Performance appraisal and employee commitment: The mediating role of job satisfaction

Commitment is essential for employees to establish and maintain a long-lasting employer–employee relationship, hence the call for more research to investigate its antecedents. The purpose of our study was to empirically investigate the relationship between performance appraisal and employee commitment. Analysis of survey data drawn from academics across the UK Higher Education Institutions found a positive relationship between performance appraisal and employee commitment, explained through the mediation of job satisfaction. The study is novel as it extends performance appraisal and employee commitment theorization by highlighting how job satisfaction mediates both constructs differently at intrinsic and extrinsic levels. Practically, our study provides insights that will support the development of performance appraisal systems that influence job satisfaction and commitment of academics.