Performance evaluation of sales employees: a comparative investigation in the pharmaceutical industry

Performance evaluation (PE) of employees is perceived as one of the most practical organisational challenges because of its influence on employees' retention, satisfaction and their future performance. Since PE is influenced by contextual elements, understanding of these specific factors is of critical importance for the development and improvement of PE practices particularly when organisations are borrowing such practices from other contexts. Employing a comparative multiple case study approach among the multinational and national pharmaceutical organisations, this study conducted in-depth interviews with sales representatives, supervisors and human resource managers to capture PE objectives and employees' expectations from the process. The results found that PE practices closely related to the management style in the company rather than the PE objectives. The industry specific empirical evidence highlighted multiple factors including informality in PE to be contributing to dissonance among the sales employees. Support for conducting field research in Pakistan is provided.