Effect of the annual performance evaluation report on the performance of employees in the national emergency management agency 2014-2018

Employee performance appraisal is a branch of human resource management that evaluates the employee as individuals. It entails analyzing employee's capabilities and potential drawn from assessment data of past and current work. The Annual Performance Evaluation Form (APER) has remained not just a tool, but indispensable in annually appraising employee performance in NEMA as in other public organizations. However, while the APER continues to reflect high scores literally translating into high employees' performance, in real terms, there continue to be a wide gap between what APER displays and what is obtainable in practical terms. The study therefore, sought to undercover the rationale for this wide gap by seeking to find out how this indispensable tool measures employees performance. The study adopted the documentary and survey research designs to provide answers to the first and second research questions respectively. Linear regression was used for data analysis. Based on purposive sampling, APER forms for five years i.e 2014 -2018 were sampled. Data for the study was gathered from recorded information (APER) and other official documents from the organization under study. Analysis of existing data was used in analysing sampled APER It was discovered among other things that appraising employees based on general ability outside their schedule of duty erodes the APER of objectivism. This is further heightened by lack of objective assessment yardstick possessing Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time bound features/ performance indicators that would justify ratings or scores, chances of APER being negatively influenced by halo effect is very high. Therefore, the study recommends that, employees should in addition to being generally appraised, be appraised against their schedule of duty,the adoption of SMART goals against which employees would be appraised should be to introduced to forestall subjectivism and the need for quarterly appraisal rather than annual appraisal for better effectiveness.