Performance Management and Appraisal

What is Horns effect error?

Allowing one disfavored trait or work factor to overwhelm other, more positive performance elements, resulting in an unfairly low overall performance rating.

What is biased rating error?

Allowing personal feelings toward employee to influence rating

You have been asked to recommend an absolute appraisal method that would best balance the organization's interests in employee development and minimizing system complexity. Which of the following should you recommend?

Critical incident appraisal

What are common methods of conducting an absolute appraisal?

Critical incident, BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale), and a graphic rating scale

If the CEO wants to look at his leadership team and rank them by the 20/70/10 rule (where 20% is top performing and 10% is bottom performing), this is a form of what kind of appraisal?

relative appraisaal

A form of performance appraisal that involves identifying primary job behaviors and developing a 3-7 point rating scale with which to rate them, and then also provides qualitative data. What type of appraisal does this describe?

absolute appraisal - BARS

What are the six steps of thee performance appraisal process?

1. Establish performance standards 2. Communicate performance 3. Measure performance 4. Compare performance to standards 5. Discuss the appraisal with the employee 6. Implement personnel action

What is central tendency error?

Clumping or clustering all employees in the middle performance categories in an attempt to avoid extremes.

What is high potential error?

Confusing potential with performance.

What is contrast error?

Evaluating an employee in relation to another employee rather than relative to his/her duties, goals and stated performance standards.

What is guilt by association error?

Evaluation influenced by employee's associations rather than performance

What is recency error?

Failing to take into account the entire evaluation period and focusing on a recent performance episode, positively or negatively

What are the four elements of a preferred behavior?

Focus - knowing what to do Competence - knowing how to do it Consequence - knowing why you're doing it Feedback - knowing how well you're doing it

You're conducting an appraisal training class for new managers. Which of the following is a key point you want to communicate?

Focus on the most significant success factors?

You're developing a management training program to improve appraisal effectiveness. Which of the following points should you emphasize?

Giving employees constructive feedbacks is not just your job, it's your moral obligation.

Sebastián has requested his direct reports to complete a self-evaluation regarding their performances. Why is this a good idea?

It allows the employee to reflect and will give Sebastián a heads up on any differences of opinion.

What is a critical incident appraisal?

It focuses on the essential behaviors that determine whether a task is done well or poorly.

What are the methods of relative appraisals?

Ranking, Paired comparison, and Forced distribution

What is the paired comparison method?

bases evaluations on an employee's performance relative to his or her peers in selected job skill categories

Which absolute appraisal focuses on the essential behaviors that determine whether a task is done well or poorly?

critical incident

Avoiding hard conversations is often a source of errors in a performance appraisal. Which of the following is NOT a good tip for having a successful conversation?

cultivate an attitude of professionalism

Performance appraisals provide an administrative function by providing documentation for what processes?

employee disciplinary action and employee engagement

What is it called when an evaluator confuses potential with performance?

high potential error

What is the BARS appraisal method?

involves identifying the primary job behaviors and developing a 3-7 (or more) point rating scale that anchors the rating to specific descriptions of effective and ineffective behavior.

When performance objectives (evaluation criteria) are discussed and agreed to by management and employees, this is an approach called:

management by objective

Which method of performance evaluation has the potential to increase employee performance and organizational productivity?

management by objective

An appraisal method that requires the evaluator to compare all their employees' performance in each category individually, assigning a plus or a minus to indicate relative strength or weakness, is called:

paired comparison

A raise, promotion or corrective action is referred to as:

personnel action

What is the ranking appraisal method?

placing employees in relative performance (or perceived value) order from top to bottom or ranking them on a "curve" (bell curve)

What courtesy should an evaluator provide to the employee during the appraisal discussion?

provide the employee with a written copy of the appraisal

When conducting an evaluation and looking to be effective, a combination of caring personally and challenging directly is referred to as:

radical candor

Which appraisal method remains controversial, as studies show employee performance can decline?

ranking

What is thee first step in presenting a performance appraisal?

scheduling an appraisal meeting in advance

What is Management by Objective (MBO)?

"the organization's overall objectives are translated into specific objectives for each succeeding level in the organization-divisional, departmental and individual." performance objectives (evaluation criteria) are discussed and agreed to by management and the employees

What are the steps of preparing and presenting an appraisal?

1. Schedule an appraisal meeting in advance. 2. Ask the employee to complete and submit a self-evaluation prior to the appraisal meeting. 3. Decide on the desired outcome and plan accordingly. 4. Develop your talking points. 5. Conduct the appraisal meeting.

Managers in your organization generally supervise a staff of 30-50 people. Your CEO has asked Human Resource management to implement a relative appraisal method that will eliminate the weakest performers. Which of the following should you recommend?

20/70/10 rating

The complexity of development and maintenance, with each position requiring a set of evaluation criteria and rating descriptions is the downfall of this absolute appraisal method:

BARS

What is leniency error?

Giving everyone high ratings regardless of actual performance, in an attempt to avoid conflict or to make yourself look good

What is the graphic rating scale?

It lists job behaviors, competencies, skills and results and provides five (more or less) rating options ranging from unsatisfactory to exceeds expectations. The appraiser selects a performance rating for each criteria and totals the values.

Performance observations and feedback should be offered with what frequency?

It should be offered as an ongoing process.

What is Halo effect error?

Letting one favored trait or work factor influence all other areas of performance, resulting in an unduly high overall performance rating

Why might you implement Peter Drucker's management by objective method?

MBO is a participative objective and goal-setting process that may improve the clarity of expectations and increase employee buy-in and motivation.

You're a manager preparing to appraise your employees. Which of the following should you keep in mind as you do so?

Performance standards should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound

What is past performance error?

Rating on past performance rather than present performance.

When establishing performance standards, the first step in the performance appraisal process, one should establish goals that are:

SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.

What is similar to me error?

Similar to me and therefore feeling of comfort and compatibility

What are the 4 steps for a successful outcome of a difficult conversation?

Step #1: Inquiry. Cultivate an attitude of discovery and curiosity. Step #2: Acknowledgment. Show that you've heard and understood what the person is saying. Step #3: Advocacy. Clarify your position without minimizing the other person's position. Step #4: Problem-Solving. Begin building solutions.

What is the primary purpose of performance management?

To manage employee alignment, motivation and development. To establish employee goals that are aligned with departmental and overall organizational goals and objectives and to develop, recognize, and incentivize desired behavior and performance.

You're reviewing appraisal documentation to identify training gaps. Which of the following scenarios does NOT suggest a perceptual error?

a manager who rates staff at different levels based on documented performance relative to goals and standards.

Sydelle, a relatively new manager, is preparing for her first employee appraisal and asks you for perspective; specifically, what are the purposes of performance management? Which of the following responses is most accurate?

the purposes of performance management are employee alignment, motivation and development.