End to unfair appraisal schemes in civil service
Civil service unions PCS and Prospect have welcomed the scrapping of unfair and divisive appraisal systems, with four of the largest government departments moving to new performance management systems for 2017.
PCS says it has campaigned to highlight how the existing regime was discriminatory, divisive, demotivating and used to bully staff, took up excess time without being relevant to day-to-day work. It believes that it has secured the end of some of the worse elements of performance management.
Prospect called the reform of “toxic” performance management a “triumph for common sense” and particularly welcomed the move away from so-called “forced distribution” that sought arbitrary quotas for performance categories, including under-performers.
Four departments — HM Revenue and Customs, Ministry of Defence, Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions — are planning to have new systems in place for 2017.