Ghana health service performance appraisal system: a cross-sectional study on practices and perceptions among employees in the Bono East Region of Ghana, West Africa

INTRODUCTION: the fulcrum of every organization lies in the productivity of its employees. Consequently, organizations have adopted a policy of fostering an organizational culture that promotes employee development, resulting in the consistent use of performance evaluation systems particularly, performance appraisals (PA). Nonetheless, the issue of concern for several organizations is whether PA will truly be an adequate tool for maximizing employee´s performance. Here is where it becomes important to gauge the perceptions and practices of Ghana Health Service (GHS) employees in the Bono East Region of Ghana, West Africa, towards these performance appraisal systems (PAS). METHODS: the study used an institutional-based cross-sectional study. Using simple random sampling, 375 health workers were recruited using a structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Stata. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed and p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistical significance. RESULTS: the study revealed that the majority of the respondents (86.7%) had completed the performance appraisal form. Out of which 47.7% complete and submit PA every year, followed by those who complete and submit during promotion time (24.3%), every half year (15.1%) and anytime (12.9%). The key determinants of PA completion include; increasing age (AOR=2.24, 95% CI: 1.08-4.62), male staff (AOR=2.38, 95% CI: 1.16-4.91), permanent GHS employees (AOR=2.9, 95% CI: 1.07-7.86), respondents who had worked for 3 to 7 years (AOR=5.53, 95% CI: 2.48-12.36) and those with over 7 years working experience (AOR=20.80, 95% CI: 5.43-79.74). CONCLUSION: the study identified that the majority of the respondents completed PA, but quite an encouraging number of them do not complete PA at the required period as expected. Age, male staff, permanent employment, and increasing years of experience were the significant predictors of PA completion. Continuous professional development for GHS staff on PAS is required. The GHS human resource division should organize stakeholders´ engagement with facilities managers and employees on the PAS to inform all managers and employees on what is required from everyone.