Benchmarking good practices of performance appraisal for Lithuanian universities : United Kingdom case analysis

Abstract

A competition, reduced public funding, ownership shift from State budget to public institution, prime government change from Senate to Stakeholders’ Council – probably the need for effective personnel management in Lithuanian universities has never been more important as in the challenging nowadays. Development of appropriate performance appraisal system is pivotal involving and empowering personnel to contribute to the overall performance management at the individual and organizational level. This article analyses the state of performance appraisal in Lithuanian universities, outlining the problems and shortcomings to be dealt with. A benchmark tool is applied to look for good practice of performance appraisal in United Kingdom universities: comparative analysis of available “open access” appraisal policies and documentation in operation at three United Kingdom universities has been carried out. The article concludes with implications on the components of successful and effective performance appraisal system which have been benchmarked and advocated for adoption in Lithuanian universities.