Current Issues on Civil Service's Performance Appraisal System: Equal Principle Perspective
Chiung-Ling Chang*
Abstract
Correct appraisal is the first priority of good civil service management. If the performance appraisal system cannot manifest the equal principle, it will impact the development and the morale of government manpower. Thus, the contents and practice of performance appraisal system have a bearing on the development of government manpower and the proper coordination between people and work. If the appraisal does not show "equality" or "fairness", it will become a paper work and no one will pay attention to it.
The current "civil service's performance appraisal system" has been discussed and revised many times. Due to the changes of time, it cannot cover every aspect of the system and sometimes its effects are not accepted by the civil service. According to the Civil Service Performance Evaluation Act, awards and penalties should both be taken into account when implementing it. Whether the procedure and method of this current system meets the purpose of objectiveness and accurateness is worth exploring. By the theory of performance appraisal system, it has positive and negative functions. It should focus on "management function" or "development function". Its final goal is to have the benefit of "equality," the people who are appraised would accept its result without any question or grievance. Thus, another main topic of equal appraisal is to design the performance index and make the whole process more democratic. Another topic is whether setting a limit on the number of government employees given the "first grade" merit violates the equality principle.
By using the references data and the theory of the appraisal system together with the performance through the years, we hope to exam the current civil service's performance appraisal system to meet the spirit of "equal appraisal." We then provide the research result by suggesting some modifications of the Civil Service Performance Evaluation Act to the government and all those concerned.
Keywords: equal principle, performance appraisal system, performance index
*Assistant Professor, Department Administration Management, Chinese Culture University, R.O.C., Taiwan.