Intro to HR Management Topic 7

Regardless of the ranking method used, what is the output?

quality and quantity of performance

What are three factors that affect the validity and reliability of an organization's performance appraisal process?

rater errors, incomplete or inaccurate information, and poor communication

performance appraisal (

the formal structural system of measuring, evaluating, and influencing an employee's job-related attributes, behaviors, and outcomes.

example of appraisals by subordinates

the teacher evaluations that are completed by students in many university courses.

Why are conventional rating forms extensively used by organizations?

they are relatively easy to develop and permit quantitative results that allow comparisons across employees and departments.

Jacinta doesn't appear to be trained properly, she doesn't specify training needs, motivate or counsel. straight ranking is implied because there is one best and one worst employee. jacinta should empower and work with adair to create a plan to improve is performance.

"Performance Review Meeting Adair attends his annual performance appraisal meeting with his new supervisor, Jacinta. Adair was confident heading into the meeting, knowing he had met his goals and seemed to be getting along with Jacinta; however, during the meeting, Jacinta rated his behaviors low citing he took the most vacation days of all his peers, she noticed he didn't participate at all during the latest team meeting, and when she asked him to be a team lead on the department's newest initiative he declined. Jacinta rated him average in the general organizational productivity section citing he was keeping up with most of his peers and in the middle 50% of performers adding she's only allowed to have one top performer and one worst performer. She told Adair that she provided ratings for the goals section but was going to completely ignore talking about this section citing their irrelevance since they no-longer aligned with the company's new strategic objectives that were introduced about six months ago. At the end of the meeting, Jacinta informed Adair he would be receiving a small merit increase, but next year she expects ""big things from him"" and hopes that his raise can be greater next year. Jacinta thanked Adair for being a valuable member of the team and asked him to sign the appraisal form."

What does the straight ranking method involve?

, a superior lists the subordinates in order from best to worst, usually on the basis of overall performance. Incumbents can also be ranked with regard to their performance on specific duties, such as attendance, record of meeting deadlines, quality of reports, etc. This type of ranking is useful in small organizations.

1) to inform incumbents where they stand, and 2) to further develop and guide individuals to perform better.

An effective performance appraisal system depends on several components of appraisal, but it generally serves two purposes:

strategies for improving individual and team performance

Coaching/feedback Training and development Compensating employees for developing/increasing their knowledge, skills or abilities (for example, obtaining a certification) Employee autonomy - letting workers determine how to address the issue (may include make minor changes to current process or roles)"

What role does a job analysis play in performance appraisals?

If a formal job analysis has not been conducted to establish the validity of the PA form, and thus the job-relatedness of an evaluation criterion, the company may be accused of discrimination.

performance appraisal process, two-way communication is essential

The rater must communicate with the employee to provide information about performance on the job. The rater also needs to provide the opportunity for the employee to identify his/her concerns about the issues that are inhibiting his/her performance. Last, the written performance evaluation and the verbal communication during the performance meeting must be aligned. The messages should be consistent.

Which of the following is not a purpose of performance appraisals?

To inform incumbents where they stand based on subjective thinking

False, they are formal structural systems

True or False: Performance appraisals are an informal system for measuring and evaluating employees.

False In general, the more subjective the PA approach, the more it is vulnerable to legal challenges. As there are no solid facts to back up the appraisal.

True or False: The more objective the performance appraisal (PA) approach, the more vulnerable it is to legal challenges.

when the rater is a colleague

When do 360-degree evaluations take place?

When one subordinate's performance is unjustly affected by an earlier evaluation of another employee

When does a contrast effect occur in performance appraisals?

forced distribution

Which method allows two or more incumbents' performances to be ranked together?

Using the information from the evaluation for future planning

Which of the following comes after the performance appraisal?

feedback

Which of the following is a developmental purpose of obtaining performance appraisal information?

empirical validity

Which of the three types of validity (empirical, content, and construct) is legally defensible if challenged in court?

Performance management

a process that helps individuals within the organization understand what needs to be achieved, and then motivates and trains individuals to accomplish those needs.

They are the most familiar with the subordinate's work

an advantage to using an employee's supervisor as the rater for the performance appraisal

What type of information is included in a narrative essay performance review?

can describe the employee's strengths and weaknesses and suggest methods for improving performance. behavior criteria on the form, such as critical incidents, behavioral checklist and forced-choice forms

What information is learned from appraisal by subordinates?

can make superiors more aware of their impact on subordinates, help them know if methods are affective or what can be approved.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs)

designed specifically to assist employees with personal problems that hinder their job performance and attendance. EAPs are often used with employees who have alcohol and drug dependency problems, suffer from stress-related illnesses, or have domestic or family challenges. Since these problems may be, in part, caused by the job, many employers provide EAPS to help affected workers.

What are the two ways organizations use performance appraisal data?

evaluating performance (input for making administrative decisions), input for developmental purposes

What are two advantages of using computer monitoring as a data source for performance appraisal?

fast & objective

In what circumstances is the validity of peer appraisals reduced?

if the organizational reward system is highly competitive and based on performance, and if there is a low level of trust among subordinates.

What does the paired comparison method involve?

involves comparing each employee to another incumbent, two at a time on a single standard, to determine which is better. A rank order can be obtained by counting the number of times each individual is selected as the better of a pair. The subordinate with the most favorable comparisons is thus ranked in the first place. The subordinate with the second-greatest number of favorable comparisons is ranked second, and so on.

What is required from the supervisor under a forced distribution performance appraisal method?

must assign only a certain proportion of subordinates to each of several categories with respect to each other.

What does the alternative ranking method involve?

normally takes place in several steps. The first step is to put the best subordinate at the head of the list and the worst subordinate at the bottom, usually on the basis of overall performance. The superior then selects the best and worst from the remaining subordinates. The middle position on the list is the last to be filled.

horn error

occurs when a poor rating in one area unjustly affects ratings in other job performance areas, resulting in a poor overall appraisal.

Halo and Horn Error

occurs when superiors rate employees on several dimensions of performance, but allow one measure to influence all other dimensions

In what circumstances are peer appraisals useful?

particularly valuable when superiors lack access to some aspects of the subordinate's performance and self-managed teams, when teamwork and participation are part of the organizational culture

halo effect

this occurs because supervisors allow one positive characteristic (or behavior) of the employee to overshadow all other characteristics (or behaviors) of the employee

Error of Leniency

to avoid conflict, a manager rates subordinates higher than they should be rated. This is especially likely to happen when there are no organizational sanctions against high ratings, when rewards are not part of a fixed and limited pot, and when organizational calibration of ratings does not occur.

restaurants

types of employment would be best suited for using appraisal by customers

"subordinate" or "ratee"

used in this course to refer to the employee who is being appraised

"superior" or "rater"

used to refer to the person doing the appraising