PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PRACTICES AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYEES IN SELECTED COMMERCIAL BANKS IN LAGOS STATE

Abstract

The study examined the nexus between performance appraisal practices and career development of employees in commercial banks employees in Lagos State. The study adopted the survey research design.  The simple and stratified random sampling techniques were used. A sample size of 450 respondents was drawn from the target population of 1,399 senior employees of nine (9) out of the twenty (20) commercial banks which have their headquarters in Lagos State and are quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Four hundred and fifty (450) copies of the questionnaire were administered to respondents, 307 representing 68 percent were returned and used for analyses. Findings from the correlation analysis showed that performance appraisal practices and career development of employees were significantly correlated (r=0.442, p < 0.01). The regression analysis result shows that the career development of employees is significantly affected by performance appraisal practices in the Commercial Banks, and also as a strong predictor of employee career development i.e. having a predictive relationship). This study proposes/ recommends that banks should go beyond the performance-related pay outcome of performance appraisal as well as derive desired behaviour/ attitude on the job. They should emphasize more career development objectives of performance appraisal. From the foregoing, it is recommended that banks should adopt appraisal systems that will motivate employee contribution to organisation profit and further enhance employee career development. The HR practitioners in banks should guide management to redesign, implement and practice performance management systems/ programmes that will support employees to enhance their competencies and develop their careers in the banking industry in Nigeria.