American International Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 9, No. 4, December 2019 doi:10.30845/aijcr.v9n4p5 39 Influence of Performance Appraisal on Motivation of Public Secondary School Teachers in Gem-Sub County, Kenya Alice Atieno Okoth Oluoch Mercy Florah University of Nairobi Department of Business Administration Abstract Organizations that adopt an efficient and properly structured appraisal system are likely to impact on the motivation of its employees resulting in higher performance and attainment of an organizations goals and objectives. Many of these studies have been done in the public and private sectors, but very little has been done specifically on teacher performance appraisal and its influence on motivation of teachers in public secondary Schools in Gemsub county. The aim of the study was to establish the influence of performance appraisal on motivation of public secondary school teachers in Gem – Sub-county. Descriptive survey method was used. The target population for this study was446 teachers from public secondary schools in Gem Sub- County. Random sampling technique was used to select the sample of 103. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Regression analysis was used to determine the influence of teacher performance appraisal on motivation of teachers in public secondary schools in Gem Sub-county. The findings of the study showed that fairness in performance appraisal, performance appraisal feedback, performance rewards and performance goal setting had a positive and significant effect on teacher motivation in Gem sub-county. The study concludes that performance appraisal enhances teacher motivation. This study recommends that the government of Kenya though teachers service commission should continue employing performance appraisal mechanisms. Additionally, there are some human aspects of performance appraisal such as integrity and ethical values that enhances trust in appraisal process. This study therefore recommends that the government should adopt appraisal processes that incorporate integrity and ethical values that will ensure continuous trust in the appraisal process, adopt effective reward mechanisms and effective feedback policies. The study limited itself to teachers in public secondary schools. The researcher therefore recommends further research by academicians on teachers in other schools such as public primary, private primary and secondary schools; use other variable including organization commitment and job satisfaction. Moreover, more studies to be carried out to bring these to the fore since the subject of teacher motivation is important not only to the government but other stakeholders too. Keywords: Performance Appraisal, Motivation, Public Secondary School Teachers, Gem-sub County 1.1 Introduction An organization success and its subsequent productivity can be attained when the workforce undergo a continuous evaluation and appraisal. Employee’ s performance appraisal remains anon-stop audit of the performance. The process enables an organization to attain a competitive advantage over its competitors Obisi (2011). According to Armstrong (2009), the non-stop audit of performance is the responsibility of top managers and team leaders. This process leads to organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Performance measurements in educational institutions in the recent years have become a key issue in the strategic attainment of its goals and objectives to sustain competitiveness. Adoption of performance appraisal as a management tool in educational institutions enhances accountability and a guide to attainment of set goals and consequently improvement in performance Kenyatta, (2016). According to Midimo (2017) employee performance appraisal helps to develop employee so as to improve on their individual weaknesses to a more productive work ethic, provides corrective feedback on achievements and offers direction and support to performance improvement. It is used as a visible tool for employee accountability to the employer and the stake holders. This study was anchored on two theories, the goal theory on motivation (Latham and Locke, 1979) and expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964).Human nature is psychologically attached to inspiration inwardly or outwardly to strive and attain organizational or personal goals and objectives with an attached expectation of rewards Bagga (2014). Goal setting impacts on an employee’s productivity and work outcome. Goals for employees must be realistic as failure to attain the high target goals and expectations, is likely to discourage the employee leading to low morale and dissatisfaction Bett (2017).