Human Resource Management Chapter 8

Occurs when a single rating is skewed toward an entire group of employees

distributional errors

Appraisal training for raters should focus on:

eliminating subjective errors

A performance-rating error in which the appraiser is reluctant to give employees either unusually high or unusually low ratings is referred to as a:

error of central tendency

A ____ one in which all employees of a company are reviewed at the same time of year rather than on the anniversary dates they were hired.

focal performance appraisal

A method of rating performance in which the rater chooses from statements that appear equally favorable or equally unfavorable is known as the

forced-choice method

Which method of performance appraisal requires managers to place a certain percentage of employees into various performance categories?

forced-distribution method or forced ranking

In the ____ method, each trait or characteristic to be rated is represented by a scale on which a rater indicates the degree to which an employee possesses that trait or characteristic.

graphic rating scale

The procedures followed to develop a behaviorally anchored rating scale typically result in scales that:

have content validity

Check for prejudices or preferences related to age, gender, ethnicity, or other group factors

identify and quantify biases

Performance standards linked to organizational goals and competencies i.e 95% of all customer complaints will be resolved in one day

strategic relevance

Managers tend to be more open to the idea of ____ when the information is used for developmental purposes.

subordinate appraisal

A performance evaluation of a superior by an employee, which is more appropriate for developmental than for administrative purposes

subordinate evaluation

Performance dimensions of leadership, communication, and coordination of team efforts may best be appraised by:

subordinates

Performance Appraisal

system of review and evaluation of individual or team task performance, can be on a continuous basis.

Total-quality management concerns have led to the increased use of:

team and customer performance appraisals

A performance evaluation that recognizes team accomplishment rather than individual performance

team evaluation

Communicate the strong and weak points of an employee's job performance in the first part of the feedback session and the second part the employee's feelings about the evaluation are explored

tell-and-listen

Persuading an employee to change his or her behavior in a certain way during feedback sessions

tell-and-sell

The performance review is biased either favorably or unfaborably depending on the way performance information is selected, evluated, and organized by the rater over time

temporal errors

The type of scale that uses critical incidents as examples of different points along the scale is known as:

the behaviorally anchored rating scale

The primary limitation of the forced-choice method of appraisal is:

the cost of establishing and maintaining its validity

In most instances, who is in the best position to perform the function of appraising an employee's performance?

the employee's supervisor

The strategic relevance of performance appraisals refers to:

the extent to which standards relate to the overall objectives of the organization

If an appraisal focuses on a narrow set of results criteria to the exclusion of other important process issues, the system may suffer from:

criterion deficiency

If the performance evaluations that salespeople receive are based solely on sales revenue to the exclusion of other important factors, the instrument suffers from:

criterion deficiency

An unusual event that denotes superior or inferior employee performance in some part of the job

critical incident

Goal setting has been shown to improve employee performance, typically ranging from _____.

10 to 25 percent

A performance evaluation that combines various sources of performance evaluation information, done by different people who interact with the employee

360-degree evaluation

One study showed that organizations with strong performance management systems are _____ more likely to outperform their competitors in the areas of revenue growth, productivity, profitability, and market value

40-50 percent

Document personnel decisions, promote employees, determinte transfers and assignments, identify performance problems, evaluate

Administrative Purpose

In _____ the U.S. Supreme Court found that employees had been ranked against a vague standard, open to each supervisor's own interpretation.

Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody

Appraisal Period

Annually conducted

Designed to measure how frequently each of the behaviors has been observed. Allows the appraiser to play the role of observer

Behavior Obervation Scale (BOS)

A series or 5 to 10 vertical scales-one for each important dimension of performance which are assigned point values

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale Method (BARS)

Performance appraisal method that combines elements of the traditional rating scale and critical incident methods; various performance levels are shown along a scale with each described in terms of an employee's specific job behavior

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale Method (BARS)

In _____, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that performance appraisals were subject to the same validity criteria as selection procedures.

Brito v. Zia

An employee was terminated because the company she worked for said she had a poor attitude however, her evaluations stated that she was " a pleasure to work with and handles herself in a professional manner"

Catherine Eno v. Lumbermens Merchandising Corp.

Evaluation appraisal error that occurs when employees are incorrectly rated near the average or middle of a scale

Central Tendency error

Job-Related Criteria, Performance Expectations, Standardization, Trained Appraisers, Continuous Open Communication, Conduct Performance Reviews, Due Process

Characteristics of an Effective Appraisal

What is step one of the MBO process?

Develop organization goals and metrics

Provide performance feedback, identify individual strengths and weeknesses, recognize, help, evaluate, improve communication

Developmental Purposes

Performance appraisal method in which the rater is required to assign individuals in a work group to a limited number of categories, similar to a normal frequency distribution

Forced distribution method

Performance Management

Goal-oriented process directed toward ensuring that organizational processes are in place to max the productivity of employees, teams, organization

Evaluation error that occurs when a Mgr generalizes one positive performance feature or incident to all aspects of employee performance, resulting in a higher rating

Halo Error

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of the trait method of appraisals?

High potential for rating errors

Evaluation error that occurs when a Mgr generalizes one negative performance feature or incident to all aspects of employee performance, resulting in a lower rating

Horn Error

Having data available to identify those who have potential for promotion, performance appraisal allows for discovery and ability to plan for succession through -Recruitment & Selection, T & D, Career Planning & Development, Compensation Programs, Internal Employee Relations, Assessing Employee Potential

Human Resource Planning

Identify who may be responsible for performance appraisals

Immediate Supervisor, Subordinates, Peers, Team members, Self-Appraisal, Customer Appraisal

Giving an undeserved high performance appraisal rating to an employee

Leniency

Essay Method

Performance appraisal method in which the rater writes a brief narrative describing the employee's performance

Work standards method

Performance appraisal method that compares each employee's performance to a predetermined standard or expected level of output

Rating Scales Method

Performance appraisal method that rates employees according to defined factors

Critical Incident Method

Performance appraisal method that requires keeping written records of highly favorable and unfavorable employee work actions

360-Degree Feedback Evaluation Method

Popular performance appraisal method that involves evaluation input from multiple levels within the firm as well as external sources

Listening, accepting, and responding to feelings. Seeks to obtain the employees' buy-in for a mutually agreed-upon way to overcome obstacles during the feedback session

Problem-Solving

Appraiser discomfort, Lack of Objectivity, Halo/Horn Error, Leniency/Strictness, Personal, Manipulation

Problems in Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal method in which the rater ranks all employees from a group in order of overall performance.

Ranking method

Performance appraisal method in which the manager and subordinate jointly agree on objectives for the next appraisal period; in the past a form of management by objectives.

Results-based system

Being unduly critical of an employee's work performance

Strictness

All of the following are reasons why performance appraisal programs fail except:

There is too much employee input into the development of the appraisal program.

Which one of the following has not been cited as a reason for failure of performance management systems?

They are too simple

What are performance appraisal standards

Traits, behaviors, and competencies

Performance appraisals provide basis for rational decisions regarding pay adjustments (rewarding behaviors is necessary).

Use of Compensation Programs

A performance appraisal approach designed to measure how frequently employees exhibit certain behaviors is:

a behavior observation scale

Which of the following is NOT a frequently cited reason as to why performance appraisal systems may not be effective?

adequate preparation on the part of management

The two primary purposes of performance appraisals are:

administrative and developmental

Make certain that no employee ever knows how any evaluation team member responded (the supervisor's rating is an exception)

assure anonymity

The appraisal system based on the concept that learning helps organizations improve their internal processes and allows individuals to see how their performance ties in with the firm is:

balanced scorecard approach

The appraisal system that takes into account financial, customer, processes, and learning categories is called:

balanced scorecard approach

If your primary objective for a performance appraisal is to give employees developmental feedback, which of the following appraisal methods should you use?

behavioral

TQM and team appraisal are complementary because

both focus on performance as a whole, rather than on the individual

Requirements for successful MBO programs include all of the following except:

both trait and critical incident objectives must be set

A process whereby managers meet to discuss the performance of individual employees to ensure their employee eveluation are in line with one another

calibration

Which of the following is NOT a component of the Balanced Scorecard Approach?

competitors

If you rate an average employee's performance high because you compared the employee to poor performers, you are committing a:

contrast error

Reliability in performance appraisal is measured by:

correlating two sets of ratings made by different raters

Elements that affect the appraisal measures that are not a part of the actual performance i.e. some work with newer machines or traveling salespeople have territories that differ in terms of their sales potential

criterion contamination

Elements that affect the appraisal measures that are not part of the actual performance i.e. focus on sales revenue to the exclusion of other important but less quantifiable performance dimension like customer service

criterion deficiency

continually gathering feedback, compliments, and suggestions from different people who work with an employee using "social recognition"

crowdsourcing

A performance evaluation that includes evaluation from both a firm's external and internal customers

customer evaluation

The federal government begin evaluating employees in 1842, when Congress passed a law mandating yearly performance review for:

departmental clerks

A feedback training program for performance appraisal raters should cover at least all of the following areas except:

developing independent learning objectives

Self-appraisals are best for:

developmental purposes

Disadvantages of the essay method include all of the following except:

it must follow a job-specific format

One major advantage of a behaviorally anchored rating scale is that

it requires a great deal of employee participation, which leads to acceptance

A problem with performance appraisal includes:

it tends to focus on short-term objectives rather than long-term learning

A performance-rating error in which the appraiser tends to give employees either unusually high or unusually low ratings is referred to as a:

leniency or strictness error

Employee engagement

level of commitment workers make to their employer, willingness to stay at firm and go beyond call of duty.

Supervisors should discuss each evaluation team member's input, letting each know whether they used the rating scales appropriately

make respondents accountable

A philosophy of management that rates the performance of employees based on their acheivement of goals set mutually by them and their manager

management by objectives

A performance evaluation done by an employee's manager and often reviewed by a manager one level higher

manager and/or supervisor evaluation

Which rating format uses three specific behavioral descriptions relevant to each trait and then asks supervisors to evaluate whether an employee's behavior is better than, equal to, or worse than the standard for each behavior?

mixed-standard scale

If a manager rates an employee higher than he or she deserves in order to look good as a manager in the eyes of his or her own superiors, this is an example of:

organizational politics

The courts have found that:

organizations should have carefully defined and measurable performance standards

A performance evaluation done by one's fellow employees, generally on forms compiled into a single profile for use in the evaluation meeting

peer evaluation

One advantage of peer appraisals is that:

peers may furnish more accurate and valid

In light of recent court rulings, HR managers suggest that performance appraisals should meet all of the following legal guidelines except:

performance appraisal should rarely be tied to compensation decisions

The appraisal interview should be divided into two sessions, one each for:

performance review and developmental planning

Some individuals may try to help or hurt an employee by giving either a too high or too low evaluation

prevent "gaming" of the system

Administrative purposes of performance appraisal include all of the following except:

providing performance feedback

If you rate an employee's performance based largely on the employee's recent behavior, you are committing a:

recency error

Measures that are consistent across raters and over time

reliability

If a performance standard is found to be stable or consistent over time, it is said to be:

reliable

How are behaviors viewed

resulting from life experiences

When the manager and the employee jointly establish future performance goals for each employee, which appraisal source is useful?

self appraisal

A performance evaluation done by the employee being evaluated, generally on an evaluation form completed by the employee prior to the evaluation meeting

self-evaluation

If you inflate the evaluation of people with whom you have something in common, you are committing a:

similar-to-me error

Freedom from criterion deficiency of performance appraisals refers to the extent to which:

standards capture the entire range of an employee's responsibilities.

The choice of an appraisal method should be largely based on:

the purpose of the appraisal

Performance appraisals must meet legal requirements because:

they are used as a basis for HRM actions and decisions

What are traits

thought as being biologically created, personality trait is more ingrained with an individual, may be basis for some evaluations

Method designed to measure the extent to which an employee possesses certain characteristics such as dependability, reactivity, initiative, and leadership

trait methods

Performance appraisal methods can be broadly classified as either ____, ____, or ____ approaches.

trait, behavioral, results

Use weighted averages or other quantitative approaches to combine evaluations.

use statistical procedures

Developmental purposes of performance appraisal include all of the following except:

validating selection procedures