Performance Appraisal System and Job Satisfaction among Nurses in Al Dakhiliya Governorate in Oman: Preliminary Findings

Introduction: Over the past decades, performance appraisal has been a part of the process of guiding and managing career development in the health care sectors. The feedback of performance appraisal may leave a great impact and satisfaction on employee and evaluators. However, there is little known about the effect of performance appraisal on improving the job satisfaction among nurses in Oman. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between performance appraisal and job satisfaction among nurses in Al Dakhliyah Governorate, Oman. Methods: the study used an explorative descriptive cross-sectional design using stratified random sampling of 309 nurses assigned in the 29 government healthcare institutions in Al Dakhliyah Governorate. A self-developed Performance Appraisal Questionnaire was used for data collection. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used to analyze and interpret the data. Results: the findings showed that more than 60% of the respondents believed that the reason to conduct performance appraisal was only to evaluate performance of employees without considering other factors such as job satisfaction, promotion, and motivation. Majority of respondent agreed that performance appraisal helps achieve meaningful career goals and promotes constructive criticism in a friendly and positive environment 70% and 67% respectively). In addition, many of the participants (69%) revealed that their work performance improved after the formal process of performance appraisal and 68% of them believed that performance appraisal would improve their job satisfaction and motivate them to perform their duties sincerely. Conclusion: Performance appraisal is a crucial aspect in human resource management that can directly affect the job satisfaction of nurses. Policy-decision makers in the Ministry of Health can develop clear guidelines and policies regarding performance appraisal, as well as strategies that improve job .........