research Methodology
Finding and Analysis
Statistical Tool
Conclusion & Recommendation
Limitation
Bibliography
Annexure

38-45
46-47
48-57
58-65
66
67
68
69-70

Tables and Graphs

Fig &
Tab. No.

Topic

Page
No.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

360 degree appraisal

MBO process
Potrait of Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman, Uflex
Process plant of engg. Divison
Process model of chemical plant
Process plant of chemical divison

17
18
27
33
34
36
5

Fig. 7
Fig.8

Graph showing performance monitoring

Graph showing performance appraisal does not contribute to
job performance.

49
50

Fig.9

Graph showing performance goals are clearly defined in the

51

process of appraisal.
Fig. 10

Graph showing the performance appraisal is helpful in

reducing grievance among the employees.

52

Fig. 11

Graph showing I do not need feedback to monitor my

performance

53

Fig.12

Graph showing the performance appraisal is helpful for

improving personnel skill.

54

Fig. 13

Graph showing promotion is purely based on performance

appraisal.

55

Fig. 14

Graph showing appraisal increases career growth.

56

Fig. 15

Graph showing
promotion.

for

57

Table 1

Chi square on Performance appraisal improves job

performance.
Chi square on the assessment of performance motivates to
work harder.
Chi square on performance goals are clearly defined in the
process of appraisal.
Chi square on performance appraisal provides me with the
opportunity to set personal goals.

58

Table 2
Table 3
Table 4

appraisal

enhances

the

chances

60
62
64

EXECUTIVE SYNOPSIS

The report embarks on the introduction about the company that is profile of the company,
HR departments, its products and services, business and quality policies of UFLEX.
In todays competitive scenario, when achiever more with less and in minimum time is mantra to
success, every organization is using Performance Appraisal for their employees.

The project is undertaken to study the perception of employees towards Performance

Appraisal at UFLEX.

Analysis helped to know that how the use of performance appraisals helpful for any of the
organization.
In order to know the impact of Performance , the survey questionnaire and the data provided
by the HR department was the primary source of data.
Then the report leads to findings, suggestions, learning and conclusions followed by
references at the end of the report.
The company profile is followed organization structure, introduction to the topic. i.e.
benefits and impact of performance appraisal in employees.. In todays era, performance
appraisal has become an integral part of organization and is playing its critical role in employees
performance.

Human resource management (HRM) conducts performance management. Performance

management systems consist of the activities and/or processes embraced by an organization
in anticipation of improving employee performance, and therefore, organizational
performance. Consequently, performance management is conducted at the organizational
level and the individual level whereas performance appraisal is for assessing employees to
know their strengths and weaknesses. It is done by HR managers to get the feedback of the
employees.
Performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual
employees job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria
and organizational objectives. Other aspects of individual employees are considered as well,
such as, accomplishments, potential for future improvement, strengths and weaknesses,
etc. To collect performance appraisal data, there are three main methods: objective
production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most
commonly used with a large variety of evaluation methods. A performance appraisal is
typically conducted annually. The interview could function as providing feedback to
employees, counselling and developing employees, and conveying and discussing
compensation, job status, or disciplinary decisions. Performance appraisal is often included
in performance management systems. Performance management systems are employed to
manage and align" all of an organization's resources in order to achieve highest possible
performance.

It facilitates the communication between the employees, enhances the employees to focus
through promoting trust. It helps in goal setting and determining the objectives and also to
enhance their performance. Performance appraisals are conducted at least annually, and
annual employee performance reviews appear to be the standard in most American
organizations. However, it has been acknowledged that appraisals conducted more
frequently (more than once a year) may have positive implications for both the organization
and employee. It is suggested that regular performance feedback provided to employees
may quell any unexpected and/or surprising feedback to year-end discussions.
During the internship in Uflex limited I found that the employees are more focused towards
their work. And their performance shows their leniency towards work and how they are
making their selves to work in that competitive environment. As Uflex has their major
business in packaging sector so they need a huge number of employees to earn their goal
and to be capable to survive in the competitive world.
Numerous researchers have reported that many employees are not satisfied with their
performance appraisal (PA) systems. Studies have shown that subjectivity as well as
appraiser bias is often a problem perceived by as many as half of employees. Appraiser bias,
however, appears to be perceived as more of a problem in government and public sector
organizations. Also, according to some studies, employees wished to see changes in the PA
system by making the system more objective, improving the feedback process, and
increasing the frequency of review.

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION
A performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual
employees job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria
and organizational objectives. Other aspects of individual employees are considered as well,
such as, accomplishments, potential for future improvement, strengths and weaknesses,
etc. To collect performance appraisal data, there are three main methods: objective
production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most
commonly used with a large variety of evaluation methods. A performance appraisal is
typically conducted annually. The interview could function as providing feedback to
8

employees, counselling and developing employees, and conveying and discussing

compensation, job status, or disciplinary decisions. Performance appraisal is often included
in performance management systems. Performance management systems are employed to
manage and align" all of an organization's resources in order to achieve highest possible
performance. How performance is managed in an organization determines to a large extent
the success or failure of the organization. Therefore, improving performance appraisal for
everyone should be among the highest priorities of contemporary organizations.
Some applications of performance appraisal are performance improvement, promotions,
termination, test validation, and more while there are many potential benefits of performance
appraisal, there are also some potential drawbacks. For example, performance appraisal can
help facilitate management-employee communication; however, performance appraisal may
result in legal issues if not executed appropriately as many employees tend to be unsatisfied
with the performance appraisal process. Performance appraisal created in and determined as
useful in the United States are not necessarily able to be transferable cross-culturally.

Applications of Performance Appraisal Results

A central reason for the utilization of performance appraisals is performance improvement
(initially at the level of the individual employee, and ultimately at the level of the
organization). Other fundamental reasons include as a basis for employment decisions (e.g.
promotions, terminations, transfers), as criteria in research (e.g. test validation), to aid with
communication (e.g. allowing employees to know how they are doing and
organizational expectations), to establish personal objectives for training programs, for
transmission of objective feedback for personal development, as a means of documentation
to aid in keeping track of decisions and legal requirements and in wage and salary
administration. Additionally, Performance appraisal can aid in the formulation of job criteria
and selection of individuals who are best suited to perform the required organizational
tasks. A performance appraisal can be part of guiding and monitoring employee career
development. Performance appraisal can also be used to aid in work motivation through the
use of reward systems.

Potential Benefits of Performance Appraisals

There are a number of potential benefits of organizational performance management
conducting formal performance appraisals. There has been a general consensus in the belief
that Performance appraisal lead to positive implications of organizations. Furthermore,
Performance appraisal can benefit an organizations effectiveness. One way is performance
appraisals can often lead to giving individual workers feedback about their job

performance. From this may spawn several potential benefits such as the individual workers
becoming more productive.
Other potential benefits include:
Facilitation of communication: communication in organizations is considered an essential
function of worker motivation. It has been proposed that feedback from Performance
appraisal aid in minimizing employees perceptions of uncertainty. Fundamentally, feedback
and management-employee communication can serve as a guide in job performance
Enhancement of employee focus through promoting trust: behaviours, thoughts, and
issues may distract employees from their work, and trust issues may be among these
distracting factors. Such factors that consume psychological energy can lower job
performance and cause workers to lose sight of organizational goals.[9] Properly constructed
and utilized Performance appraisal has the ability to lower distracting factors and encourage
trust within the organization.
Goal setting and desired performance reinforcement: organizations find it efficient to
match individual workers goals and performance with organizational goals. Performance
appraisal provides room for discussion in the collaboration of these individual and
organizational goals. Collaboration can also be advantageous by resulting in employee
acceptance and satisfaction of appraisal results.
Performance improvement: well constructed Performance appraisal can be valuable tools
for communication with employees as pertaining to how their job performance stands with
organizational expectations. At the organizational level, numerous studies have reported
positive relationships between human resource management (HRM) practices" and
performance improvement at both the individual and organizational levels.
Determination of training needs: Employee training and development are crucial
components in helping an organization achieve strategic initiatives. It has been argued that
for Performance appraisal to truly be effective, post-appraisal opportunities for training and
development in problem areas, as determined by the appraisal, must be offered. Performance
appraisal can especially be instrumental for identifying training needs of new employees.
Finally, Performance appraisal can help in the establishment and supervision of employees
career goals.

Potential Complications of Performance Appraisals

Despite all the potential advantages of formal performance appraisals, there are also potential
drawbacks. It has been noted that determining the relationship between individual job
performance and organizational performance can be a difficult task. Generally, there are two
overarching problems from which several complications spawn. One of the problem with
formal Performance Appraisals is there can be detrimental effects to the organization
involved if the appraisals are not used appropriately. The second problem with formal
10

performance appraisal is they can be ineffective if the performance appraisal system does not
correspond with the organizational culture and system.
Complications stemming from these issues are:
Detrimental to quality improvement: it has been proposed that the use of performance
appraisal systems in organizations adversely affect organizations pursuits of quality
performance. It is believed by some scholars and practitioners that the use of Performance
appraisal is more than unnecessary if there is total quality management.
Negative perceptions: Quite often, individuals have negative perceptions of Performance
appraisal. Receiving and potentially cause tension between supervisors and subordinates.
Errors: Performance appraisal should provide accurate and relevant ratings of an employees
performance as compared to pre-established criteria (i.e. organizational expectations).
Nevertheless, supervisors will sometimes rate employees more favourably than that of their
true performance in order to please the employees and avoid conflict. Inflated ratings are a
common malady associated with formal" performance appraisal.
Legal issues: When performance appraisal are not carried out appropriately, legal issues
could result that place the organization at risk. Performance appraisal are used in
organizational disciplinary programs [as well as for promotional decisions within the
organization. The improper application and utilization of Performance appraisal can affect
employees negatively and lead to legal action against the organization.
Performance goals: Performance goals and performance appraisal systems are often used in
association. Negative outcomes concerning the organizations can result when goals are overly
challenging or overemphasized to the extent of effecting ethnics, legal requirements, or
quality. Moreover, challenging performance goals can impede on employees abilities to
acquire necessary knowledge and skills. Especially in the early stages of training, it would be
more beneficial to instruct employees on outcome goals than on performance goals.
Derail merit pay or performance-based pay: some researchers contend that the deficit in merit
pay and performance-based pay is linked to the fundamental issues stemming from
performance appraisal systems.

Who Conducts Performance Appraisals

Human Resource Management & Performance Management
Human resource management (HRM) conducts performance management. Performance
management systems consist of the activities and/or processes embraced by an organization
in anticipation of improving employee performance, and therefore, organizational
performance. Consequently, performance management is conducted at the organizational
level and the individual level. At the organizational level, performance management oversees
organizational performance and compares present performance with organizational
11

performance goals. The achievement of these organizational performance goals depends on

the performance of the individual organizational members. Therefore, measuring individual
employee performance can prove to be a valuable performance management process for the
purposes of HRM and for the organization. Many researchers would argue that performance
appraisal is one of the most important processes in Human Resource Management.
The performance management process begins with leadership within the organization
creating a performance management policy. Primarily, management governs performance by
influencing employee performance input (e.g. training programs) and by providing feedback
via output (i.e. performance assessment and appraisal). The ultimate objective of a
performance management process is to align individual performance with organizational
performance. A very common and central process of performance management systems is
performance appraisal. The performance appraisal process should be able to inform
employees about the organization's goals, priorities, and expectations and how well they are
contributing to them.

When Performance Appraisals are Conducted

Performance appraisals are conducted at least annually, and annual employee performance
reviews appear to be the standard in most American organizations. However, it has been
acknowledged that appraisals conducted more frequently (more than once a year) may have
positive implications for both the organization and employee. It is suggested that regular
performance feedback provided to employees may quell any unexpected and/or surprising
feedback to year-end discussions. In a recent research study concerning the timeliness of
Performance appraisal, one of the respondents even suggested that the performance review
should be done formally and more frequently, perhaps once a month, and recorded twice a
year.
Other researchers propose that the purpose of Performance appraisal and the frequency of
their feedback are contingent upon the nature of the job and characteristics of the
employee. For example, employees of routine jobs where performance maintenance is the
goal would benefit sufficiently from annual performance appraisal feedback. On the other
hand, employees of more discretionary and non-routine jobs, where goal-setting is
appropriate and there is room for development, would benefit from more frequent
performance appraisal feedback.

Methods of Collecting Performance Appraisal Data

There are three main methods used to collect performance appraisal data: objective
production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most
commonly used with a large variety of evaluation methods.

Objective production
12

The objective production method consists of direct, but limited, measures such as sales
figures, production numbers, the electronic performance monitoring of data entry workers,
etc. The measures used to appraise performance would depend on the job and its duties.
Although these measures deal with unambiguous criteria, they are usually incomplete
because of criterion contamination and criterion deficiency. Criterion contamination refers to
the part of the actual criteria that is unrelated to the conceptual criteria. In other words, the
variability in performance can be due to factors outside of the employees control. Criterion
deficiency refers to the part of the conceptual criteria that is not measured by the actual
criteria. In other words, the quantity of production does not necessarily indicate the quality of
the products. Both types of criterion inadequacies result in reduced validity of the
measure. Regardless of the fact that objective production data is not a complete reflection
upon job performance, such data is relevant to job performance.
The Happy-Productive Worker Hypothesis
The happy-productive worker hypothesis states that the happiest workers are the most
productive performers, and the most productive performers are the happiest workers Yet, after
decades of research, the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance produces
only a weak positive correlation. Published in 2001 by Psychological Bulletin, a metaanalysis of 312 research studies produced an uncorrected correlation of 0.18. This correlation
is much weaker than what the happy-productive worker hypothesis would predict. There is no
clear relationship between job satisfaction and job performance.

Personnel
The personnel method is the recording of withdrawal behaviors (i.e. absenteeism, accidents).
Most organizations consider unexcused absences to be indicators of poor job performance,
even with all other factors being equal; [ however, this is subject to criterion deficiency. The
quantity of an employees absences does not reflect how dedicated he/she may be to the job
and its duties. Especially for blue-collar jobs, accidents can often be a useful indicator of poor
job performance, but this is also subject to criterion contamination because situational factors
also contribute to accidents. Once again, both types of criterion inadequacies result in
reduced validity of the measure. Although excessive absenteeism and/or accidents often
indicate poor job performance rather than good performance, such personnel data is not a
comprehensive reflection of an employees performance.

Judgmental Evaluation
Judgmental evaluation appears to be a collection of methods, and as such, could be
considered a methodology. A common approach to obtaining Performance appraisal is by
means of raters. Because the raters are human, some error will always be present in the data.
The most common types of error are leniency errors, central tendency errors, and errors
13

resulting from the halo effect. These errors arise predominantly from social cognition and the
theory in that how we judge and evaluate other individuals in various contexts is associated
with how we acquire, process, and categorize information
An essential piece of this method is rater training. Rater training is the process of educating
raters to make more accurate assessments of performance, typically achieved by reducing the
frequency of halo, leniency, and central-tendency errors. Rater training also helps the raters
develops a common frame of reference for evaluation of individual performance many
researchers and survey respondents support the ambition of effectual rater training. However,
it is noted that such training is expensive, time consuming, and only truly functional for
behavioral assessments.
Another piece to keep in mind is the effects of rater motivation on judgmental evaluations. It
is not uncommon for rating inflation to occur due to rater motivation (i.e. organizationally
induced pressures that compel raters to evaluate ratees positively). Typically, raters are
motivated to give higher ratings because of the lack of organizational sanction concerning
accurate/inaccurate appraisals, the rater's desire to guarantee promotions, salary increases,
etc., the rater's inclination to avoid negative reactions from subordinates, and the observation
that higher ratings of the ratees reflect favorably upon the rater.

The main methods used in judgmental performance appraisal are:Graphic Rating Scale: graphic rating scales (see scale (social sciences)) are the most
commonly used system in performance appraisal. On several different factors, subordinates
are judged on 'how much' of that factor or trait they possess. Typically, the raters use a 5- or
7-point scale; however, there are as many as 20-point scales.
Employee-Comparison Methods: Rather than subordinates being judged against preestablished criteria, they are compared with one another. This method eliminates central
tendency and leniency errors but still allows for halo effect errors to occur. The rank-order
method has raters ranking subordinates from best to worst, but how truly good or bad one
is on a performance dimension would be unknown The paired-comparison method requires
the rater to select the two "best" subordinates out of a group on each dimension then rank
individuals according to the number of times each subordinate was selected as one of the
"best". The forced-distribution method is good for large groups of ratees. The raters evaluate
each subordinate on one or more dimensions and then place (or force-fit, if you will) each
subordinate in a 5 to 7 category normal distribution. The method of top-grading can be
applied to the forced distribution method. This method identifies the 10% lowest performing
subordinates, as according to the forced distribution, and dismisses them leaving the 90%
higher performing subordinates.
Behavioural Checklists and Scales: behaviours are more definite than traits. The critical
incidents method (or critical incident technique) concerns specific behaviours indicative of
good or bad job performance. Supervisors record behaviours of what they judge to be job
14

performance relevant, and they keep a running tally of good and bad behaviours. A discussion
on performance may then follow. The behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS) combine
the critical incidents method with rating scale methods by rating performance on a scale but
with the scale points being anchored by behavioural incidents Note that BARS are job
specific.

Peer and Self Assessments

While most judgmental performance appraisal research is evaluated by a superior (e.g.
supervisor, manager), peer assessments are evaluated by ones colleagues. With selfassessments, individuals evaluate themselves.
Peer Assessments: members of a group evaluate and appraise the performance of their
fellow group members. There are three common methods of peer assessments. Peer
nomination involves each group member nominating who he/she believes to be the best on
a certain dimension of performance. Peer ratings have each group member rate each other on
a set of performance dimensions. Peer ranking requires each group member rank all fellow
members from best to worst on one or more dimensions of performance.
Self-Assessments: for self-assessments, individuals assess and evaluate their own behavior
and job performance. It is common for a graphic rating scale to be used for self-assessments.
Positive leniency tends to be a problem with self-assessments.
360-Degree Feedback: 360-degree feedback is multiple evaluations of employees which
often include assessments from superior(s), peers, and ones self.

360 degree appraisal has four integral components:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Self appraisal.
Superiors appraisal
Subordinates appraisal
Peer appraisal.
Self appraisal gives a chance to the employee to look at his/her strengths and weaknesses, his
achievements, and judge his own performance. Superiors appraisal forms the traditional part
of the 360 degree performance appraisal where the employees responsibilities and actual
performance is rated by the superior.

15

Subordinates appraisal gives a chance to judge the employee on the parameters like
communication and motivating abilities, superiors ability to delegate the work, leadership
qualities etc. Also known as internal customers, the correct feedback given by peers can help to
find employees abilities to work in a team, co-operation and sensitivity towards others.

Fig.1
Self assessment is an indispensable part of 360 degree appraisals and therefore 360 degree a
360 degree performance appraisal is also a powerful developmental tool because when
conducted at regular intervals (say yearly) it helps to keep a track of the changes others
perceptions about the employees. A 360 degree appraisal is generally found more suitable
for the managers as it helps to assess their leadership and managing styles. This technique is
being effectively used across the globe for performance appraisals. Some of the
organizations following it are Wipro, Infosys, and Reliance Industries etc.
The concept of Management by Objectives (MBO) was first given by Peter Drucker in
1954. It can be defined as a process whereby the employees and the superiors come
together to identify common goals, the employees set their goals to be achieved, the
standards to be taken as the criteria for measurement of their performance and contribution
and deciding the course of action to be followed.
The essence of MBO is participative goal setting, choosing course of actions and decision
making. An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the
employees actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees
themselves have been involved with the goal setting and the choosing the course of action

16

to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities.

THE MBO PROCESS

Fig.2

UNIQUE FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES OF MBO

The principle behind Management by Objectives (MBO) is to create empowered
employees who have clarity of the roles and responsibilities expected from them,
understand their objectives to be achieved and thus help in the achievement of
organizational as well as personal goals.

17

Some of the important features and advantages of MBO are:

Clarity of goals With MBO, came the concept of SMART goals i.e. goals that are:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic, and
Time bound.
The goals thus set are clear, motivating and there is a linkage between organizational goals
and performance targets of the employees.
The focus is on future rather than on performance appraisalt. Goals and standards are set
for the performance for the future with periodic reviews and feedback.
Motivation Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing
employee empowerment increases employee job satisfaction and commitment.
Better communication and Coordination Frequent reviews and interactions between
superiors and subordinates helps to maintain harmonious relationships within the
enterprise and also solve many problems faced during the period.

Critical incident method of performance appraisal

1. Definition of Critical incident method
Critical incident is a method used for many sectors.
Critical incident method- Recording of events by appraiser. An incident is critical when it
illustrates what the employers has done or failed to do
The critical incidents for performance appraisal are a method in which the manager writes
down positive and negative performance behavior of employees throughout the
performance period.
Each employee will be evaluated as such and ones performance appraisal will be based
on the logs that are put in the evaluation form.
The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he periodically records critical
incidents of the workers behavior.
At the end of the rating period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the evaluation
of the workers performance.
The critical incidents file of performance appraisal is a form of documentation that reflect
all data about employee performances.
2. Disadvantages of critical Incident
This method suffers however from the following limitations:
Critical incidents technique of evaluation is applied to evaluate the performance
of superiors rather than of peers of subordinates.
18

 Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive incidents.

It results in very close supervision which may not be liked by the employee.
The recording of incidents may be a chore for the manager concerned, who may be
too busy or forget to do it.
The supervisors have a tendency to unload a series of complaints about incidents
during an annual performance review session.
Weighted checklist
1. Definition of weighted checklist
This method describes a performance appraisal method where rater familiar with the jobs
being evaluated prepared a large list of descriptive statements about effective and
ineffective behavior on jobs.
2. Process of weighted checklist
HR department and Managers / Supervisors will set up checklist for each position.
If the rater believes strongly that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he checks
the item; otherwise, he leaves the item blank.
3. Sample of weighted checklist
Does he give respect to his superiors? Yes/No

Does he follow instructions properly? Yes/No

Does he make mistakes frequently? Yes/No

The value of each question may be weighted equally or certain questions may be weighted
more heavily than others.
4. Advantages and disadvantages of weighted checklist
This method help the manager in evaluation of the performance of the employee.
The rater may be biased in distinguishing the positive and negative questions. He
may assign biased weights to the questions.
This method also is expensive and time consuming.
It becomes difficult for the manager to assemble, analyze and weigh a number of
statements about the employees characteristics, contributions and behaviors.
Paired comparison analysis
1. Definition of paired comparison analysis
Paired comparison analysis is a good way of weighing up the relative importance
of options.
A range of plausible options is listed. Each option is compared against each of the
other options. The results are tallied and the option with the highest score is the
preferred option.
2. Advantages and disadvantages of paired comparison analysis
19

 It is useful where priorities are not clear.

It is particularly useful where you do not have objective data to base this on.
It helps you to set priorities where there are conflicting demands on your
resources.
This makes it easy to choose the most important problem to solve, or select the
solution that will give you the greatest advantage.
3. Steps to conduct paired comparison analysis
List the options you will compare (elements as A, B, C, D, E for example).
Create a table 6 rows and 7 column.
Write down option to column and row; A to row second, cell first from left and A
to row first, cell second from left; B to row third, cell first from left and B to row
first, cell third from left etc; column seventh is total point.
Identify importance from 0 (no difference) to 3 (major difference).
Compare element A to B, C, D, E and place point at each cell.
Finally, consolidate the results by adding up the total of all the values for each of
the options. You may want to convert these values into a percentage of the total
score.
4. Paired comparison in performance appraisal
The term used to describe an appraisal method for ranking employees.
We use the above model to appraise employee s performance.
Definition of the rating scales
The Rating Scale is a form on which the manager simply checks off the employees level
of performance. This is the oldest and most widely method used for performance
appraisal. The scales may specify five points, so a factor such as job knowledge might be
rated 1 (poorly informed about work duties) to 5 (has complete mastery of all phases of
the job).

Content of appraisal
Quantity of work. Volume of work under normal working conditions
Quality of work. Neatness, thoroughness and accuracy of work Knowledge of job.
Dependability. Conscientious, thorough, reliable, accurate, with respect to attendance,
relief, lunch breaks, etc.
Judgment
attitude. Exhibits enthusiasm and cooperativeness on the job
Cooperation . Willingness and ability to work with others to produce desired goals.
Initiative.

Rating scales
Rating scales can include 5 elements as follows:
Unsatisfactory
20

Fair
Satisfactory
Good
Outstanding

Advantages of the rating scales

Graphic rating scales are less time consuming to develop.
They also allow for quantitative comparison.

Disadvantages of the rating scales

Different supervisors will use the same graphic scales in slightly different ways.
One way to get around the ambiguity inherent in graphic rating scales is to use
behavior based scales, in which specific work related behaviors are assessed.
More validity comparing workers ratings from a single supervisor than comparing
two workers who were rated by different supervisors.

Essay evaluation method in performance appraisal

1. Definition of essay evaluation

This method asked managers / supervisors to describe strengths and weaknesses of
an employees behavior. Essay evaluation is a non-quantitative technique
This method usually use with the graphic rating scale method.

2. Input of information sources

Job knowledge and potential of the employee;\
Employees understanding of the companys programs, policies, objectives, etc.;
The employees relations with co-workers and superiors;
The employees general planning, organizing and controlling ability;
The attitudes and perceptions of the employee, in general.

3. Disadvantages of essay evaluation

Manager / supervisor may write a biased essay.
A busy rater may write the essay hurriedly without properly assessing the actual
performance of the worker.
Apart from that, rater takes a long time, this becomes uneconomical from the view
21

point of the firm, because the time of rater is costly.

Some evaluators may be poor in writing essays on employee performance. Others
may be superficial in explanation and use flowery language which may not reflect
the actual performance of the employee.

Forced ranking (forced distribution)

Forced ranking method of performance appraisal to rank employee but in order of forced
distribution. For example, the distribution requested with 10 or 20 percent in the top
category, 70 or 80 percent in the middle, and 10 percent in the bottom. The top-ranked
employees are considered high-potential employees and are often targeted for a more
rapid career and leadership development programs.
In contrast, those ranked at the bottom are denied bonuses and pay increases. They may be
given a probationary period to improve their performance.

Uflex ltd.

Company Profile
After Pioneering the growth of the flexible packaging industry in India, Uflex has gained an
unchallenged identity. Since its inception in the year 1983 it has turned into a multibillion
22

company that values quality and customer satisfaction amongst other priorities. With
consumers spread across the world, Uflex enjoys a global reach. Headquartered in Noida
(National Capital Region, New Delhi) it has state of the art manufacturing facilities in India
& Dubai. It has also established offices in UAE, Europe, North America and enjoys a
formidable market presence in more than 85 countries.

Uflex facility enjoys ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications and has FDA and BGA approvals for
their products. It is also a part of the D&B Global Database and winner of various prestigious national
and international awards like the top exporter of BOPET and BOPP films, and the Worldstar award
for packaging excellence. FPA, AIMCAL and the DUPONT Awards in 2004-2005 are the latest in this
series.

Being a multi faceted organization it has integrated its operations from manufacture of Polyester
chips, Films (BOPET, BOPP and CPP - both in plain and metalized form), Coated Film, Laminates,
Pouches, Holographic films Gravure cylinders, Inks and adhesives to all types of packaging &
printing machines, offering total flexible packaging solution.

Uflex has always been committed to the industry by providing technical know-how and being the
trend-setter in the flexible packaging industry . Being on the edge of innovation, Uflex endeavors to
be the first to come up with advanced products that cater to the changing demands of the packaging
industry.

As part of the Uflex Group, it has over twenty years of experience in polymer technology. Setting
milestones of success and innovation, Uflex is widely known for manufacturing and supplying
products, delivering apt services around the world.

Chairmans Vision

23

Welcome to UFLEX - a world of complete flexible packaging solutions created with you at the
centre.

With you at the centre we conceptualized an enterprise that has taken us to strategic locations
across the globe so that you find us closer in terms of ideas, markets, challenges, solutions
and services. Today, we are available for you just around the corner, around the world.

Putting you at the centre has also helped us evolve a corporate culture, flexible enough to
respond to your demands and accommodate your needs. It has helped us to adapt our global
industry insights to create solutions that keep your goals in focus. So across the world, you
will find dealing with us as comfortable as with your local partner, yet backed with the
formidable technological know-how of global players.

Thinking of you has made us invest in the best inputs on the entire range of the flexible
packaging spectrum. It also helps us offer the right mix of competencies from the entire range
of possibilities on the flexible packaging spectrum, so that you get precisely what you need,
whenever you need it. All this has added up to an edge that gives you access to not only the
perfect product but also the complete process consultancy. This helps you derive the
maximum mileage out of the products that we engineer for you. It's a distinction that can be
brought to you only by the people who know every link of the flexible packaging chain inside
out.

So bring us a flexible packaging challenge and take back a relationship a relationship with
an unparalleled competitive and innovative edge.

Chairmans Profile

24

Fig.3

The founder Chairman and Managing Director of The UFLEX Group, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi,
pioneered the growth of Flexible Packing industry in India. He is hailed as the leader of this
fast growing segment of packaging business in India.

Mr. Chaturvedi's progressive thinking made him conscious of the need to offer solutions for
Flexible Packaging and this led to the inception of a company for manufacturing packaging
materials.

Exhibiting inspiring innovativeness and entrepreneurial skills, Mr. Chaturvedi applied the
latest international technologies for tailoring and designing packing material which adapted
to the needs of the customers, winning markets globally.Appreciating the customer's needs
for quality, prompt delivery and service, he decided to integrate backwards in the
manufacture.

Board Of Directors

25

Name of the Director

Shri Ashok Chaturvedi

- Chairman & Managing Director

Shri Ravi Kathpalia

Shri M.G. Gupta

Shri A. Karati

- ICICI Nominee

Shri N K Duggal

- IFCI Nominee

Shri S.K. Kaushik

- Whole-time Director

Committee Of Directors
MEMBERS OF :
Audit Committee:
1.

Shri Ravi Kathpalia Chairman

2.

Shri M.G. Gupta

3.

Shri A. Karati

Remuneration Committee
1.

Shri M.G. Gupta Chairman

2.

Shri Ravi Kathpalia

3.

Shri A. Karati
26

Shareholders/Investors Grievance Committee

1.

Shri Ravi Kathpalia Chairman

2.

Shri M.G. Gupta

3.

Shri S.K. Kaushik

MILESTONES
September 1983:- Formation of the flex group of companies.
May 1984:- Formation of Flex Engineering Limited.
December 1985:- Formation of FCL Technologies and Product limited.
June 1988:- Formation of Uflex Limited. FIL is the largest manufacturer of polyester,
polypropylene, and metallised films in India.
February 1990:- Formation of Flex Food Limited for mushroom plantation.
November 1994:- Launched the operation of First Line for the production of BOPET films
under production capacity: 20,000 TPA.
January 1996:- Launched the operation of Second Line for the production of BOPET films
under production capacity: 20,000 TPA.
June 1996:- Launched the operation of First Line for the production of BOPP films.
Production capacity: 20,000 TPA.
January 1997:- Commercial production of Polyethylene Teraphthalate chips started.
June 1991:- M/s UFLEX America Incorporated, located in North Califoria, U.S.A., formed as
a wholly owned subsidiary of M/s UFLEX Limited.
June 2002:- First Metallizer with a capacity of 6,000 TPA installed.
March 2003:- Cast Polyporpylene film line with a capacity to produce 6,000 TPA installed to
produce CPP films.
October 2003:- Second Metallizer with a capacity of 6,000 MT/annum was installed.
December 2003:- Launched the operation of the second line for production of BOPP films
with a capacity of 15,000 MT/annum.
April 2004:- Launched the operation of the third line for the production of BOPET Films
with a capacity of 20,000 MT/annum.
27

July 2004:- A third metallizer with a capacity of 6,000 TPA was installed in Jabel Ali Fee
Zone, UAE.
March 2005:- A state of art polyester line with a capacity of 20,000 TPA was setup in Jabel
Ali Fee Zone, UAE.
July 2005:- A fourth Metallizer, with a capacity of 6000 TPA was installed with plasma
treatment facility.
October 2007:- Launched the operation of Fifth line, 8.7 metres wide for the production of
BOPET films with a capacity of 25000 MT/annum.
October 2007:- Launched the operation of 1.85 metres wide Thermal Lamination Machine for
the production of Thermal Lam BOPP film with a capacity of 3600 TPA.
November 2007:- Production of shrink sleeves a new concept in packaging (Heat shrink and
cold seal) started.
December 2007:- New packaging and Holography plant was started in Jammu.
January 2008:- New WPP plant was started in Noida.

28

BUSINESS DIVISON
FILM DIVISON
INTRODUCTION
UFLEX Limited, the India-based flexible packaging giant, began its existence nearly two
decades ago and has come a long way since then offering a vast array of innovative products
and services that enrich life, improve performance and create value for the customers and
shareholders.
With a vision to Progress with Distinction, UFLEX is privileged to contribute to society by
producing a variety of sophisticated products, on state-of-the-art imported equipment and
machines, improving the quality of life for people across the globe.
We manufacture in-house Polyester chips, BOPET / BOPP / COATED / METALLISED /
CPP Films, Packaging machines, converting equipment, inks, adhesives, Flexible Laminates
and Pouches and have emerged as a one stop shop committed to providing customers with
competitive advantage, placing top priority to customer success.
We, at the Film Division of UFLEX Limited, are one of the largest manufacturer, supplier
and exporter of a variety of Plastic Films in the world.
With consistent quality, production expertise, continuous innovation in products and
technologies, a dedicated work force and a highly motivated corporate team, the Flex group is
expanding at an immense pace.
We invite you to take a look at our wide range of products by browsing through these pages
and then give us a chance to help you.
Well make sure to be there for you any time, every time!

29

HOLOGRAPHY DIVISON
Holography Division is a professionally managed division of UFlex Ltd., focusing on the
production of top-of-the-line holographic products.
At UFlex holographic division, our goal is to deliver quality that will ensure the confidence
of our discerning buyers globally and become a benchmark for others. We will be
uncompromising in our adherence to excellence at every stage of production, from the
selection of raw materials to final product delivery.
Equipped with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and technology tie-ups with world
leaders, provide an access to leading innovations in the industry, hence ensure latest
technology and processes in place.
Entire supply-chain is attuned to ensure minimum lead-time for execution of large orders,
offer customization of products based on buyer specifications and an assurance of innovation
and flexibility in product design.
R & D: With a strong foothold in innovating products and design, research & development of
holography division is committed to refine and upgrade the processes and products being
manufactured. Our fully equipped research laboratory is a result of core technical strength &
commitments to manufacturing holography and related products.
.
In addition maximum emphasis is placed on security of making of hologram housekeeping
and hygiene in relation to materials, processes, storage and handling. Moreover all
environmental laws, guidelines and commitments are unfailingly adhered to.
All emissions kept below permissible levels
Minimal process waste generation - Almost all products made from eco-friendly materials
Continuous employee education and motivation
Secured execution & delivery of any job is an important pillar in holographic industry. Flex
has ensured the same by installing, card access system bio-matrix technology (Thumb
Recognition System), fully trained in-house armed guards to restrict any unauthorized entry
to the facilities and maintain high-level security zone.

ENGINEERING DIVISON
UFLEX Limited - Coverting Division engaged in the business of Packaging and Converting
Machines, established in Noida(adjacent to the national capital, New Delhi, India) in 1984, is
30

an integral part of UFLEX Group of companies.The UFLEX group commenced its

operations with a small investment and a pioneering spirit in 1983. Today, it is one of the
leading corporate houses in the Asia Pacific Region offering, among the other things, a single
window Total Packaging Solutions.

Fig 4

Our Vision
"Safer Living Thru Better Packaging"
A better packaging helps deliver a better product to the consumer. To emerge as a world
leader, in providing Total Flexible Packaging Solutions inspired by Total Customer
Satisfaction.

CONVERTING DIVISON
UFLEX Ltd provides complete integrated packaging solutions, right from design to delivery.
Catering to the specific need for Laminates and Pouches of each customer by constantly
redefining cost effective packaging options, is the only tradition of service known to UFLEX.
With almost 2 decades of experience in Flexible Packaging and significant investments, we
31

have perfected our processes and technology to produce high quality Flexible Packaging
Materials on time and within budgets.To ensure superior quality and timely delivery we have
achieved full backward integration. Our in-company divisions and group companies located
nearby produce all critical inputs, like the BOPET and BOPP films, Inks, Adhesives and
substrates, Holographic Films, Metalisation facility, Blown Film and other such raw
materials.

Fig 5
Through our innovations in packaging, we have even helped our customers resolve a variety
of problems. A few such cases are quoted below:
An auto major had serious problem in combating spurious spares. We designed very special
Laminates with holographic designs incorporating the company's logo. This eliminated the
problem almost immediately raising the sales to three times within a year.
A bed mattress manufacturer had no brand recognition inspite of giving the best quality,
because of duplication. When all methods failed to contain this piracy, UFLEX Engineering
Division created a Gravure printed pouch measuring 36"x96". The problem was nipped and
the brand established its leadership in the market .
A leading snack food manufacturer sold a popular snack in 400gms packing. The quantity
was too much for a person to finish in one go. But the snack needed to be sold in the 400gm
packs. Uflex Zipouch division designed a reclosable pouch with zipper. The buyer could eat
as much as desired and then seal the pack for reuse later.

CYLINDER DIVISON
UFLEX (An ISO 9000 certified company) is one of the key players in the global packaging
industry. UFLEX a dynamic and creative organization, today offers a reliable single window
access to almost everything related to flexible packaging. Printing Cylinder is one of the
major products.
Since its inception, the team has been driving hard to master each link in the chain of flexible
32

packaging development and production. As a result of this drive started manufacturing

rotogravure Cylinders in the year 1986 and today boasts of a production capacity of over
35,000 cylinders per annum.

CHEMICAL DIVISON
Breaking through with exciting new innovations in the flexible packaging is part of the
intrinsic value system at UFLEX Chemical Division. By offering a wide spectrum of
colourful inks along with the requisite range of adhesives, Chemical Division adds a whole
new dimension to flexible packaging.

33

Fig 6
Chemical Dision , is part of the UFLEX Limited -name that is synonymous with the flexible
packaging revolution in India, providing complete flexible Packaging solutions to over 60
countries. Today the UFLEX Group has Asia's largest state-of-the-art packaging plant and
allied infrastructure at NOIDA (U.P.) spread over 70 acres.
Uflex Chemical Division has established a US $ 6.5 million manufacturing facility at NOIDA
(U.P) with ongoing technology transfer agreements with M/s. Color Converting Industries,
U.S.A. and M/s. Sunkyong Industries Limited, South Korea-a Fortune 500 company. UFLEX
Chemical Division also has an in-house Research & Development laboratory, approved and
recognised by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. This
research facility is manned by a dedicated team comprising of some of the best scientific
minds in the business.
UFLEX Chemical Division , an ISO 9001 certified company, is strongly focused on
delivering the highest standards of quality with the single-minded intent of ensuring total
customer satisfaction - over and over again. Every employee is completely committed to the
organisation's goals, towards quality & service.

OBJECTIVES

To find out the perception of employees towards performance appraisal.

To study the impact of performance appraisal on employees performance.

34

LITERATURE REVIEW

Organizational Citizenship Behaviour

Also referred to as contextual behaviour, prosaically behaviour, and extra-role
behaviour, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) consists of employee behaviour that
contributes to the welfare of the organization but is beyond the scope of the employees job
35

duties. These extra-role behaviours may help or hinder the attainment of organizational goals.
Research supports five dimensions of OCB: altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy,
sportsmanship, and civic virtue. Researchers have found that the OCB dimensions of altruism
and civic virtue can have just as much of an impact on managers subjective evaluations of
employees performances as employees objective productivity levels. The degree to which
OCB can influence judgments of job performance is relatively high. Controversy exists as to
whether OCB should be formally considered as a part of performance appraisal (PA).

Performance Appraisal Interviews

The performance appraisal (PA) interview is typically the final step of the appraisal
process. The interview is held between the subordinate and supervisor. The PA interview can
be considered of great significance to an organizations PA system. It is most advantageous
when both the superior and subordinate participate in the interview discussion and establish
goals together. Three factors consistently contribute to effective PA interviews: the
supervisors knowledge of the subordinates job and performance in it, the supervisors
support of the subordinate, and a welcoming of the subordinates participation.

Employee Reactions to Performance Appraisal

Numerous researchers have reported that many employees are not satisfied with their
performance appraisal (PA) systems. Studies have shown that subjectivity as well as
appraiser bias is often a problem perceived by as many as half of employees. Appraiser bias,
however, appears to be perceived as more of a problem in government and public sector
organizations. Also, according to some studies, employees wished to see changes in the PA
system by making the system more objective, improving the feedback process, and
increasing the frequency of review. In light of traditional PA operation defects,
organizations are now increasingly incorporating practices that may improve the system.
These changes are particularly concerned with areas such as elimination of subjectivity and
bias, training of appraisers, improvement of the feedback process and the performance review
discussion.
According to a meta-analysis of 27 field studies, general employee participation in his/her
own appraisal process was positively correlated with employee reactions to the PA
system. More specifically, employee participation in the appraisal process was most strongly
related to employee satisfaction with the PA system. Concerning the reliability of employee
reaction measures, researchers have found employee reaction scales to be sound with few
concerns through using a confirmatory factor analysis that is representative of employee
reaction scales.
Researchers suggest that the study of employees reactions to PA is important because of two
main reasons: employee reactions symbolizes a criterion of interest to practitioners of
Performance appraisal and employee reactions have been associated through theory to
36

determinants of appraisal acceptance and success. Researchers translate these reasons into the
context of the scientist-practitioner gap or the lack of alignment between research and
practice.

Performance Appraisal and Legal Implications

There are federal laws addressing fair employment practices, and this also concerns
performance appraisal (PA). Discrimination can occur within predictions of performance and
evaluations of job behaviors. The revision of many court cases has revealed the involvement
of alleged discrimination which was often linked to the assessment of the employees job
performance. Some of the laws which protect individuals against discrimination are the Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Lawsuits may
also results from charges of an employers negligence, defamation, and/or
misrepresentation. A few appraisal criteria to keep in mind for a legally sound PA is to keep
the content of the appraisal objective, job-related, behaviour-based, within the control of the
ratee, and related to specific functions rather than a global assessment. Some appraisal
procedure suggestions for a legally sound PA is to standardize operations, communicate
formally with employees, provide information of performance deficits and give opportunities
to employees to correct those deficits, give employees access to appraisal results, provide
written instructions for the training of raters, and use multiple, diverse and unbiased
raters. These are valuable but not exhaustive lists of recommendations for Performance
appraisal.

Cross-Cultural Implications of Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal (PA) systems, and the premises of which they were based, that have
been formed and regarded as effective in the United States may not have the transferability
for effectual utilization in other countries or cultures, and vice versa. Performance appraisal
is thought to be deeply rooted in the norms, values, and beliefs of asociety. Appraisal
reflects attitudes towards motivation and performance (self) and relationships (e.g. peers,
subordinates, supervisors, organization), all of which vary from one country to the next.
Therefore, appraisal should be in conjunction with cultural norms, values, and beliefs in order
to be operative. The deep-seated norms, values and beliefs in different cultures affect
employee motivation and perception of organizational equity and justice. In effect, a PA
system created and considered effectual in one country may not be an appropriate assessment
in another cultural region.
For example, some countries and cultures value the trait of assertiveness and personal
accomplishment while others instead place more merit on cooperation and interpersonal
connection. Countries scoring high on assertiveness consider PA to be a way of assuring
equity among employees so that higher performing employees receive greater rewards or
37

higher salaries. Countries scoring low on assertiveness but higher in interpersonal relations
may not like the social separation and pay inequity of higher/lower performing employees;
employees from this more cooperative rather than individualistic culture place more concern
on interpersonal relationships with other employees rather than on individual interests. High
assertive countries value performance feedback for self-management and effectiveness
purposes while countries low in assertiveness view performance feedback as threatening and
obtrusive. In this case, the PA of the high assertive countries would likely not be beneficial
for countries scoring lower in assertiveness to employ. However, countries scoring lower in
assertiveness could employ PA for purposes of improving long-term communication
development within the organization such as clarifying job objectives, guide training and
development plans, and lessen the gap between job performance and organizational
expectations.

Perception (from the Latin perceptio, percipio) is the organization, identification, and
interpretation of sensory information in order to fabricate a mental representation through the
process of transduction, which sensors in the body transform signals from the environment
into encoded neural signals. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in
turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs. For example, vision
involves light striking the retinas of the eyes, smell is mediated by odor molecules and
hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not the performance appraisalsive receipt of
these signals, but can be shaped by learning, memory and expectation. Perception involves
these "top-down" effects as well as the "bottom-up" process of processing sensory input. The
"bottom-up" processing is basically low-level information that's used to build up higher-level
information (i.e. - shapes for object recognition). The "top-down" processing refers to a
person's concept and expectations (knowledge) that influence perception. Perception depends
on complex functions of the nervous system, but subjectively seems mostly effortless because
this processing happens outside conscious awareness.
Since the rise of experimental psychology in the late 19th Century, psychology's
understanding of perception has progressed by combining a variety of
techniques. Psychophysics measures the effect on perception of varying the physical qualities
of the input. Sensory neurosciencestudies the brain mechanisms underlying perception.
Perceptual systems can also be studied computationally, in terms of the information they
process. Perceptual issues in philosophy include the extent to which sensory qualities such as
sounds, smells or colors exist in objective reality rather than the mind of the perceiver.
Although the senses were traditionally viewed as performance appraisalsive receptors, the
study of illusions and ambiguous images has demonstrated that the brain's perceptual systems
actively and pre-consciously attempt to make sense of their input. There is still active debate
about the extent to which perception is an active process of hypothesis testing, analogous
to science, or whether realistic sensory information is rich enough to make this process
unnecessary.
The perceptual systems of the brain enable individuals to see the world around them as stable,
even though the sensory information may be incomplete and rapidly varying. Human and
38

animal brains are structured in a modular way, with different areas processing different kinds
of sensory information. Some of these modules take the form of sensory maps, mapping some
aspect of the world across part of the brain's surface. These different modules are
interconnected and influence each other. For instance, the taste is strongly influenced by its
odor.
Process and terminology
The process of perception begins with an object in the real world, termed the distal
stimulus or distal object. By means of light, sound or another physical process, the object
stimulates the body's sensory organs. These sensory organs transform the input energy into
neural activitya process called transduction. This raw pattern of neural activity is called
the proximal stimulus. These neural signals are transmitted to the brain and processed. [2] The
resulting mental recreation of the distal stimulus is the percept. Perception is sometimes
described as the process of constructing mental representations of distal stimuli using the
information available in proximal stimuli.
An example would be a person looking at a shoe. The shoe itself is the distal stimulus. When
light from the shoe enters a person's eye and stimulates their retina, that stimulation is the
proximal stimulus. The image of the shoe reconstructed by the brain of the person is the
percept. Another example would be a telephone ringing. The ringing of the telephone is the
distal stimulus. The sound stimulating a person's auditory receptors is the proximal stimulus,
and the brain's interpretation of this as the ringing of a telephone is the percept. The different
kinds of sensation such as warmth, sound, and taste are called "sensory modalities".[6][8]
Psychologist Jerome Bruner has developed a model of perception. According to him people
go through the following process to form opinions:.[
When a perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target we are opened different informational cues
and want to learn more about the target.
In the second step we try to collect more information about the target. Gradually, we
encounter some familiar cues which helps us categorize the target.
At this stage the cues become less open and selective. We try to search for more cues that
confirm the categorization of the target. At this stage we also actively ignore and even distort
cues that violate our initial perceptions. Our perception becomes more selective and we
finally paint a consistent picture of the target.
According to Alan Saks and Gary Johns, there are three components to Perception.
The Perceiver, the person who becomes aware about something and comes to a final
understanding. There are 3 factors that can influence his or her perceptions: experience,
motivational state and finally emotional state. In different motivational or emotional states,
the perceiver will react to or perceive something in different ways. Also in different situations
he or she might employ a "perceptual defence" where they tend to "see what they want to
see".
39

The Target. This is the person who is being perceived or judged. "Ambiguity or lack of
information about a target leads to a greater need for interpretation and addition."
The Situation also greatly influences perceptions because different situations may call for
additional information about the target.
Stimuli are not necessarily translated into a percept and rarely does a single stimulus translate
into a percept. An ambiguous stimulus may be translated into multiple percepts, experienced
randomly, one at a time, in what is called "multistable perception". And the same stimuli, or
absence of them, may result in different percepts depending on subjects culture and previous
experiences. Ambiguous figures demonstrate that a single stimulus can result in more than
one percept; for example the Rubin vase which can be interpreted either as a vase or as two
faces. The percept can bind sensations from multiple senses into a whole. A picture of a
talking person on a television screen, for example, is bound to the sound of speech from
speakers to form a percept of a talking person. "Percept" is also a term used by Leibniz,
[10]
Bergson, Deleuze and Guattari[11] to define perception independent from perceivers.
Perception and reality
In the case of visual perception, some people can actually see the percept shift in their mind's
eye. Others, who are not picture thinkers, may not necessarily perceive the 'shape-shifting' as
their world changes. The 'esemplastic' nature has been shown by experiment: an ambiguous
image has multiple interpretations on the perceptual level.
This confusing ambiguity of perception is exploited in human technologies such
as camouflage, and also in biological mimicry, for example by European Peacock butterflies,
whose wings bear eye markings that birds respond to as though they were the eyes of a
dangerous predator.
There is also evidence that the brain in some ways operates on a slight "delay", to allow nerve
impulses from distant parts of the body to be integrated into simultaneous signals.
Perception is one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in psychology
is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical
stimuli and their perceptual effects (for example, testing how much darker a computer screen
can get before the viewer actually notices). The study of perception gave rise to
the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach.

Effect of motivation and expectation

Main article: Set (psychology)
A perceptual set, also called perceptual expectancy or just set is a predisposition to perceive
things in a certain way. It is an example of how perception can be shaped by "top-down"
processes such as drives and expectations. Perceptual sets occur in all the different
senses. They can be long term, such as a special sensitivity to hearing one's own name in a
40

crowded room, or short term, as in the ease with which hungry people notice the smell of
food. A simple demonstration of the effect involved very brief presentations of non-words
such as "sael". Subjects who were told to expect words about animals read it as "seal", but
others who were expecting boat-related words read it as "sail".
Sets can be created by motivation and so can result in people interpreting ambiguous figures
so that they see what they want to see. For instance, how someone perceives what unfolds
during a sports game can be biased if they strongly support one of the teams. In one
experiment, students were allocated to pleasant or unpleasant tasks by a computer. They were
told that either a number or a letter would flash on the screen to say whether they were going
to taste an orange juice drink or an unpleasant-tasting health drink. In fact, an ambiguous
figure was flashed on screen, which could either be read as the letter B or the number 13.
When the letters were associated with the pleasant task, subjects were more likely to perceive
a letter B, and when letters were associated with the unpleasant task they tended to perceive a
number 13.
Perceptual set has been demonstrated in many social contexts. People who are primed to
think of someone as "warm" are more likely to perceive a variety of positive characteristics in
them, than if the word "warm" is replaced by "cold". When someone has a reputation for
being funny, an audience are more likely to find them amusing. Individual's perceptual sets
reflect their own personality traits. For example, people with an aggressive personality are
quicker to correctly identify aggressive words or situations
One classic psychological experiment showed slower reaction times and less accurate
answers when a deck of playing cards reversed the color of the suit symbol for some cards
(e.g. red spades and black hearts)
Philosopher Andy Clark explains that perception, although it occurs quickly, is not simply a
bottom-up process (where minute details are put together to form larger wholes). Instead, our
brains use what he calls Predictive coding. It starts with very broad constraints and
expectations for the state of the world, and as expectations are met, it makes more detailed
predictions (errors lead to new predictions, or learning processes). Clark says this research
has various implications; not only can there be no completely "unbiased, unfiltered"
perception, but this means that there is a great deal of feedback between perception and
expectation (perceptual experiences often shape our beliefs, but those perceptions were based
on existing beliefs).

Theories
Perception as hypothesis-testing
Cognitive theories of perception assume there is a poverty of stimulus. This (with reference
to perception) is the claim that sensations are, by themselves, unable to provide a unique
description of the world. Sensations require 'enriching', which is the role of the mental model.
A different type of theory is the perceptual ecology approach of James J. Gibson. Gibson
41

rejected the assumption of a poverty of stimulus by rejecting the notion that perception is
based in sensations instead, he investigated what information is actually presented to the
perceptual systems. His theory "assumes the existence of stable, unbounded, and permanent
stimulus-information in the ambient optic array. And it supposes that the visual system can
explore and detect this information. The theory is information-based, not sensationbased." He and the psychologists who work within this paradigm detailed how the world
could be specified to a mobile, exploring organism via the lawful projection of information
about the world into energy arrays. Specification is a 1:1 mapping of some aspect of the
world into a perceptual array; given such a mapping, no enrichment is required and
perception is direct perception
Perception-in-action
An ecological understanding of perception derived from Gibson's early work is that of
"perception-in-action", the notion that perception is a requisite property of animate action;
that without perception action would be unguided, and without action perception would serve
no purpose. Animate actions require both perception and motion, and perception and
movement can be described as "two sides of the same coin, the coin is action". Gibson works
from the assumption that singular entities, which he calls "invariants", already exist in the
real world and that all that the perception process does is to home in upon them. A view
known as constructivism (held by such philosophers as Ernst von Glasersfeld) regards the
continual adjustment of perception and action to the external input as precisely what
constitutes the "entity", which is therefore far from being invariant.
Glasersfeld considers an "invariant" as a target to be homed in upon, and a pragmatic
necessity to allow an initial measure of understanding to be established prior to the updating
that a statement aims to achieve. The invariant does not and need not represent an actuality,
and Glasersfeld describes it as extremely unlikely that what is desired or feared by an
organism will never suffer change as time goes on. This social constructionist theory thus
allows for a needful evolutionary adjustment.
A mathematical theory of perception-in-action has been devised and investigated in many
forms of controlled movement, and has been described in many different species of organism
using the General Tau Theory. According to this theory, tau information, or time-to-goal
information is the fundamental 'percept' in perception.

42

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology Adopted

Research Design : Descriptive research
Research Instrument : Structured Questionnaire
Sampling Plan
i) Sample Method : Non-Probability Sampling
(Convenience Sampling)
ii) Sample Size : 100
43

iii) Sample Unit : Employees who do not hold a

supervisory position
Sampling Design
Convenience Sampling, as the name implies, is based on the convenience of the
researcher who is to select a sample. Respondents in the sample are included in it merely
on account of their being available on the spot where the survey was in progress.

Source of Data
1. Data Source:

There are two types of data; primary and secondary data.

Primary data
In this project work primary data has been collected by:

Questionnaires have been done on several respondents in the local area and perception
about the data card were collected.

Secondary data

The data collected from secondary source is through Magazine , newspaper, internet.

2. Data Analysis:
Statistical Tool
The statistical tool used in this project is chi square.

44

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

HYPOTHESIS
NULL HYPOTHESIS: There is no relation between employees perception and performance
appraisal.
ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS: There is relation between employees perception and
performance appraisal.

45

My performance is adequately monitored during performance appraisal.

Fig7

From the above data we find most of the employees whose salary is below 10,000 and above
30,000 they are strongly agree that their performance is adequately monitored during
performance appraisal

46

Maximum employees whose salary is in between 10,000-20,000 and 20,000-30,000, they are
agree.

Performance appraisal does not contribute to job performance.

Fig 8

From the above data we find most of the employees whose salary is below 10,000 and above
30,000

they are disagree that performance appraisal does not contribute to job

performance.

Maximum employees whose salary is in between 10,000-20,000 and 20,000-30,000, they are
strongly disagree.

47

Performance goals are clearly defined in the process of appraisal.

Fig 9

The above graph represents maximum number of employees whose salary is below 10,000 and
10,000 are Disagree that the performance goals are clearly defined in the process of performance.
Whereas, those employees whose salary is 20,000-30,000 they are agree and above 30,000 give no
response.

The performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among the

employees.

Fig 10

48

The above graph represents most of the employees whose salary is below 10,000 and 10,000-20,000
they disagree that the performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among the employees.
Whereas, maximum employees whose salary in between 20,000-30,000 and above 30,000 they are
strongly agree.

I do not need feedback to monitor my performance

Fig 11

The above graph represents maximum number of employees whose salary is below 10,000
are disagree that they do not need feedback to monitor their performance.

Most of the employees whose salary in between 10,000-20,000 and 20,000-30,000 they
agree that they do not need feedback to monitor their performance.

And Maximum employees whose salary is above 30,000 they are strongly agree.

49

The performance appraisal is helpful for improving personnel skill.

Fig 12

Above graph shows that most of the employees whose years of service up to 2 years and 6-10
years are strongly agree that appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

Maximum number of employees whose years of service is 2-6 years and above 10 years are agree
that the appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

Promotion is purely based on performance appraisal.

Fig 13

50

The above graph represents maximum number of employees whose years of

service up to 2 years and above 10 years are strongly agree that the promotion is purely
based on performance.

Most of the employees whose years of service is 2-6 years and 6-10 years are agree that
promotion is purely based on performance.

Appraisal increases career growth.

Fig 14

From the above graph we find that maximum number of employees whose years of service up to 2
years and 2-6 years are agree that the Appraisal increases career growth

Most of the employees whose years of service is 6-10 years and above 10 years are strongly agree
that the appraisal increases career growth

51

Appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

Fig 15

Above graph shows that most of the employees whose years of service up to 2 years and 6-10
years are strongly agree that appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

Maximum number of employees whose years of service is 2-6 years and above 10 years are agree
that the appraisal enhances the chances for promotion.

STATISTICAL TOOL

52

CHI-SQUARE TEST
ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESISPerformance appraisal improves job
performance.

O-E

(O-E)

(O-E)/E

Strongly agree

48

20

28

784

39.2

Agree

32

20

12

144

7.2

No response

20

11

121

6.05

Disagree

20

13

169

8.45

Strongly disagree

20

16

256

12.8

Table 1
Where, O is Observed value
and,

E is expected value.

(0-E)/E = 73.7

= (O-E)/ E = 73.7

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

53

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e. Performance Appraisal does not improves job
performance, this statement is rejected.
So, from the result we can say that performance appraisal improves job performance.

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS- The assessment of performance motivates

to work harder.

Strongly agree

O-E

(O-E)

(O-E)/E

32

20

12

144

7.2

54

Agree

36

20

16

256

12.8

No response

14

20

36

1.8

Disagree

11

20

81

4.05

Strongly disagree

20

13

169

8.45

Table 2
Where, O is Observed value
and,

E is expected value.

(0-E)/E = 34.3

= (O-E)/ E = 34.3

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e. the

motivates to work harder. This statement is rejected.

assessment of performance does not

So, from the result we can say that the assessment of performance motivates to work harder.

55

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS- Performance goals are clearly defined in the

process of appraisal.

O-E

(O-E)

(O-E)/E

Strongly agree

26

20

36

1.8

Agree

39

20

19

361

18.05

No response

15

20

25

1.25

Disagree

20

11

121

6.05
56

Strongly disagree

11

20

81

4.05

Table 3
Where, O is Observed value
and,

E is expected value.

(0-E)/E = 31.2

= (O-E)/ E = 31.2

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e. performance goals are not clearly defined in the
process of appraisal. This statement is rejected.

So, from the result we can say that Performance goals are clearly defined in the process of
appraisal.

57

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS- Performance appraisal provides me with

the opportunity to set personal goals.

O-E

(O-E)

(O-E)/E

Strongly agree

26

20

36

1.8

Agree

36

20

16

256

12.8

No response

16

20

16

0.8

Disagree

12

20

64

3.2

Strongly disagree

10

20

10

100

5
58

Table 4
Where, O is Observed value
and,

E is expected value.

(0-E)/E = 23.6

= (O-E)/ E = 23.6

n-1 = 5-1 = 4 Degree of freedom

n= number of variables

The significance level = 0.05

So, 9.49 is Tabulated

Calculated > Tabulated

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected. i.e Performance appraisal does not provides me with
the opportunity to set personal goals. This statement is rejected.
So, from the result we can say that Performance appraisal provides me with the opportunity
to set personal goals.

1. As it is cleared by the analysis part that the performance appraisal enhances the
performance of the employees and assessment of performance motivates to work
harder these two satisfy our first objective which is to find out that the perception of
employees towards performance appraisal and by this it is clear that employees are
very much depended upon the appraisal system and and they are likely to do the work
for their appraisal and by this their performance enhance.
59

2. And by other to analysis i.e. performance goals are clearly defined in the process of
appraisal and the last one i.e. performance appraisal provides with the opportunity to
set personal goals and by these it is cleared that the second objective which is the
study of the impact of performance appraisal on employees performance and by this
it is clearly defined that the performance appraisal has a positive impact on the
employees performance.
And by this it is cleared that our alternate hypothesis which is there is relation between
employees perception and performance appraisal has been justified.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

Performance Appraisal assesses an individual employees job performance and productivity

in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objectives. Performance
appraisal plays a very important role in the organization because it improves job
performance. From the study it is conclude that performance appraisal provides the
opportunity to set personal goals. It is also conclude that the assessment of performance
motivates to work harder. The performance appraisal is helpful in reducing grievance among
the employees. From this study it is found that performance appraisal increases career
growth. And performance appraisal helps in the promotion of the employees. It is cleared by
the analysis part that the performance appraisal enhances the performance of the employees
and assessment of performance motivates to work harder these two satisfy our first objective
which is to find out that the perception of employees towards performance appraisal
60

This shows that there must be some necessary changes made and to look after for the proper
growth of the firm and as well as of the employees performance. The recommendation which
must be followed for that are as follows:

The performance appraisal must be measured on the continuous time period.

There must be proper monitoring of the employees performance.
There must be performance appraisal to improv the personnel skills of the employees.
Promotion must be done on the basis of performance appraisal.
There must be assessment of performance to motivate the employees to work harder.

LIMITATIONS

There are various limitations in the completion of the project and they are as follows:

Few employees were having problems in filling the questionnaire due to time constraint.

Few employees were taking the exercise as a mere formality.

61

Even after much care was taken while formation of the questionnaire, few employees got
confused regarding the questions..

The employees had to be assured that it is for academic purposes only and the response
given by them will be kept anonymous.

The common query was why these questionnaires are filled.

Few employees got irritated because they felt it was a waste of time.

Comparatively small sample size (total employees-100 approx.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.google.com
www.uflexltd.com
www.flexfilm.com
www.uflexengg.com
www.wikipedia.org
Thornton, G.C. & W.C. Byham (1982) Assessment centres and Managerial
Performance, Academic Press, New York .
62

T.V.Rao & U. Pareek (1978) Performace Appraisal and Review: Operating Manual,
Learning System, New Delhi.
H. Richl (1996). A Skilful Approach to High Productivity, H.R. Magazine, August,
97-102
J.A.D Conger Finegold & E.E.Lawler (1998).Appraising Boardroom Performance.
Harvard Business Review, January- February.

ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE

Name:
..

63

Sex:
[ ] Male

[ ] Female

Age:
[ ]Upto 20 years
years

[ ] 20-30 years

[ ] 30-40 years

[ ] above 40

[ ] 6-10 years

[ ] above 10

Marital Status:
[ ] Married

[ ] Unmarried

Years of service:
[ ]Upto 2 years
years

[ ] 2-6 years

Monthly Income:
[ ] below 10,000
30,000

[ ] 10,000-20,000

[ ] 20,000-30,000

[ ] above

64

STUDY FACTORS:

S.no Particulars
.
7

Performance appraisal improves job

performance

The assessment of performance motivates to

work harder

Performance goals are clearly defined in the

process of appraisal

10

My performance is adequately monitored during

performance appraisal

11

Performance appraisal does not contribute to job

performance

12

The performance appraisal is helpful in reducing

grievance among the employee

13

I do not need feedback to monitor my

performance

14

The performance appraisal is helpful

for improving personnel skill

15

Promotion is purely based on performance

appraisal

16

Is the Performance assessment match to your

expectations

17

Appraisals encourage career growth

18

Appraisals enhances the chances for promotion

19

Performance appraisal provides me with the

opportunity to set personal goals

20

The Performance Appraisal System give a

proper assessment of your contribution to the
Organization

S
A

A N
R

D
A

SD
A

SA- Strongly agree, A- Agree, NS- No response, DA- Disagree, SDA- Strongly
Disagree
65

66