Performance appraisal, though an important function of human resource/personnelrnmanagement, has not received the degree of concern it deserves. This function, if properlyrnexercised by organizations, can serve a number of purposes, mainly administrative andrndevelopmental in nature. However, despite these intended goals, performance appraisal seemsrnnot to be effective in most cases mainly due to the subjective nature of criteria (standard) ofrnperformance, lack of rater understanding of or inadequate training on performance appraisal,rnwhich consequently led to the less importance and emphasis attached to it.rnFor an appraisal system to meet its desired goals, questions such as: 'What purposes should itrnserve?' 'Who should be in charge of evaluating performance?' 'What aspect of performancernshall be appraised?' 'What method(s) should be adopted?' 'How often should appraisalrnconducted?' 'What does employee participation in and their perception towards the systemrnlook like?' 'What potential problems are encountered in the process and how can they bernovercome?' and 'What is the importance of giving feedback and handling post assessmentrnperformance discussions with employees?' need to be addressed properly.rnThis study has tried to address each of the above and other related issues by taking DashenrnBank S. C. as a case study organization. Accordingly, samples from the Bank's staff membersrn(both supervisors or managers and non-supervisors) were selected and administeredrnquestionnaires and some interviewed with the objective of assessing the effectiveness of thernappraisal system. The results are presented in this paper.rnWhile the practice by Dashen Balik S. C. has been that immediate supervisors are the peoplernin charge of appraisillg employees, response from the sample respondents has indicated thatrnothers such as peers, subordillates, customers, or any combinatioll of these should be allowedrnto participate if the process is expected to be more effective. It is idelltified that the appraisalrnformat addresses differellt aspects of employee performance with traits being the dominantrnolles. It is also found out that the Bank adopts the rating scales method of appraisal. Althoughrnthe existing practice of appraising employees twice a year has got the highest support amongrnthe sample respondents, some have suggested a more frequent time period for increasedrneffectiveness. Employee participation in the appraisal process is set at a low level. Most of thernnon-supervisory respondents perceived performance appraisal as a punishment toolrncOlltributing little to motivation while their supervisory counterparts perceived it as anrnadministrative and developmental tool. Owing to subjectivity (non-job-relatedness) of most ofrnthe performance criteria in use, problems related to measurement, rater bias, and lack ofrnappropriate rater training are seen to characterize the Bank's appraisal system. Problems arernalways prevalent and what one should be concerned about is on how to overcome them.rnIrrespective of how they are handled, the appraisal system of the Bank is found to encouragerngiving performance feedback alld handling post assessmellt interviews with employees.