Recommendations and insights on evaluating the performance appraisal system from the organisational perspective

Taking the Chinese civil service appraisal system as an example, this paper outlines the effectiveness of the performance appraisal system, which largely depends on the active participation of the performance appraisal process, the strategic use of performance appraisal data, and the development of clear and precise performance appraisal indicators. The present study aimed to explore the perceptions associated with a standardised performance appraisal system within Chinese government agencies. It utilised a qualitative case study methodology complemented by an interpretive framework. It was found that the current system has many problems, causing dissatisfaction among civil servants. Specifically, the performance evaluation indicators are unclear, resulting in a lack of clear guidance for the evaluation. Besides, the evaluation process is considered not very fair, affecting the credibility of the evaluation results; and during the evaluation of civil servants, there is a lack of necessary feedback, preventing civil servants from understanding their own work performance and improvement directions.