HR Mgmt Lecture 9

"Contamination"

refers to improper factors being considered. For instance, one should not consider factors like the sex and race, but should consider matters like opportunity bias (e.g. sales volume and region).

Self- reinforcing cycle

see picture: Also like self- fulfilling prophecy

Possible improvements to the appraisal process

-Setting Clear Goals -Multiple Raters -Multiple evaluation methods -Improving the feedback process

Multiple Raters

-should reduce bias -see the person at different times. -different areas of expertise. -might include superiors, peers or subordinates. -A rater must have substantial exposure to be meaningful. Including superiors from different functional areas could hurt the normal checks and balances. -360-degree feedback In addition to superiors, peers and subordinates, one might include internal and external customers

What are the cautionary thoughts of reviewing appraisal methods

1) One should not blindly search for the perfect method and forget about coming to grips with the underlying social situation. For example, one should consider why managers inflate appraisals. 2) Perhaps we should spend less time on the format and more time on training the raters.

Concerns of Graphic scales

1. Concerns: Leniency or Rating Inflation - For example, on a seven point scale, 80% of the ratings are normally 6 or 7 2. Ambiguity = What do the terms mean? Is there too much room for interpretation? What do the rating categories mean? Raters' standards vary just like teachers' grading standards vary. Most experts feel you should stay away from abstract "traits" (e.g. loyalty or attitude) and focus your attention on of observable behaviors that take place in a context.

Assessments require how many types of data?

2 To make pay decisions, you need broad comparative aggregate rankings. For development, you need the specific positives and negatives of each individual.

What would the second step of the performance appraisal process consist of

Coaching - Review progress and revising work as necessary/ Observing, describing and documenting performance

What is the third step in the performance appraisal process

Completing performance and development appraisal forms

What is the last step of the Performance appraisal process?

Conducting salary discussion

Concerns with the Critical Incident Method

Employees often feel supervisors are more prone to note the negative. Employees may regard it as similar to a "little black book." The employees may also object because they face unequal challenges One might also be concerned about when the supervisors are watching. The uncertainty is troubling as is the unknown criteria. One difficulty is, absent some numerical ranking, it is hard to compare employees and make salary decisions

What is the first step of the performance appraisal process ?

Establish work expectations

Concerns of the BOS scale

The added detail requires more time and money as far as construction is concerned. One could still rate everyone highly. Can anyone actually rate the percentage of the time one does things like this? Perhaps these instruments create a false sense of accuracy.

Forced Distribution

The raters are required to assign a specific proportion of their employees to predetermined categories (a quota system).

some studies have concluded rater biases account for what?

for the largest percentage of the observed variances in performance ratings

Most organizations have little if any formal training on?

how to carry out the appraisal interviews. the supervisor's rewards are seldom contingent on the appraisal process

If an appraisal cannot differentiate between performance levels, then what happens?

raining/development and the assignment of rewards cannot be accurately carried out

"Relevance"

refers to a meaningful relationship existing between a performance rating and some measure of work outcomes

"Deficiency"

refers to relevant factors being left out.

Behavioral Observation Scales (BOS)

• Personally reviews all invoices for correct billing and merchandise received. • Takes inventory monthly, checks discrepancies and promptly corrects any item requiring correction. • When there is a conflict among employees, takes the time to sit down and discuss the causes and resolution.

Defensive reactions to negative parts of the appraisal

(denial by the employees - a poor carpenter blames his tools). Most people believe they are above average and the truth hurts. In some instances, no one deserves top ratings. Directly attacking a person's defenses tends to heighten the intensity of the denial reaction

Trying to Reduce Employee Denial (Defensive Reactions)

- self criticism -start with a positive observation -some balance of positive and some negative feedback -. The supervisor can offer to help with the negatives by providing suggestions -get the employee to agree there is a problem -An agreement also needs to be reached on the Steps to Take, Measures of Success and Date to Complete -set limited objectives

Improving the feedback process.

-The pay interview and the development interview(s) should be separated so people will listen to advice. -waits three months to talk about development. More frequent development interviews might be used (perhaps 3 to 4 per year).

Multiple evaluation methods.

-can lessen the limitations of the individual methods. -It is not unusual to see 2-5 methods in use -Eventually, the added accuracy of using one more method is not worth the added time and expense.

The "Ideal" Appraisal System

1. Does your supervisor follow set (standardized) procedures? The system should provide clarity, depth and forewarning. 2. Are the results fair and accurate? Perceptions of fairness and accuracy can be enhanced by allowing employee participation. Further, there should be some balance (strong and weak points). Case examples can be used to explain the ratings. One should avoid surprises. 3. Does the appraisal consider special circumstances? (e.g. acts of God, supplier strikes, etc.) 4. Do you get feedback? Feedback is most effective when it is given near the time the event. 5. Does your supervisor suggest ways to improve performance? 6. Does the supervisor provide the resources to improve performance? 7. Does management care about how the appraisals are done? The appraisal should be timely. There should be some depth of detail. The appraisal should also capture the entire year.

What step of the performance appraisal process is Conducting formal performance and developmental appraisal discussions and establishing development plans

4

What step is Determining Salary conditions in the Performance appraisal process?

5

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)

A continuum of 5 to 9 points which has incidents/behaviors attached reflecting the relevant job dimensions. It has sometimes been described as a mixture of graphic scales and the critical incident method. The quality of the feedback should be high if the people who will apply the instrument develop it.

Checklists.

A set of behaviors, adjectives, or descriptive statements. The rater checks if it describes the person. The items are simply present/absent.

Self-Comparison.

A supervisor might say "When I was your age, I ...." Since each supervisor's past experiences are different, each is using a different ruler, which means low reliability. If this is combined with intolerance of ways that are different, the situation is made even worse.

Proximity Errors

Does the employee the supervisor knows the best get rated differently? Does familiarity breed contempt? (i.e. The supervisor cannot get all of the growing pain errors out of his/her mind) Does the best known employee get the highest rating?

Concerns of MBO

If the objectives are set too high, frustration will result. If they are too low, inappropriate rewards follow. The method fails if the employees just write up what management wants to hear (no buy in). Sometimes the employees understate what they can do (do not lead your superiors to expect too much) and report their progress with a lag (to provide security

Why are in depth essays not used in Essay appraisals?

In-depth essays are extremely time consuming to apply with large numbers of employees.

Concerns with BARS

It is process oriented, so end results are ignored. Are the incidents covered observable? It is time consuming to develop, easy to use. Everyone may be rated highly, so it may be hard to justify the added time and expense versus graphic scales. The actual scales are sometimes questionable. Some of the incidents seem like apples and oranges. A common situation should be posed, and the behavioral options should be mutually exclusive (i.e. you cannot do two of them).

Is it important for the employee to sign the appraisal form

It is vital that the employee sign a copy of his/her appraisal.

Essay Appraisals.

Narrative summaries that can potentially capture strengths, improvements, weaknesses, quantity and quality. Essays are inexpensive to develop, but expensive to use. No real comparisons of employees are possible unless common dimensions are inserted and the raters trained.

Ranking

One can require an appraiser to order subordinates from lowest to highest. One problem with this method is there is no distance gauge, as in the diagram. Further, no feedback is given, so it is normally used in conjunction with other methods

Forced Choice (Army)

Small groups of statements are bunched (3 to 5) that are related to a specific job. The rater selects the items that are most and least descriptive, which prevents rating inflation. It is costly to develop and the categories are not very specific compared to BARS.

Setting Clear Goals.

Some organizations use the "SMART" method. Under this system goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (deadlines, milestones, etc.).

What are the steps in an (MBO)

Step 1 = Objectives are jointly set. Employee participation should enhance motivation. Step 2 = Coaching and progress reviews occur over the course of the appraisal period. Step 3 = Actual results are compared at year end with the predetermined objectives. Feedback is given and merit pay is then applied.

self criticism

The appraiser can ask the employee where he/she thinks he/she need help (3 to 4 meetings)/(This cannot really be done near pay appraisal time)

Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM)

The employees' computer terminals and telephones are monitored. The employee's rate, accuracy, and time spent both at work and on breaks may be computed

The Performance Management Approach

The polar opposite of this would be to identify the bottom 10% of your current employees, and tell them they will either improve in say 90 days or they will lose their jobs.

Critical Incident Method.

The rater records incidents reflecting behavior that represents less than satisfactory or outstanding performance for both evaluation and feedback. These events should be critical elements of job performance. Supervisors prefer recording events daily, because it is easier to recall events. The specificity of the feedback is a big plus, but it is very time consuming.

Are appraisals self-defeating?

This focus places emphasis on the individual parts rather than the relationship of the parts. Deming accordingly argued for the elimination of traditional performance appraisal. He believed in focusing instead on training, communication tools and supervision

Halo/Horns Error

This has been labeled as the biggest source of error. The rater only notes the positive aspects of the best employee and the negative aspects of the worst employee. Ideally, the rater would see the positive and negative aspects of both.

Management by Objectives (MBO)

This is an end result orientation advocated by Peter Drucker. It is used in many upper level jobs. Some firms set organizational and departmental goals before specific superiors and subordinates start the process

Graphic Scales

This is the most popular method currently. It is inexpensive to develop and use. The dimensions are very broad. Little useful feedback is given. A scale may be used with a range from "unsatisfactory" to "outstanding." A number of broad job dimensions are rated: such as, directing, expression, knowledge, planning and organization.