and an increase in employee development activities, through personal development
plans (PDPs) and continuous professional development (CPD).
These changes may be thought of as signals that there has been a fundamental
change in the underlying philosophies of human resource management, which inform
the appraisal process. There is evidence, perhaps, of greater congruence between
rhetoric and reality. Notions of empowerment, commitment, culture and consensus
appear to be part of “the way we do things round here” as well as of the managerial
discourse. Yet, before we accept that organizations have shifted towards developmental
humanism (Beer and Spector, 1985), we perhaps need to see real evidence that what
we are seeing is not merely a more subtle form of utilitarian instrumentalism (Fombrun
et al., 1984). It is possible that what the surveys have unearthed is the manifestation of
“the business case for justice” rather than justice itself.
Many organizations have taken a far more strategic approach to human resource
management. Performance management does have a pivotal integrative role in relating
employee resourcing, reward, relations and development practices to strategic
objectives (CIPD, 2009b). Yet, it is by no means certain that this strategic emphasis
reflects a change in values. In a climate where discretionary effort is critical to success,
perceptions of fairness are rarely fully considered