HRM Quiz 10

What is the focus of behavior-based systems?

Focuses on discerning what a person actually does versus emphasizing general personal characteristics.

Do you believe more organizations should conduct exit interviews? Why or why not? (405-406) skip

Good because it can be documented and studied for improvement for future employees it's bad because a lot of emotions can be involved.

What are three key features of the personnel system in the Chinese public sector

Hierarchical loyalty is a highly prized cultural value. The Chinese communist party plays a leading role in the management of civil service. Decentralization of personnel management decision-making, following international trends has taken place, but the hegemonic role of the CCP ensures that Civil Service remains more centralized than in many other nations.

Identify at least three paradoxes of performance appraisal?

If a manager does not effectively address an employee behavioral problem, the manager my be regarded as a problem. The more appraisal systems are made objective, the more it is evident that there is no way to avoid their inherent subjectivity. People are often less certain about "where they stand" after an assessment than they were before. Quality feedback si expected but the higher you go, the less this happens

What is a deficient appraisal?

In a deficient appraisal not all pertinent factors are considered

Identify elements of the appraisal process

Initial goal setting, monitoring and data availability, continuous feedback, and annual assessments.

What are four problems caused by organizational influences?

Insufficient management commitment to performance appraisal. Appraisals are often isolated from getting the job done but also from organizational planning and budgeting. There are few incentives and actual disincentives to use appraisals as a management tool. Tied to money issues that affect salary decisions and use money as factor in appraisals.

Why can disciplining an employee be difficult to administer?

May not have kept good records, which are needed as a basis of discipline. Do not want to spend any more valuable time dealing with poor performers than they already. Prefer to avoid putting the office climate at risk by taking action.

How did NPR assess CSR's success?

NPR declared it to be dysfunctional and detrimental to the success of governmental programs.

Provide examples of negligence or misrepresentation?

Negligence- breach of duty to conduct performance appraisals with due care. Misrepresentation- disclosure of untrue favorable performance information that causes risk of harm to others.

What is recency effect?

Occurs when a major event has taken place just prior to the time of evaluation and overshadows all other incidents.

identify its drawbacks? (BARS system)

Often not practical because each job category requires its own BARS; either for economic reasons or because of a lack of employees in a specific job, the approach is often infeasible.

What is NOT the central issue in personnel appraisal?

Technique - Psychologists suggest efforts to improve the overall process likely will provide much larger returns than attempts to develop (and redevelop) seemingly better rating forms every time a new high official takes place. The technique used, then, does not seem to make much difference.

What is severity error?

The "horns effect" may be resent when an appraisal is used as a way either to send a message to a good performer that some aspect of his or her work needs improvement or to shock an average employee into higher performance.

Define the premise of a "just-cause" standard?

The principle underlying both progressive punishment and positive corrective action is a "just cause standard".

In many situations, providing inaccurate appraisal data is sound management. Discuss.

The thought behind this is that fair appraisals are not necessarily accurate. Most of the time they are inflated or deflated for political reasons - these can range from having organizational effectiveness to boosting retention.

Identify typical barriers to effective performance appraisal?

They originally had traditional, scaled performance review practices linked to pay and disciplinary systems. Their multiple purpose appraisal functions did not meet objectives and were seen as counterproductive. The basic assumption about employees were changed.

Specify three common types of appraisal?

Trait based, behavior based, and results based.

What are the seven elements that should constitute appraisal?

1. ) Goal setting, alignment of individual and organizational goal, self-assessment, 360 reviews, management appraisal, competency assessment, and development planning.

What are some answers to the question, "Who is the rater?"

1. ) Traditionally it is the subordinate's supervisor, however, other knowledgeable information sources include the self-appraisals (rate), peer evaluations, electronic monitoring (email/video surveillance), and multirater systems (outsiders that gather info from others in organization).

How does performance evaluation relate to workplace violence

1. A carefully designed approach can mean the difference between acting decisively to cope with an defuse incidents and reacting haphazardly in a manner that may exacerbate a difficult situation.

Define a 360° evaluation system.

1. Also referred to as a multirater system, is a process utilized by organizations to solicit information from a variety of workplace sources on an employee's work-related behavior and/or performance. Most often, information solicited in a 360-degree feedback process will include feedback from superiors, subordinates, peers, & citizens.

What is compatibility error?

1. Also referred to as similarity error or liking error, error that occurs when appraisals reflect evaluators' tendency to highly rate those they like or those is compatible with them.

Identify the spillover effect

1. Also referred to as the halo effect, black market effect or horns effect, if the rate does one thing exceptionally well (halo) or poor (black mark) then that reflects on everything else he/she does.

What is the authors' view of performance appraisal software? Why?

1. Automated systems are made to make the manager's job on performance evaluation easier; however, these algorithms run with no knowledge of organizational culture, job standard, or individual performance. Managers should devote real thought to appraisals. The software contributes nothing to the most important part of service ratings: the manager-employee interview.

Identify four aspects of human nature.

1. Cognitive, political, organizational limitations, and human nature.

What did the court conclude in Brito v. Zia?

1. Criticized the subjective nature of the credibility of ratings for job descriptions and trained evaluators because they were not anchored in or related to actual work behavior.

What is the "tell and sell" technique?

1. In which they inform subordinates how they were rated and then justify the decisions.

What are problems with trait-based systems?

1. It is not customized and the potential to add categories is rarely taken advantage of.

What is MBO?

1. Management by objectives promises to achieve substantial organization-individual goal congruence; most common results focused approach establishes agency objectives, which are followed in cascading fashion by derivative objectives for every department, all managers, and each employee.

What lessons can be learned from experience in Loudon County, VA?

1. That the system they have in place works for them even though it is not perfect. They communicate to new hires all of the skill sets they will need to work on in order to effectively work and be successful in that system. While it does have its faults there are benefits to their process and most importantly it engages everyone and provides continual feedback.

What is progressive discipline?

1. The most common policy is an awkward combination of retribution and rehabilitation. - verbal convo that could elad to leave with pay or

What is the problem with self-evaluation?

1. They are subject to distortions, including self-congratulation and less likely self-incrimination. People tend to be inadequate judges of their own performance.

What is contrast error?

1. When people are rated relative to other people instead of against performance standards.

According to a 2012 survey, what percentage of managers and employees believed performance appraisals were neither useful nor effective?

87%

Define a trait-based system.

A system that requires assessments concerning the degree to which someone possesses certain desired personal characteristics deemed important for the job.

What is leniency error?

Also known as friendliness error or the "Santa Claus effect", is the consequence of a desire to maintain good working relationships, maximize the size of a merit raise, encourage a marginal employee, show empathy for someone with personal problems, or avoid confrontations and appeals with an aggressive worker.

Specify its drawbacks? (MBO)

Although development of objectives may not be as technically demanding as it is in BARS, the process nevertheless is quite time-consuming. There are likely to be conflicting objectives, differing views on the appropriateness of the objectives, and disagreements about the extent to which objectives are mutually agreed upon-- and fulfilled. Because it focuses on short-term goals, a compulsive "results no matter what" mentality can produce predictable quality and ethical problems, as anything that gets in the way of the objective gets shunted aside. Not only is it difficult to establish equally challenging objectives for all people, but also expectations that they will invariably improve. The technique can stifle creativity because employees may define their jobs narrowly, leaving some problems undetected and unresolved. Teamwork is likely to suffer if people become preoccupied with personal objectives at the expense of collegiality. The method may not assist in the employee development function because performance outcomes do not indicate directions for desired change.

What key functions does performance appraisal play in organizations?

Appraisals reviews are mechanisms for reinforcing organizational values. Provide data on the effectiveness of recruitment, position management, training, and compensation.

What is a BARS system?

Behaviorally anchored rating system that defines the dimensions to be evaluated in behavioral terms and anchors or describes different performance levels.

Identify four sources of rating errors.

Cognitive limitations, intentional manipulation, organizational influences, and human nature.

Define the business judgment rule

Deference by the courts to employers and states saying we do not assume the rule of a "super-personnel department" assessing the merits or even rationality of employers' nondiscriminatory business decisions.

List the pros and cons of electronic monitoring.

Pros: increase productivity, improve quality, & reduce costs by continuously collecting performance data, pinpointing problems, and providing immediate feedback. Cons: when implemented without safeguards, it can create an "electronic sweatshop" environment that is damaging to employee creativity, morale, and health.

What did the CSR of 1978 seek to do regarding performance appraisal?

Sought to evaluate employees not on subjective characteristics but on objective, job-related performance standards.

What are two kinds of feedback that should be provided?

System performance data automatically generated from statistical process controls. Individuals performance data used primarily for developmental purposes- derived form anonymous 360 evaluations.

what are some faulty assumptions concerning person-centered appraisal methods?

Were based on a faulty, unrealistic assumption that individual employees are responsible for outcomes derived from a complex system.

When are peer evaluations most appropriate?

When an agency's culture is very high in trust, where coworkers develop rating scales and have access to relevant information such assessments can be accurate. - group oriented, trust in group

A contaminated appraisal?

in a contaminated appraisal irrelevant considerations are included.