What we know about upward appraisals of management: Facilitating the future use of UPAs

A comprehensive review of the literature on upward performance appraisals (UPAs) reveals that UPAs are a seldom‐used management tool; however, compared to traditional top‐down appraisals, the developmental focus of UPAs may be a better fit with such emerging concepts as continuous improvement. Organizational use of this tool can be facilitated by an understanding of the major reasons given for and against the use of UPAs and by twelve key recommendations for effectively implementing UPAs. Three major formats (and several variations of each) can be used by organizations. This article identifies each format, its advantages and disadvantages, and when it should be used.