Performance Appraisal and Career Development in Universities in Uganda

This study delved into performance appraisal and career development of academic staffs in public universities in Uganda. Data were collected from academic staffs and managers of 3 out of the 5 public universities in the country. The findings were that there is a significant relationship between: the appraisal methods used and career development of the staffs; the involvement of academic staffs in appraisal of their work performance and their career development; and the effectiveness of appraisal systems and career development of the staffs. Therefore, the career stagnation among the academic staffs in the selected universities is linked to the universities’ appraisal systems. It is recommended that: higher education institutions adopt contemporary work performance appraisal methods because these promote the career development of academic staffs; and the institutions involve their academic staffs in the setting of their performance targets and selection of appraisal techniques. This will improve the transparency of the universities appraisal systems and, subsequently, promote the career development of the universities’ academic staffs.