EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN UGANDA WILDLIFE AUTHORITY

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN

UGANDA WILDLIFE AUTHORITY

BY:

DR BAMEKA RONALD

i

Abstract

The study was carried out at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA)

headquarters, Kamwokya from the employees. The main objective of

the study was to analyze the impact of performance appraisal on

employee performance in government agencies. Some of the specific

objectives included

To establish the performance appraisal techniques employed at

UWA.

To establish the effect of performance appraisal on employee

performance at UWA.

To establish the challenges faced by the performance appraisal

system adopted by UWA.

To make the necessary recommendations after the study.

Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire tool

and analysed using SPSS and Excel.Analysis was descriptive in

nature.

The findings reveal that appraisals have an effect on employee

performance in a way that

ii

It leads to self evaluation and it also gives room for

improvement if needed.

The employee understands properly the Swot factors at

his/her job and plan accordingly.

Enables one to know his/her areas of weakness and strength

at work.

Enables one to re align his/her set targets and plans for

the year.

Career performance gaps can be identified and action can be

taken which creates mutual benefits to the employee and the

organization.

Some other major findings were lack of follow ups on the

perfomance of the employees,

lack of honesty by the supervisors,bias on the employee by

the supervisor,lack of traininng of employees after their

weaknesses are identified and so forth.

It is therefore recommended that management of UWA should

review the appraisal system inorder to benefit

everyone.Employees should be counselled and trained after

reviewing their performance.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background to the study According to Smith (2000), appraisal involves the identification

of cause and effect relationships on which employment and labor

policies are based or can be based and are a routine process that

organizations use to evaluate their employees.Appraisal is the

analysis of the successes and failures of an employee and the

assessment of theirsuitability for training and promotion in the

future.

It is a systematic assessment that is as objective as possible

of an ongoing programme or policy, its design, implementation and

results. Its aim is to appraise the relevance and fulfillment of

objectives, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.

Although, performance appraisal itself is often a process that

involves documentation and communication, the tendency in recent

years has been to formalize the appraisal process, whereas in

years past, an informal approach with very little record keeping

sufficed, now more documentation is required. Organizations

usually formalize part of the process by using a standard form.

Currently, organizations are now more focused on the need to get

more from theiremployees if they are to achieve organizational

objectives due to the changing business environment. Accurate

appraisals arecrucial for the evaluation of recruitment,

selection, and training procedures that lead toimproved1

performance. Appraisal can determine training needs and

occasionally,counselling needs. It can also increase employee

motivation through the feedbackprocess and may provide an

evaluation of working conditions, thus, improving

employeeproductivity, by encouraging the strong areas and

modifying the weak ones. Wheneffective, the appraisal process

reinforces the individual’s sense of personal worth andassists in

developing his/her aspirations.

In some organizations, large amounts of money are being invested

in the appraisal processes/activities and some managers are

required specifically to set aside a certain amount from their

budgets for this purpose (Denning, 2001).

The study therefore aims at assessing the impact of performance

appraisal on the performance of employees of UWA and also

establishing the appraisal techniques employed by the

organization.

1.1.1 Background to Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA)

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is a semi-autonomous government

agency that conserves and manages Uganda’s wildlife protected

areas for the people of Uganda and the whole world. This agency

was established in 1996 after the merger of the Uganda National

Parks and the Game Department upon the enactment of the Uganda

Wildlife Statute, which became an Act in 2000. UWA is mandated to

ensure sustainable management of wildlife resources and supervise

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wildlife activities in Uganda both within and outside the

protected areas.

With 10 national parks and 12 wildlife reserves under its

jurisdiction, UWA’s role in managing the country’s conservation

sector, contributing to the tourism industry and attracting

investors to the sector has been a significant one. It also

manages five community wildlife management areas and 13 wildlife

sanctuaries. The challenges facing the management and

conservation of wildlife and biodiversity in Uganda are myriad,

and they include poaching, competition in the regional tourism

market, human wildlife conflict and wildlife crimes.

Stakeholders, partners and communities that live around these

protected areas have been employed to help tackle some of these

issues. The organization has also developed strategies within its

management policies to help solve some of these challenges.

Vision of UWA

“To be the leading, self-sustaining wildlife conservation agency

that transforms Uganda into one of the best eco-tourism

destinations in Africa.”

Mission of UWA

“To conserve, economically develop and sustainably manage the

wildlife and protected areas of Uganda in partnership with

neighboring communities and other stakeholders for the benefit of

the people of the global community.”

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Goals and Objectives of UWA

To promote and maintain viable and representative wildlife

population in Uganda both within and outside protected areas.

To ensure that the biologicaldiversity of Uganda is conserved

within the country’s protected areas, system and that is

managed on sound conservation principles.

To protect the country’s National parks and wildlife reserves

from human settlement and adverse activities.

To generate revenues from tourism to support wildlife

conservation efforts and the national economy.

To promote positive attitude towards wildlife conservation

through education and public awareness campaigns.

1.2 Problem statement At a strategic level, the need for rapid and effective

organizational change in today's dynamic social, economic, and

political environment requires that employees performancesshould

be in line with evolving goals and objectives of the organization

(O'Donnell and Shields, 2002). Performance Appraisal has been

considered as the most significant indispensable tool for

assessing the employees’ performance in an organization, for the

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information it provides which is highly useful in making

decisions regarding various personnel aspects such as promotion

and merit (Armstrong, 2001). Performance measures also link

information gathering and decision making processes which provide

a basis for judging the effectiveness of personnel sub-divisions

such as recruiting, selection, training and compensation.

Employee Performance Appraisal, which provides basis for

Performance Management or Performance Development (PD), was

introduced in UWA as a goal-oriented tool to guide individual

performance on the job and to recognize performance at all levels

of employment.

Much as performance appraisal is done at UWA, the problem still

stands whether the appraisal process or method used has done any

effect on all employees performance and whether they are

appraised equally according to the following; time taken to

complete their work in time, the quality of work done and also

the quantity of work done in terms of numbers. Unfortunately, if

no any efforts havebeen directed towards ascertaining the actual

appraisal techniques employed at UWA or even their effect on

employee performance,it is evident that if such research is not

done, then the act of appraisal at UWA may lose meaning.

This research therefore will concentrate on assessing the effect

of performance appraisal on employees performance at UWA.

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1.3 Objectives of the study

1.3.1Main objective

To assess the impact of performance appraisal on employee

performance at UWA.

1.3.2 Specific objectives To establish the performance appraisal techniques employed at

UWA.


performance at UWA.




1.4 Research questions

To conduct a meaningful research, the aim will be at providing

answers to the following questions,

1) What are the performance appraisal techniques employed at UWA?

2) What is the effect of performance appraisal on employees

performance at UWA?

3) What are the challenges underlying performance appraisal

system adopted at UWA?

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1.5 Significance of the study

The study was to generate relevant information about the effect of performance appraisals on employee performance. This information could be used by government agencies on how to motivate their employees so as to achieve the set goals and targets.

The study was to help the human resource (HR) department of UWA

on how it could improve on the performance of its employees and

the organization at large.

The study was to provide an up-to-date literature on the

relationship between performance appraisal and performance of

workers/employees in government agencies.

1.6 Scope

The research was to cover the aspect of appraisals on employee

performance, it was to examine the impact of appraisals on

employee performance. The research was limited to Uganda Wildlife

Authority headquarters in Kamwokya, Kampala district.

1.7. Organization of the report

Chapter one included the background to the study, the background

to UWA, problem statement, objectives of the study,

study/research questions, the significance of the study and the

scope of the study.

Literature review on appraisals and employee performance is in

chapter two while the methodology used for the study in chapter

three.

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The empirical results on performance appraisal on employee

performance are in chapter four while the summary of the

findings, conclusions and recommendations are in chapter five.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight what performance

appraisal is all about, its sources of inspiration,

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techniques/methods, purpose and benefits of appraisal,

challenges/ shortcomings associated with performance appraisals.

2.2 Meaning of Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal is said to be one of the most problematic

components of human resource management and is at times viewed as

a bureaucratic exercise and it plays an important role in

providing the basis for making selection decisions, determining

salary increases, and providing feedback between supervisors and

employees. Performance appraisal is an instrument used by

organizations to evaluate the performance of their employees in

terms of quality, quantity, cost and time. Performance appraisal

is a formal assessment of how well an employee is doing his or

her job and the assessment is usually done by the employees’

manager at or after a review meeting usually done twice or once

yearly (Byars& Rue, 2006).

Performance appraisal denotes evaluating individual job

performance as a basis for establishing personnel decisions like

improving performance, promotion, growth and development,

confirmation, transfers, manpower planning, retention and

discharge.Performance appraisal is a process by which a superior

evaluates and judges the work performance of a subordinate and

aims at evaluating the extent to which the individual is

achieving the objectives of the given job, in relation to the

objectives set by the departments they work in. Appraisal

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therefore is done to assess how well the individual performs on

allocated tasks in order to identify their shortcomings and

correct them (Kreitner and Robert, 1999).

Performance appraisal enables managers to report on employee

potential for advancement to higher positions within the

organization if it is done using the ranking system and narrative

essay as techniques which give feedback to subordinates in

respect to their performance In developing effective appraisal

system, employees should be actively involved in establishing

performance standards and objectives and the system should be an

ongoing exercise not something done once in a while and should be

open involving both appraiser and the appraisee(MT UVA, 2012).

There are many methods that can be used to evaluate the

performance of employees and some of them include the following:

The ranking system: The ranking system is a more structured

approach where specific performance variables are laid out and

must have explicit variables that employers can refer to for

example revenue generated, overtimehours, ability to work with a

group or overall attitude. Thepurpose for ranking is to show

which employees are performing well relative to a set of

variables that an employer finds the most important (CB Power,

2012).

The 360 Approach: This approach uses standards that other

employees might find important. Under the 360 approach, appraisal

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comes from the overall function of the department and employees

are considered as part of a structure that functions only if all

employees are on the same page and work together well (CB Power,

2012).

Confidential reports: This is an old and traditional method of

appraising employees. A confidential report is a report on the

subordinates strength and weakness and this report is used for a

variety of personnel decisions such as transfers, promotions etc

(MT UVA, 2012).

Narrative Essay: This is the simplest method used when appraising

employees. The rater describes in detail an employee’s strengths

and weaknesses, and potential, together with suggestions for

improvement(MT UVA,2012).If the narrative essay is written very

well, it gives detailed feedback to the subordinate in respect to

his or her performance in the organization.

Other methods that can be used to evaluate an employee’s

performance include; graphicrating, forceddistribution, paired

comparison method, critical incident method and others.

2.3 Purpose and benefits of performance appraisalThe overall purpose of performance appraisal is to improve the

whole performance of the organization and also that of its

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employees by first identifying the gaps like training needs

existingin different departments of the organization so thatthe

best results are got out of the individuals working for it.

Performance appraisal also aims at improving the work performance

of employees by helping them realize and use their full potential

in doing work for the organization (Archer, 2014).

Training and Development: Performance appraisal can make the need

for training more pressing and relevant by linking it clearly to

performance outcomes of the employees and their future career

development during the discussion of an employees work

performance(Archer,2014).

Motivation and satisfaction: Performance appraisal provides

employees with recognition for their work done in the

organization which gives them confidence that the organization is

genuinely interested in their performance and development. Also

staff is motivated so that they can develop themselves and

improve their performance through experiential learning (Boxall

and Purcell, 2008).

2.4 Challenges associated with performance appraisalsa) Direct bias. All people have biases. Bias can be about favored

or disliked employees or influenced by how a manager feels about

the employees’ political, religious, social, family or cultural

views. Mostly, managers give better ratings to those employees

they like most (Paul, 2012).

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b) Time consuming process. Most of the appraisal forms are

incredibly long and time consuming. As a result, some managers

routinely recycle previous year’s evaluations (Nikita, 2013).

This therefore leads managers to give a wrong picture about the

employee’s performance.

c) Untrained or incompetent appraisers. In most organizations,

managers are not trained on how to assess and give honest

feedback on the employee’s performance. If the performance

appraisal process includes a career development component, it is

even more likely that managers will not know how to enhance the

career path of their employees (Nikita, 2013).

d) Inappropriate substitute measuring devices

For certain kinds of jobs it is difficult to define performance

in absolutely clear terms. As such, it is even more difficult to

establish performance indicators and direct measuring devices. In

such cases, the appraisal is usually done by using substitutes

for performance which closely approximate what one is actually

trying to measure in terms of performance.

These substitute measuring tools may not always be appropriate.

Organizations may for example use a criterion such as

‘promptness’ for performance, which may be appropriate for some

jobs, but inappropriate for others (Ivancevich et, 2003).

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 IntroductionThis chapter presents the background against which data was

gathered, research design, methods of data collections, sample

size, population size and the analysis procedure.

3.2 Data type and sourceThe data collected was primary.

3.2.1 Primary DataPrimary data was collected directly from the respondents by use

of a questionnaire. The data collected was in line with the

research objectives and questions of the study and it was

collected on the impact of performance appraisal on employee

performance, case study UWA.

3.3 Sampling procedureThe study was conducted from the actual population of 1500

employees and the sampling frame included the employees at

headquarters. A sample was selected out of this population using

simple random sampling procedure and actual number of respondents

determined by stratification procedure at the headquarters.

3.3.1 Sample size calculationThe sample size for the self administered questionnaires to

respondents was determined using Fisher’s formulae

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Sample size

Where n= desired sample size

=the standard normal deviate set at 1.96 which

corresponds to 95% confidence interval.

P= proportion of the target population estimated to have a

particular characteristic interest which is 40% being estimated.

e= design effect

n= (1.962*0.4*0.6)/0.022

n=40 respondents.

3.4 Data processing and Analysis

3.4.1 Data processingThe data collected was checked first to ensure consistency in

responses, accuracy and reliability. It was then edited, sorted

and coded. The raw data were entered in SPSS and Excel and data

cleaning done using the same software.

3.4.2 Data Analysis Desscriptive variables were analysed using frequency tables and

graphs.

Analysis was done by use of SPSS and Excel.

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3.5 Anticipated challengesIt will be hard to get enough time to carry out the whole

research since i will be busy with books. Also getting

information from key informants might be hard since they are ever

in meetings and also travelling to do field work. This will

necessitate more visits to the organization hence incurring high

costs inform of time and transport.

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CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

4.1 IntroductionThis chapter presents findings on Impact of performance appraisal

on employee performance at Uganda Wildlife Authority. The

findings were generated from data analysis and its

interpretation. The findings were from primary sources only which

are presented in terms of descriptive statistics.

The results presented were guided by the research objectives

that the research study was set to achieve;

To establish the performance appraisal techniques employed at

UWA.


performance at UWA.




Characteristics of respondents were measured in terms of gender,

age, level of education, level in Uganda Wildlife Authority,

category of employment and period worked in Uganda Wildlife

Authority.

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4.2. Descriptive statistics of background characteristics

4.2.1.Findings on the Gender of respondentsRespondents were asked their gender that is whether male or

female and the results obtained are shown in the fiqure below.

Figure 1: Shows Gender of the respondentsMajority of the workers at UWA headquarters are Male as indicated

in the figure1 above, having more than half of the employees who

were sampled where male (65%) and female(35%). This indicates

that most of the employees in the organisation are male operating

in five major departments.

4.2.2.Findings on the age of the respondentsEmployees at UWA were asked their age and the foolowing results

were obtained

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Figure 2: Shows age groups of the respondents

Respondents sampled have their ages ranging between 20 and 50

years, in the proportions shown in Fig2 above and with diverse

educational qualifications (table1). Thus, UWA has all age groups

and gender present in its work force . However 17.50% of the

respondants were not willing to share their Age as shown by Fig2

above Illustrated by Blank. UWA is domindated by Age Group of 30-

39 years who have a good working experience.

The educational level of respondents as shown in Table 1 below

is made up Bachelor Degree (65%), Masters Degree (22.5%), Diploma

Level (10%) and Secondary Level (2.5%). A well qualified work

force is thus present in the organization, when well trained and

motivated could work to achieve and even exceed set goals at all

time.

Table 1: Findings on the education level of the respondents

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Education level Frequency PercentSecondaryDiplomaBachelorMastersTotal

1 2.54 10.026 65.09 22.540 100.0

Source: primary data

4.2.3. Findings on the Departments in which the respondents work at UWA headquarters

Figure 3: Shows departments at UWA(Source: primary data)

The data for the research was collected from employees whose

departments where Conservation, Executive office, Finance, Legal,

and Tourism.Most of the employees work in the Conservation

Department and Executive directors Department with percentages of

30% each as shown in the figure above.

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4.2.4.Findings on Employment Categories The respondents were asked under which category of employment

they fell, and the categories included contract,permanent and

probation.The following results were obtained as shown in the

figure 4 below.

Figure 4: Shows categories of employment at UWA(Source: primary data)

From the figure 4 above, the research carried out shows that

majoriy of the empolyees at UWA headquarters are working on

contract terms(80.00%),12.50% of the employees are on probation

and 7.50% are permanent employees of the organisation.

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4.2.5. Findings on length of service with UWA

Figure 5: Shows Length of service with UWA (Source: primary data)

The biggest number of the People employed in this organisation

are middle aged, having worked for at least a year and at most 5

years. This is evident by the Figure 5 shown above.

With most of the employees having between 1-5 years of service

in the organization, much training is required to ensure that the

right process and Procedures of how to do work with in the

organisation are adhered to. This would go a long way to ensure

increased performance as far as productivity is concerned.

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Table 2: Length of service with UWA


Accordingly, 5

(12.5%), 20 (50.0%), 11 (27.5%), and 4 (10%), employees sampled

have worked for less than a year, between 1-5, 6-9, and more

than 10 years respectively, with 5 (12.5%) working for less than

a year and 4 staff representing those who have work for more than

10 years.

4.2.6. Existence and Frequency of Performance Appraisals

In agreement to the view of Management that, appraisals are

carried out yearly, 97.5% of respondents said that the

organisation carries out Performance appraisal and however the

remaining employees disagree with the assertion that appraisal is

being carriedout(2.5%).

Opinions of UWA empolyees about performance Appraisal

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Frequency Percent

Valid Less than a year 5 12.5

1-5 years 20 50.06-9 years 11 27.5More Than 10 years 4 10.0

Total 40 100.0

Figure 6: Shows if UWA carries out performance appraisal (Source:

primary data)

Table 3 .Does UWA carry out performance appraisal?

Frequency PercentYesNoTotal

39 97.51 2.5

40 100.0Source: primary data

However,from the table above 2.5 % of respondents stated that UWA

does not carryout performance appraisal and this may be an

evidence that not everybody is subject to the process or those

respondents did not take their time to understand the questions

posed. Again majority of staff i.e (97.5%) confirmed what has

been put in place by the Management of UWA, that appraisals are

conducted yearly.

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4.2.7.Findings on the appraisal methods used at UWA

When asked the appraisal methods used at UWA

headquarters,majority of the respondents said scale rating with

70%was used,13% of the respondents said 360 Approach and

confindential reports respectively and others were 5%as shown in

the figure below.

Figure 7: Shows methods used by UWA to appraise its empolyees (Source: primary data)

4.2.8.Findings on whether the respondents have ever had their performance appraised/reviewed

Frequency PercentYes 36 90No 4 10Total 40 100

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Table3: Have you ever had your performance appraised (Source: primary data)From the table3 above, results show that majority of the

employees have ever had their performance appraised or reviewed

since they joined UWA(90%) and the rest of the employees have

never been appraised(10%).

4.2.9.Findings on how often the respondents performance is

appraised/reviewed

When the respondents were asked how often their performance was

appraised /reviewed,majority said that it was reviewed

yearly(80%),and the rest said that their performance was reviewed

every month,quarterly,half yearly with the following percentages

2.5%,15%,2.5% respectively as shown in the table below.

Table 4: Shows how often performance is appraised/reviewed at UWA

Frequency PercentEvery month 1 2.5

Quarterly 6 15

Half yearly 1 2.5

Yearly 32 80Total 40 100


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4.3.1.Findings on how often the respondents get feedback from their line managers after appraisal

Table5: Shows how often feedback is given to employees

Frequency PercentConsistentlyNot oftenNeverTotal

26 65.011 27.53 7.540 100.0

(Source: primary data)

From the results obtained in the table5 above,majorty of the

respodents get feed back from their line managers

consistently(65.0%),7.5% of the respondents do not often get

feedback from their line managers after appraisal and 27.5% of

the respondents have never gotten any feed back from their line

managers after appraisal process.

4.3.2.Findings on whether the respondents paticipated in any

training /counselling after their performance being evaluated

Table 6: Have you ever participated in any training

Frequency PercentYesNoTotal

16 4024 6040 100


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However, the results obtained show that majority of the

respondents have never participated in any training/counselling

after their performance was evaluated (60%) and are not aware of

any such programme being in place, and 40% of the respondents

participated in training after their performance being evaluated

as shown in the table6 above.

4.3.3. Findings on whether appraising employees has an effect on their performanceMajority of the respondents agree that appraising employees has

an effect on their performance with 95% while the rest disagree

with the assertion that appraising employees has an effect on

their performance (5%) as shown in the table below.

Table 7: Opinion on whether appraising employees has an effect ontheir performance



When the respondents were asked whether appraising them had an

effect on their performance and said yes,they were told to defend

their answers and this is what they wrote;self evaluation,it

encourages one to work harder,helps one to monitor one self and

so forth.And those who said it had no effect on their performance

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gave the reason that supervisers appraise according to normal

performance duties assigned to them.

4.3.4. Findings on whether appraisal process at UWA offers

opportunity to the respondents to identify the potential they

have for development


Table 8 Shows potential for development:( Source: primary data)Majority of the respondents said that the appraisal process at

UWA offers them opportunity to identify the potential they have

for development with 95% while the rest disagree with the

assertion (5%) as shown in the table 8 above.

4.3.5. Findings on what the respondents make of the appraisal

system at UWA in relation to employee performance

The respondents were asked to make their own views on what they

would make of the appraisal system in relation to employee

performance and the alternatives included Must be maintained the

way it is, Should be reviewed to benefit everyone, Employee

performance should not be attached to it and It should be

30

abolished completely and the following results were obtained as

shown in the table 9 below.

Frequency PercentMust be maintained 17 42.5

Should be reviewed 23 57.5

Total 40 100.0

Table 9: What respondents make of appraisal process (Source:

primary data)

According to the table 9 above, the 23(57.5%) and 17(42.5%) of

the respondents suggested that the appraisal system at UWA

headquareters should be reviewed to benefit everyone and the rest

suggested that it must be maintained the way it is with the above

percentages respectively.

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4.3.6.Findings on the personal decision the respondents would

take based on the performance appraisal system and issues related

to it

Frequency PercentLeave the organization 3 7.5

Not give yourbest at work 9 22.5

Others 18 45.0Total 30 75.0

Missing

System 10 25.0

Total 40 100.0

Table10: Personal decision taken based on PA system & its issues (Source: primary data)

According to the table above,45% of the respondents specified

their decisions which decisions included work hand in hand with

the HR department to improve on the appraisal system, then 22.5%

of the respondents would not give their best at work,7.5% of the

respondents would level the organisation and go for greener

pastures elsewhere while the none response was 25% of the

respondents.

For the respondents who ticked others, these were their views;

Review the process to have abetter document bearing in mind that

a simpler version should be developed for rangers,do their best

at work,advise management to follow up issues raised by

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staff,work with other colleagues to improve the appraisal system

and help the organisation achieve its set targets.

33

4.3.6 Relationship between the method of appraisal employeed and

employees potential for development

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Table11.Relationship between appraisal method and

employees potential for development

Which

appraisal

method

Does appraisal

process of UWA

offer you the

opportunity to

identify any

potential you

have for

development

Which appraisal

method

Pearson

Correlatio

n

1 -.035

Sig. (2-

tailed).832

N 40 40

Does appraisal

process of UWA

offer you the

opportunity to

identify any

potential you

have for

development

Pearson

Correlatio

n

-.035 1

Sig. (2-tailed) .832

N

40 40

35

Pearson Correlation= -0.035 Pr = 0.832

The results show that appraisal method employed by UWA has no

effect on the employees opportunity to identify any potential

they have for development since the P-value is greater than 0.05

level of confidence interval.

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CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. IntroductionThis chapter discusses the findings as far as impact of

performance appraisal on employee performance at UWA. It also

helps to draw conclusions as well as recommendations and other

areas for further research. The discussion is according to the

study objectives.

5.2. Performance appraisal techniques employed at UWAAccording to the research carried out, findings show that UWA

employees scale rating with 70%,360 Approach with 13% and

confindential reports with5% as the methods of appraising its

employees.

5.3. Effect of performance appraisal on employee performance at UWAThe findings revealed that the impact of performance appraisal on

employee performance is quite significant. Majority of the

respondents agreed that appraising employees has an effect on

their performance with 95% while the rest disagreed with the

37

assertion that appraising employees has an effect on their

performance (5%).

According to Auerbach (1996), PA can increase motivation through

the feedback process and may provide evaluation of working

conditions and it can improve employee productivity. This

subsequently would result in collective productivity and hence

organizational goal achievement. Several factors contribute to

the achievement of the goals of an organization of which

performance appraisal, as a motivation tool is one such key

issue.

The success of every organization depends largely on the

availability and quality of a well-motivated human resource. UWA

has quality and well qualified work force and must be able to

motivate them in order to achieve its goals.

Meanwhile, Management indicated that the impact of PD on the

achievement of the organisation’s goal(s) and objectives is a

positive one as individual/functional/departmental goals are

aligned to that of the business.

The study further revealed that appraisal affect the performance

of employees in a way that;

It leads to self evaluation and it also gives room for

improvement if needed.

38

The employee understands properly the swot factors at

his/her job and plan accordingly.

Enables one to know his/her areas of weakness and strength

at work.

Enables one to re align his/her set targets and plans for

the year.

Career performance gaps can be identified and action can be

taken which creates mutual benefits to the employee and the

organization.

It also leads to motivation of the employee.

Contract renewal is based on appraisals therefore employees

work knowing that bad performance leads to dismissal.

Leads to benefits like promotions if one works better than

others.

It helps in monitoring and improving performances of

employees incase training gaps are identified

Feedback from the supervisors to the employees has a

positive effect on their performance.

5.4 Challenges/issues faced by appraisal process at UWAPerformance Appraisal (or review), which forms the basis of

Performance Development,

is good for government agencies such as Uganda Wildlife Authority

to adopt and

39

practice. It helps to a large extent to measure the performance

of employees, based on

setting of SMART objectives and to ensure that developmental

needs are taken care of

appropriately. However, a number of challenges have been

identified and must be dealt

with if the whole process is to be objective, fair and beneficial

to all parties(employees and employers) and they include the

following;

It was discovered that Performance Appraisal or Performance

review ratings are directly linked to renewal of the

contract of employee and if the ratings are bad,he/she

doesnot get a new contract with the organisation.

The appraisal forms are hard /complicated to fill by some

employees.

Bias from the supervisors( bad attitude)

No consistence with the whole appraisal process,

Lack of clear job specification.

Delays in processing the appraisal forms,the forms come

late,

Reluctancy to fill in the form especially when one knows

that he/she did not perform well,

Lack of follow ups on the perfomance of the employees,

Lack of honesty by the supervisors,

40

Set goals are sometimes abandoned and new activities emerge

and this leads the employees to pressure and end up not

doing what was required hence rated badly,

The process does not usually follow immediate supervisors

recommendations especially on training and promotion,

Some supervisors just do not follow the appraisal process

and end up writing whatever they think about the employee,

The system is abused by producing parallel reports against

appraisals

Challenge of appraising senior staff when one is a

subordinate

It takes long for one to get feedback from their supervisors

for self evaluation and some times no provision for giving

feed back to the employees

No follow ups on gaps identified and agreed solutions,no

serious attention is attached to issues/ challenges raised

by the employee

The system mainly focuses on performance targets leaving

out other developmental/social aspects

It doesnot benefit everyone especially the voluntiers to the

organisation since they also contribute to the development

of the organisation, staff in the field do not get a chance

of fair evaluation

The process takes a long period since some staff are field

based,supervisors do not allocate enough time to discuss the

performance of the appraisee

41

The process does not emphasize openness,it doesnot provide

for the rating of the appraiser performance

The rating/ranking scale is under 1-10 as opposed to the

ideal scale of say 1-5

Targets for each staff are not kept in the HR unit.

5.5 RecommendationsOn the basis of the findings that have been established and

conclusion drawn from the

study, the following recommendations are necessary:

Communication between team leaders and their team members

need to be

improved drastically. This will ensure that

individuals understand how they are assessed

and feel that the process is fair and objective. It will also

ensure that team leaders give truly differentiated performance

ratings based on an objective review of performance plans.

Since what is practised does not seem to conform

strictly with processes and

Procedures.

Management needs to set up a monitoring system to ensure

that the appraisal

process is followed by both team leaders and team

members, to ensure that

measures are put in place to ensure effective

performance reviews are adhered to

42

all the time in terms of the face-to-face, objective

quarterly meetings.

Management and Line Managers who conduct the appraisals or

the review

interviews need to be equipped with the idea of motivating

employees through the Performance development system.

Performance review should be made a continuous process and

not only

mentioned when it is time for yearly reviews or appraisals.

Too much

emphasis should not be placed on the appraisal forms but

rather on the ongoing performance development or performance

management process.

Methods of helping poor performers to improve upon their

performance, such as

counselling, and change of role as well as transfers should

be put in place or

strengthened.

There is the need to develop a good feedback system to

ensure that appraisals are

not completely separated from the actual performance

management process. Only this can ensure that poor or weak

performers get the chance to develop and catch up with the

rest of the team, for

team work to be effective and geared towards achieving

organizational goals.

43

Line Managers should be made to know and checked to ensure

that they do not

use sentiments and their own ratings to judge their

subordinates during

performance reviews.

I finally recommend that the Human resource department look

at the issues and challenges stated above and make the

necessary implementations so as the organisation is able to

achieve its goals and objectives.

5.6 Areas of further research The researcher carried out this study in order to determine

whether appraisals have an impact on performance of employees at

UWA and the findings showed that they had an effect on their

performance in a way that they help them identify their strengths

and weakness and so forth.

Further research can also be conducted on the effectiveness of

the appraisal systems in government agencies.

44

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Documents

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN UGANDA WILDLIFE AUTHORITY