HRIR 3021 Chapter 10

discuss the purposes of performance management systems

- strategic purpose: aimed at meeting business objectives. Help to link employee behavior with organizational goals - administrative purpose: provides information for day-to-day decisions such as salary, benefits, recognition, and retention or termination - developmental purpose: using the system as a basis for developing employees' knowledge and skills

Define five criteria for measuring the effectiveness of a performance management system.

- strategic: supports the company's goals - valid: measures what it is intended to - reliable: yields consistent results over time - acceptable: accepted by those who use it - specific: give specific expectations and methods to achieve goals

performance management

- the process through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs contribute to the organization's goals. - developing employees to achieve their full potential

explain how to minimize rating errors

- training to make raters aware of their rating tendencies - establishing a fair performance appraisal system - calibration meetings: managers meeting to discuss ratings

Trait approach

- who they are as individuals - not always valid unless attributes are specifically defined least useful

paired comparison

compares each employee with each other employees to establish rankings. ex. The first two employees are compared, whoever is the better performer gets a point and so on. Once every pair has been compared, the employee with the highest points has the highest rank

interrater reliability

consistent scores are obtained no matter who measures or observes

critical incident method

method of performance measurement based on managers' records of specific examples of the employee acting in ways that are either effective or ineffective

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

method of performance measurement that rates behavior in terms of a scale showing specific statements of behavior that describe different levels of performance

simple ranking

method of performance measurement that requires managers to rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer

summarize ways to produce improvement in unsatisfactory performance

- lacks ability: provide coaching and training - lacks motivation: investigate whether there are outside problems or if the employee doesn't feel appreciated - lack of both: consider whether employee is good fit for the position - lack of neither: provide feedback, rewards, and opportunity for improvement and development

Discuss legal and ethical issues that affect performance management.

- lawsuits related to performance management usually relate to discrimination or unjust dismissal - managers should make sure performance management systems treat employees equally - electronic monitoring provides detailed information but invades employees privacy - organizations should always provide reasoning for electronic monitoring

results approach

- rating results tend to be less subjective than other kinds of ratings, making them more acceptable - validity might be a problem because of factors outside of employees control - tends to not provide a basis for improvement most useful

behavior approach

- requires a great deal of information - can be very effective - can link behaviors to goals

explain how to provide performance feedback effectively

- should be regular and scheduled - neutral location - feedback should be a discussion - problem solving approach is best - look for opportunities for praise and limit criticism - focus on behavior not personalities

Identify the activities involved in performance management

1. define performance outcomes for company division and department 2. develop employee goals, behavior, and actions to achieve outcomes 3. provide support and ongoing performance discussions 4. evaluate performance 5. identify needed improvements 6. provide consequences for performance results

describe major sources of performance information in terms of their advantages and disadvantages

1. managers: usually accurate unless the supervisor has little opportunity to see employee work 2. peers: accurate information about performance, but friendships and rivalries can mean bias 3. subordinates: best view of how the manager treats employees, but subordinates might be reluctant to provide feedback if it is not anonymous 4. self: come from the person with the most knowledge of job performance, but may be biased. Provides a basis for conversation during performance reviews. 5. customers: excellent source of performance information, but can be expensive to collect data

Define types of rating errors

1. similar-to-me error: tendency to give people who are similar to you a higher rating 2. contrast error: rating an average worker poorly because they are compared to a high performance worker 3. distributional error: leniency = giving everyone high scores, strictness = giving everyone low scores, central tendency = giving everyone average scores 4. halo error: rating employee highly in all areas because of strong performance observed in one area 5. horns error: rating employee poorly in all areas because of poor performance observed in one area appraisal politics: A situation in which evaluators purposefully distort ratings to achieve personal or company goals

360-degree appraisal

Process of using multiple sources of appraisal to gain a comprehensive perspective on one's performance

Total Quality Management (TQM)

a focus on satisfying customers through empowering employees to be an active part of continuous quality improvement

organizational behavior modification

a plan for managing the behavior of employees through a formal system of feedback and reinforcement 1. define a set of key behaviors necessary for job performance 2. use a measurement system to assess whether and employee exhibits the key behaviors 3. inform employees of the key behaviors, 4. provide feedback and reinforcement

Management by Objectives (MBO)

a system in which people at each level of the organization set goals in a process that flows from top to bottom, so employees at all levels are contributing to the organization's overall goals; these goals become the standards for evaluating each employee's performance

Behavioral Observation Scale (BOS)

a variation of a BARS which uses all behaviors necessary for effective performance to rate performance at a task

forced distribution

assigns a certain percentage of employees to each category in a set of categories. ex. 5% are exceptional, 30% exceed expectations, 50% are meeting expectations, 10% need improvement, 5% not acceptable

What are the major methods for measuring performance.

rating individuals: 1. trait/attribute approach 2. behavior approach - critical incident method - behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) 3. results approach or comparisons: 1. simple ranking 2. forced distribution 3. paired comparison

test-retest reliability

the consistency in results every time a measure is used