The upward appraisal system in Italian local governments: why, what and how?, in Journal of Us-China Public Administration

The most common evaluation methodologies and practices of public manager’s performance are usually accorded to a “top-down” logic: the final judgment about the manager’s performance is closely linked to the feedback that came from his superior. In recent years, however, the idea that an approach to evaluation principally based on the opinions of manager’s superior may not intercept important drivers of public value creation process becomes widely accepted. As a result, many observers suggest that the “upward appraisal” (or “bottom-up evaluation”)—that involves manager’s collaborators in the appraisal process—may provide useful elements for measuring and evaluating public manager’s performance. This paper aims at analysing the principal problems that affect the implementation of the “upward appraisal system” in the public sector. The analysis is focused, in particular, on the purposes (why?), objects (what?), tools and the process (how?) of the system. To achieve the aims of the research, this paper collected survey data from public managers operating in Italian local governments of the Apulia region (Italy). In particular, it focused the attention to the “middle management” of the municipalities and of the provincial administrations working in Apulia. The implications of the research are various. In particular, the research provides useful information to understand the circumstances in which the upward appraisal could give the best results, to overcome the application problems of bottom-up evaluation model and to enhance middle manager’s performance appraisal. Keywords: upward appraisal system, bottom-up evaluation system, public sector performance, middle manager, Italian local governments