Ch. 10 HR

Mathew was an employee at Bolton Inc., and he was dismissed for poor performance. He filed a lawsuit against Bolton Inc. on the grounds of unjust dismissal. Which of the following is likely to be a reason for Mathew's claim?

Mathew was dismissed after he complained to senior management about his manager's unethical practices.

Paula, the CEO of Gester Inc., wants to carry out the first company-wide performance appraisal. However, she needs to make sure that the information obtained for performance appraisal is free of bias, and that the managers have provided information about subordinates without any personal needs influencing the information. Which of the following options will be assist Paula in obtaining her objective?

Paula must hold calibration meetings because they hold managers accountable for the appraisal information they provide about their subordinates.

Which of the following is the last step in performance management process?

Providing consequences for performance results

Lily, a manager at Pyramid Inc., uses a rating tool to evaluate the performance of her subordinates. However, she finds that the scale she used did not yield consistent results and could not determine if a change had taken place in the performance of the employees. Which of the following was lacking in the rating scale?

Reliability

How can an organization protect itself against discrimination and unjust dismissal lawsuits?

Requirements for job success should be clearly communicated to employees.

James, the production manager of Zenfax Inc., thinks performance appraisal information from peers is a less reliable source than other sources of information. However, Ron, a sales manager in the company, thinks peers give valuable information for appraisal. Whose argument is most likely to be correct and why?

Ron is right because peers have expert knowledge of job requirements.

Donna, a supervisor at Cenate Inc., wants to compare her subordinate John's performance with other employees to assess their effectiveness. Which of the following methods for measuring performance is best suited for this task?

Simple ranking

Which of the following helps performance management meet the goals of supporting strategy and developing employees?

Specific feedback

Identify a way in which an organization can promote fairness and reduce political behavior in the appraisal system.

Train managers to use the appraisal process.

Barry, a supervisor at Yenzen Hotels Inc., thinks self-appraisal is a valid measure of performance appraisal. However, his colleague Vincent disagrees. Whose argument is most likely to be correct and why?

Vincent is right because employees have a tendency to inflate their self-assessments.

In the context of validity in performance appraisal, information that is gathered but irrelevant is called ________.

contamination

Roxanne, a new employee at Fenz Pharmaceuticals, has demonstrated low productivity for a long period. Her manager evaluates her performance and finds that she requires more training to improve her productivity. In the context of improving employee's performance, Roxanne lacks ________.

necessary abilities

Jacinta, a production manager at Alphonso Inc., needs to evaluate the performance of her employees. She asks her subordinate, June, to carry out this job. June uses a rating scale, which ranges from 1 to 10, to rate 50 employees. She gives a score of 3 to 39 employees. In doing so, June commits the ________ error.

strictness

In a "tell-and-sell" approach, managers tell the employees their ratings and then justify those ratings.

t

In the simple ranking method of performance measurement, managers rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer.

t

Lawsuits filed against performance management usually involve charges of discrimination or unjust dismissal.

t

Peer reviews are an excellent source of information about performance in a job where the supervisor does not often observe the employee.

t

Performance management requires knowing what activities and outputs are desired, observing whether they occur, and providing feedback to help employees meet expectations.

t

Performance management systems are established to meet three broad purposes of the organization: strategic, administrative, and developmental.

t

The critical-incident method requires managers to keep a record of specific examples of the employee acting in ways that are either effective or ineffective.

t

The improvement of an employee's performance varies according to the employee's ability and level of motivation.

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The paired-comparison method involves comparing each employee with each other employee to establish rankings.

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The requirements for job success are clearly communicated to employees to protect against lawsuits.

t

Using an employee's manager for feedback is very useful because their own success depends so much on their employees' performance.

t

While rating attributes of individuals, measurement of attributes is rarely linked to the organization's strategy.

t

Charles, the HR manager at Telcare Inc., establishes a performance management system for his company. He wants to check the consistency of results over time. In the context of criteria for determining the effectiveness of performance measures, Charles is trying to check the ________ of the performance management system.

test-retest reliability

Payne Corp. wants to assess the performance of its employees. It uses a questionnaire that has a high fit with strategy, high validity, high reliability, moderate acceptability, and very high specificity. Which of the following approaches to employee performance is being focused on by this questionnaire?

Behavioral

How can managers improve employee satisfaction with the feedback process?

By letting employees voice their opinions and discuss performance goals during the feedback process

Clayton, a supervisor, needs to rate the performance of 20 subordinates. He uses a rating scale to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10. He rates 18 employees at 5, which leads to central tendency. In the context of types of rating errors, Clayton commits the ________ error.

distributional

Compared to a behavioral observation scale (BOS), a behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) makes it easier for providing feedback, maintaining objectivity, and suggesting training needs.

f

In a performance appraisal, the term validity refers to whether the appraisal measures all aspects of performance, both relevant and irrelevant.

f

The paired-comparison method measures the consistency of results over time.

f

Which of the following statements is true of effective performance management?

It can tell top performers they are valued.

When an employee evaluates his or her manager low on all performance criteria due to dissatisfaction with the manager's disposition, the employee has most likely committed a(n) ________.

horns error

Roberto, a manager at Z-Cart Inc., is asked by his manager to rate his subordinates' performance. He needs to rate 30 employees on a scale that ranges from 1 to 10. He rates 25 employees with a score of 8. In doing so, Roberto commits a rating error. In the context of types of rating errors, Roberto's mistake is called ________.

leniency

The ________ method of performance measurement uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait.

mixed-standard scale

In the context of effectiveness of performance management, ________ means the extent to which a measurement tool actually measures what it is intended to measure.

validity

In the context of performance management, which of the following terms refers to a measure that obtains consistency of results over time?

Test-retest reliability

Which of the following is the first step in performance management process?

Defining performance outcomes for company division and department

For which of the following purposes is it most appropriate to use performance results when making subordinate evaluations of performance?

Developmental

"Performance management serves as a basis for improving employees' knowledge and skills." This statement corresponds to which of the following purposes of performance management?

Developmental purpose

Fernando, a production manager at Wind Chimes Inc., thinks subordinates are unreliable sources of performance appraisal information for evaluating the performance of managers. However, Jose, the sales manager, thinks subordinates act as good sources of performance appraisal information. Whose argument is most likely to be correct and why?

Jose is right because subordinates often have reliable information about a manager's behavior toward employees.

Joseph, a supervisor at H2O Chemicals Inc., needs to assess the behavior of 25 people, who constitute a large group of his subordinates. Which of the following must Joseph ideally do to assess the behavior of his subordinates and why?

Joseph must use a behavioral observation scale because it is relatively easier than other methods of assessing behavior and providing feedback.

Salman, a production manager at Telecal Inc., needs to measure the performance of 10 subordinates. He writes their names on a paper and circles Karim's name as the best-performing employee of the group. He then circles Dillon's name as the worst employee of the group. He rates the remaining employees as second best, second worst, and so on. In the context of methods of performance measurement, Salman is using the ________ method.

alternation ranking

The ________ performance management method requires managers to rate the frequency with which an employee has exhibited a behavior during a rating period.

behavioral observation scale

Organizational behavior modification (OBM) is a plan for managing the behavior of employees through an informal system of feedback and reinforcement.

f

Self-appraisals are appropriate as the basis for administrative decisions.

f

Traditional performance management differs from total quality management (TQM) in that it assesses both individual performance and the system within which the individual works.

f

Margaret, a production manager at Falcon Inc., needs to measure the performance of 12 of her subordinates. She divides the number of employees into categories like exceptional, above average, average, and below average. She assigns a certain percentage of employees to each category to determine the quality of their performances. In the context of methods for measuring performance, Margaret is using the ________ method.

forced-distribution

Bill and Nancy, managers at Sanzen Inc., want to the check the consistency of results for an employee on a scale of 1 to 10. This will help them evaluate his performance. In the context of criteria for effective performance management, Bill and Nancy are testing the ________.

interrater reliability

James was recently made the manager of his department at Patches Inc., and he has to evaluate his subordinates' behavior in the next two weeks. He is unsure if he should use the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) or the behavioral observation scale (BOS) to assess their behavior. Which of the following characteristics of the two would help James decide the scale that would be most appropriate for him to use?

A BOS uses many instances to specify the behaviors necessary for effective performance.

________ is the process through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs contribute to the organization's goals.

Performance management

Which of the following is an advantage of using the results-oriented performance measurement?

They are relatively easy to link to the organization's goals.

A disadvantage of behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) is that it can bias a manager's memory.

t

The ________ approach to performance feedback is used by most managers.

tell-and-sell

Paul is a manager at Firefly Corp., and he uses a rating approach to evaluate his employees. He considers one employee at a time and circles a number or a word to signify the degree to which that employee demonstrates a particular trait in the scale. Which of the following approaches is Paul using to assess his employees?

Graphic rating scale

Gary, the CEO of Zansofel Inc., believes in providing employees with a flexible and open environment to enhance their skills and growth in the company. In the context of performance management and ethical issues associated with it, which of the following would Gary most likely oppose and why?

He would be against electronic monitoring systems because they make the employees feel like robots and that they are being watched.

Identify a true statement about the mixed-standard scale. It may use 15 behaviors to define levels of performance. B) It involves comparing each employee with each other employee to establish rankings. C) It is intended to define performance dimensions specifically using statements of behavior that describe different levels of performance. D) It lists traits and provides a rating scale for each trait. Correct Response E) It uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait.

It uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait.

Jim, a sales manager at Elexon Inc., finds that Bill, a salesman, lacks motivation to perform well in his job. In the context of finding solutions to performance problems, which of the following is the right way to deal with this situation?

Jim must counsel Bill to help him understand the factors that are affecting his motivation.

Appraisal politics are most likely to occur when a performance appraisal is directly linked to highly desirable rewards.

t