In recent times, and in light of the global economic downturn, there have been calls for accountability and improved efficiency in the Nigerian public sector. The recently announced implementation of performance appraisal system across the entire federal civil service has highlighted the need for a review of the practice of performance appraisal in the public sector given the typical political influence that permeates most organizations in the sector. Drawing upon Equity Theory, this study examines the impact of performance appraisal fairness on employee productivity in Nigerian federal regulatory agencies, with emphasis on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). A descriptive survey research design was adopted, with primary data collected from staff of NAFDAC using a five-point Likert scale model questionnaire. Correlation and regression techniques were used to analyze the data which was collected through non probability quota sampling. The result revealed that interactional, procedural and distributive fairness in performance appraisal were statistically significant and positively influenced employees’ productivity in NAFDAC. Thus, the study recommends that considering the planned implementation of performance appraisal system across the entire federal civil service, government should design performance appraisal systems that will appropriately address these constructs to improve efficiency, accountability and productivity of the public sector.
Keywords: appraisal feedback, distributive fairness, employees’ productivity, interactional fairness, procedural fairness
