Performance appraisal in New Zealand libraries

Abstract

Performance appraisal has become an accepted part of organisational management within libraries. American libraries witnessed the development of appraisals in a fledgling way after World War 2 within a stable and predictable library environment where print resources predominated and technological innovations were limited. Marquardt reports this as a time when "the basic personal performance challenge (in libraries) was to get the employee to improve performance in the same tasks as performed last year and the year before."' Goodson identifies library performance appraisal systems of this time as tools "used by management in order to establish administrative control." From these early beginnings, Marquardt reports a second wave of library development in the 1960s and early 1970s. This was a time when technology was developing and libraries began operating within a more dynamic and complex structure. The traditional performance systems did not work as well in this environment so by mid-1980 many major libraries were introducing or exploring performance appraisal systems. Goodson sees this as the move towards using performance appraisal tools for "planning, employee development, and improvement of the work environment, and to increase productivity. "3 New Zealand libraries also developed through these two stages of performance appraisal. With systems now in place (and with the considerable investment of time and resources they involve), libraries must evaluate their effectiveness in meeting the stated objectives of appraisal, to determine the best way forward.