Lasting Effects of the Kinnock Reforms? The Case of Staff Appraisals

Ban, Carolyn (2015) Lasting Effects of the Kinnock Reforms? The Case of Staff Appraisals. [Conference Proceedings] (Submitted)

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Abstract

In response to the 1999 crisis caused by the mass resignation of the European Commission, the Commission introduced a series of administrative reforms based in large part on New Public Management models. A centerpiece of those reforms was a new staff appraisal process linking numeric ratings with promotions. Of all parts of the reform, this was by far the most controversial. This paper traces the long arc of reform, as the original reform was replaced with another version, even more rigid and complex, and finally, in 2012, the Commission moved to yet another system, which returned the Commission in large part to the status quo ante, abandoning numeric ratings and the formal link to promotions. I analyze the reasons for the reforms and the problems and unintended consequences of each. In conclusion, I link this saga of repeated reforms to the broader literature on the effectiveness of attempts to change organizational culture through formal structural reforms.

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