International Research Journal of Education and Technology

Performance reviews create cognitive dissonance in employees, leading to 28% turnover in the first 90 days post-appraisal. Feedback surveys, which are often conducted after performance appraisal, do not capture the critical in-time stress cues that signify the rise of dissonance in employees. This study employed a survey methodology to collect data from 487 employees in three IT firms in India immediately after the performance appraisal using the validated 32-item Appraisal Dissonance Scale (ADS). Multiple regression analysis was employed to predict turnover intentions with 76.8% accuracy and R²=0.591, as the participants voluntarily participated in the survey. Follow-up phone interviews at 90 days post-surveys validated the predictions, where employees with severe dissonance had 3.2 times higher actual turnover than controls (χ²=19.4, p<0.001). This study has better predictive power than the conventional single-item survey and has strong correlation with exit interview results.

Keywords: Cognitive dissonance, Performance appraisal, Turnover prediction, Survey methodology, Organizational psychology, Employee retention.