"Medarbetarsamtalet är ju en underlig grej" : En kvalitativ studie om medarbetarsamtalet som fenomen sett ur ett chefsperspektiv

Sammanfattning: This qualitative study aims to contribute knowledge about the employee performance appraisal as a phenomenon and in particular its problems and contradictions. We have specified the purpose by formulating three questions; “what is the purpose with employee performance appraisal?”, “What contraditions and problems can occur in employee performance appraisal?” and “How can these contraditions and problems be understood?”. The results of the study have been identified through semi-structured interviews with 6 respondents who are leaders in position. The theories on which this study is based are James McGregor Burns (1978) leadership theories, in particular the theories of “transformative leadership” and “transactional leadership” together with Erving Goffmans (2014) theory about “ego and the masks”. The result shows that the purpose of the employee performance appraisals is perceived as divided between being a personal interview and the more performance-based interview. This contradiction leads to a problem of which we have identified two parts. The first problem is the difficulty for the manager to maintain a distance to the employee when the personal parts create a risk of getting into a therapeutic role. The second part looks at the contradictions that exist in dealing with personal issues in the same conversation as goal fulfillment and skills development. The final section of the study discusses whether the employee performance appraisal gives effect to the organization, or whether it is inhibited by the structure of the interview.