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I/O Psych Ch 7

Evaluating Employee Performance

QuestionAnswer
method of performance appraisal in which supervisor is given several behaviors & is forced to choose which of them is most typical of employee forced choice rating
meeting btwn supervisor & subordinate for purpose of discussing performance appraisal results performance appraisal review
reasons organization wants to evaluate employee performance 1st step in performance appraisal process
forced choice rating is __ for determining compensation excellent
forced choice rating is __ for training purposes terrible
excellent source for improving employee performance __ feedback 360-degree
360-degree feedback is not appropriate for determining salary increases
performance appraisal review is the time to determine how employee weaknesses can be corrected
difference in compensation btwn 2 individuals within same job is function of tenure & job performance
important reason for evaluating employee performance is to provide fair basis on which to determine employee's salary increase
numerical rather than narrative format is needed if performance appraisal results are to be used to determine salary
promotion of employees until they reach their highest level of incompetence Peter Principal
if performance evaluations are are used to promote employees, care should be taken to ensure employee is evaluated well on the job dimensions similar to those of the new position
an increase/change in training is probably necessary for all employees if many employees score poorly on a performance appraisal dimension
personnel research is a reason for evaluating employees
to determine effectiveness, an accurate measure of performance must be available for use in determining whether performance increases as a result of training
to be valid, when using employment tests, correlation of test scores would be done against an accurate measure of job performance
in organizations where union contracts forbid use of performance evaluations in personnel decisions personnel research is an important reason for evaluating employee performance
identifying environmental & cultural factors that could affect the system 2nd step in performance appraisal process
360-degree feedback & multiple-source feedback are buzzwords for using multiple sources to appraise performance
performance appraisal system in which feedback is obtained from multiple sources such as supervisors, subordinates, and peers 360-degree feedback
performance appraisal strategy in which employee receives feedback from sources (clients, subordinates, peers) other than just a supervisor multiple-source feedback
about 28% of large US organizations use some form of __ feedback multiple-source
sources, from multiple-source feedback, of relevant info about employee performance include supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers & self-appraisal
supervisor's who self-ratings agree with others' ratings tend to be better performers than those who's ratings are not consistent with others'
most common type of performance appraisal supervisor rating
more than 90% of all performance appraisals are conducted using supervisors' ratings of performance
supervisors see __ of employee's efforts results
peers often see actual __ of employees behaviors
usually come from employees who work directly with or often come in contact with the employee getting appraisal peer ratings
peer ratings are fairly reliable when peers who make rating are similar to & well acquainted with employee being rated
peer ratings correlated highly with supervisor ratings when successfully predicting future success of promoted employees
high performers evaluate their peers __ __ than low performers more strictly
employees who score high is self-esteem & self-monitoring, and low in individualism react more favorably to peer ratings
important component of 360-degree feedback subordinate feedback
subordinate feedback is also called upward feedback
subordinate ratings correlate high with __ ratings of supervisors' performance upper-management
multi-source feedback is most effective when feedback indicates that employee needs to change behavior, perceives change is feasible, & are open to receiving constructive criticism
current customers who have been enlisted by a company to periodically evaluate service they receive secret shopper
self-ratings suffer from modesty in Japan, Korea, & Taiwan
self-ratings suffer from leniency in US, mainland China, India, Singapore, & Hong Kong
self-appraisals appear to be most accurate when employees __ performance appraisal system understand
self-appraisals appear to be most accurate when employees believe that objective record of their performance is available with which supervisor can compare self-appraisal
selecting performance criteria & appraisal methods that will accomplish goals for system 3rd step in performance appraisal process
ways of describing employee success criteria
prior to developing actual performance appraisal instrument decisions about focus of appraisal's dimensions & whether to use rankings/ratings
appraisal dimensions can focus on traits, competencies, task types, or goals
concentrates on such employee attributes as dependability, honesty, & courtesy trait-focused dimensions
concentrate on employee's knowledge, skills, & abilities competency-focused dimensions
competency-focused dimensions allow for easy feedback & suggest steps necessary to correct deficiencies
because trait-focused dimensions focus on personal traits they do not allow for easy feedback & do not suggest steps necessary to correct deficiencies
organized by similarity of tasks that are performed; usually includes several competencies task-focused dimensions
task-focused dimensions allow easier evaluation of performance than with other dimensions
disadvantage of task-focused dimensions is that it is more difficult to offer suggestions for how to correct deficiencies
organize appraisal on basis of goals to be accomplished by employee; makes easier to understand why certain behaviors are expected goal-focused dimensions
effort employee makes to get along with peers, improve organization, & perform tasks that are needed but are not necessarily official part of employee's job description contextual performance
contextual performance is important because they are __ organizational behaviors important to success of an organization prosocial
contextual performance is important because they also tend to be similar across jobs
may reduce racial & other biases and makes good philosophical sense weighting dimensions
to reduce leniency, employees can be compared to one another
comparing employees to one another rather than being rated individually on a scale employee comparison
method of performance appraisal in which employees are ranked from best to worst rank order
rank order is the __ and most common of employee comparison easiest
paired comparison can be used to make rank order easier
form of ranking; method involves comparing each possible pair of employees & choosing which one of each pair is a better employee paired comparison
predetermined % of employees are placed in each of 5 categories forced distribution
forced distribution is also called "rank and yank"
rank-and-yank result in __ levels of organizational productivity, especially during first few years in which system is in place increased
to use the forced distribution method, one must assume that employee performance is normally distributed (there are certain % of employees that are poor, average, & excellent)
employee performance is probably not normally distributed because of restriction of range
greatest problem with all employee-comparison methods is that they don't provide info about how well an employee is actually doing
objective/hard criteria is way to evaluate performance
quantity of work, quality of work, attendance, & safety are objective measures to evaluate performance
type of objective criterion used to measure job performance by counting number of relevant job behaviors that take place quantity
type of objective criterion used to measure job performance by comparing a job behavior with a standard quality
deviation from a standard of quality error
quality is __ in terms of errors measured
to obtain a measure of quality there must be a __ against which to compare an employee's work standard
errors include work quality that is __ than a standard higher
common method for objectively measuring one aspect of employee's performance is by looking at attendance
attendance can be separated into absenteeism, tardiness, & tenure
criterion mostly used for research purposes when evaluating success of selection decisions tenure
criterion usually used for research purposes, but can also be used for employment decisions such as promotions & bonuses safety
2 most common rating scales of performance graphic rating scale & behavioral checklist
method of performance appraisal that involves rating employee performance on an interval/ratio scale graphic rating scale
consists of list of behaviors, expectations, or results for each dimension then forces supervisor to concentrate on relevant behaviors that fall under a dimension behavioral checklist
advantage of graphic rating scales is their ease of constructions and use
disadvantage of graphic rating scales is their susceptibility to such rating errors as help & leniency
behavioral checklists are constructed by taking task statements from detailed job description and converting them into behavioral performance statement representing level at which behavior is expected to be performed
advantage to behavior-based system is increased amount of specific feedback that can be given to each employee
result-focused statements concentrate on what employee __ as result of what they did accomplished
result-focused systems are tempting because they evaluate employees on their contribution to the bottom line
problem with result-focused systems is that employee can do everything asked & still not get the desired results die to factors outside their control
condition in which a criterion score is affected by things other than those under control of employee contamination
it is essential to identify as many sources of contamination as possible to determine ways to adjust performance ratings to account for these sources
when comparing employee's level of performance with that of other employees it is important to use scale anchors below average, average, above average
behaviors can be rated based on __ with which they occur frequency
best approach is rate employes on extent to which their behaviors meet the expectations of organization
less commonly used methods to rate performance are behaviorally anchored scales (BARS), mixed-standard scales, & forced-choice scales
the courts are more interested in due process afforded by appraisal system than in its technical aspects
conservative courts are more likely to base their decisions about performance appraisal ratings based on validity & accuracy
libel courts are more likely to base their decisions about performance appraisal ratings based on fairness issues
training supervisors to become aware of various rating errors & how to avoid them increases accuracy & reduces rating errors
unless additional training & feedback are provided, for upervisors to become aware of various rating errors & how to avoid them, it is possible for them to reduce accuracy of ratings by substituting new errors
effectiveness of rater training also is a function of training format
method of training raters in which the rater is provided with job-related information, a chance to practice ratings, examples of ratings made by experts, and the rationale behind the expert ratings frame-of-reference training
raters who receive frame-of-reference training make fewer rating errors & recall more training info than untrained raters
frame-of-reference training provides raters with job-related info, practice on rating, & examples of ratings made by experts
goal of frame-of-reference training is to communicate organization's definition of effective performance & then to get raters to consider only relevant employer behaviors when making performance evaluations
the better employees understand the performance appraisal system the greater is their satisfaction with the system
method of performance appraisal in which the supervisor records employee behaviors that were observed on the job and rates the employee on the basis of that record critical incidents
critical incidents are examples of excellent & poor employee performance
formal accounts of excellent & poor employee performance that were observed by supervisor critical incident log
critical incidents should be communicated to the employee at the time they occur
documentation forces a supervisor to focus on employee behaviors rather than traits
documentation forces a supervisor to provide behavioral examples to use when reviewing performance ratings with employees
documentation helps supervisors recall behaviors when they are evaluating performance
being aware of first impressions is important because performance can be dynamic
supervisors tend to recall the most __ behavior that occurred during the evaluation period recent
supervisors tend to remember __ behaviors more than they remember __ behaviors unusual; common
supervisors tend to look for behaviors most like their opinion of that person
documentation provides __ to use when reviewing performance rating with employees examples
documentation helps an organization __ __ legal actions taken against it by an employee who was terminated/denied a raise/promotion defend against
without documentation, employers will seldom win lawsuits filed against them
courts' need for documentation is supported by research indicating that when evaluators must justify their performance ratings, their ratings are more accurate
critical incidents are then used during performance appraisal review process to assign a rating for each employee
critical incident log is important part of appraisal process because it refreshes supervisor's memory of employee's performance & provides justification for each performance rating
standardized use of the critical-incident technique developed at General Motors; consists of 2-color form Employee Performance Record
advantage of Employee Performance Record is that supervisors are allowed to record only job-relevant behaviors
when it is time to appraise employee's performance, supervisor should first obtain & review objective data relevant to employee's behavior
objective data relevant to employee's behavior when combined with critical incident logs provides solid basis on which to rate an employee
by supervisor reading critical incidents written there should be reduction in errors of primacy, recency, & attention to unusual info
once supervisor is ready to assign performance appraisal ratings they must be careful not to make common rating erros involving distribution, halo, proximity, & contrast
rating errors in which a rater will use only a certain part of a rating scale when evaluating employee performance distribution errors
type of rating error in which a rater consistently gives all employees high ratings, regardless of their actual levels of performance leniency error
leniency error is a(n) __ error distribution
partial explanation for leniency is that supervisors don't really know difference btwn good & bad performance, so they err on the positive side
rater consistently rates all employees in the middle of scale, regardless of their actual levels of performance central tendency error
rater consistently gives all employees low ratings, regardless of their actual levels of performance strictness error
rater allows either single attribute/overall impression of individual to affect ratings on each relevant job dimension halo errors
occurs especially when rater has little knowledge of job & is lesser familiar with person being rated halo effects
halo error is more common in __ ratings than in __ ratings of subordinates peer; supervisor
halo error is statistically determined by correlating ratings for each dimension with those for other dimensions
occur when rating made on 1 dimension affects rating made on dimension that immediately follows it on rating scale proximity errors
with halo error, __ dimensions are affected by an overall impression of employer all
with proximity error, affects are seen only on dimension physically located nearest particular dimension on scale
employee's performance is contrasted to another employee's performance, or another appraisal of same employee, rather than to an objective standard contrast error
contrast effects only occur when person making evaluation actually sees employee perform & rates employee during both rating periods
raters base their rating of employee during 1 rating period on ratings previous rater gave during previous period assimilation
when 2 people rate same employee, reason for lack of reliability is that raters often commit rating errors, such as halo & contrast errors
when 2 people rate same employee, reason for lack of reliability is that raters have very different __ & __ about ideal employee standards; ideas
when 2 people rate same employee,2 different raters may actually see __ __ by same employee different behaviors
most effective way to reduce number of rating errors & increased reliability is to train the people who will be making performance evaluations
where recent behaviors are given more weight in performance evaluation than behaviors that occurred during 1st few months of evaluation period recency effect
idea that supervisors do not have opportunity to see a representative example of an employee’s behavior infrequent observation
infrequent observation occurs due to how busy managers are doing their "own work" they do not have time to "walk the floor" to observe, so they make inferences based on completed work or employee's personality traits
infrequent observation occurs due subordinates __ __ around managers than peers acting differently
research indicates that raters recall those behaviors that are consistent with their general impression of an employee
raters who are familiar with the job being evaluated recall __ judgements about performance but __ behaviors than do raters who are not familiar w/job more; fewer
decrease in memory accuracy over time can be reduced if several raters, rather than one, are used to evaluate performance
memory-based ratings lead to more distortions
in many instances memory-based ratings are __ __ than ratings made immediately after behavior occurs more accurate
perceived psychological pressure stress
another way supervisors can affect performance ratings is the amount of stress under which supervisor operates
raters who were placed in stressful situation produced ratings with __ __ than sis raters who were not under stress more errors
rater overcompensates in effort to be "fair"; raters affect toward an employee may interfere with cognitive processing of actual performance information bias
feelings or emotion affect
rater who like the employees being rated may be more lenient, __, & less accurate in their ratings than would raters who neither like/dislike their employees biased
do not play significant role in performance appraisals, according to 2 reviews of literature racial bias
according to Stauffer & Buckley, about racial bias, argue that much of research in this area is flawed and that when proper method is used evidence in performance ratings exists
meta-analysis on gender & age bias indicates that it does not seem to be an issue in performance ratings
research indicates that dissatisfaction & decrease in organizational commitment occurs even when employee receives evaluation that is "satisfactory" but not "outstanding"
appraisal in which employee is told everything done poorly & then the employee is sold on ways to improve tell-and-sell approach to performance appraisal interviews
time,scheduling, & preparation are techniques that can be used to make performance appraisal interview for effective
both supervisor & employee should be allotted at least an hour to prepare for the appraisal interview
should be a neutral place that ensures privacy & allows supervisor & employee to face one another without a desk btwn them as a communication barrier appraisal interview location
although formal performance appraisal review occurs only once/twice per year, __ __ should be held throughout the year to provide feedback progress checks (informal)
in preparing for performance appraisal interview, supervisor should review ratings assigned to employee & reasons for those ratings
quality of feedback given to employees will affect their satisfaction with entire performance appraisal process
employees __ & __ to amount of time that supervisor uses to prepare for performance appraisal interview perceive; react
when preparing for performance appraisal interview, employee should rate own performance using same rating format as supervisor
when preparing for performance appraisal interview, employee should write down specific reasons & examples to support self-ratings
when preparing for performance appraisal interview, employee should write down ideas for personal development
during interview supervisor should communicate the __ of performance appraisal role
making decisions about salary increases & terminations are not the __ __ of performance appraisal only purpose
during interview supervisor should communicate __ performance appraisal was conducted how
during interview supervisor should communicate how the __ __ was accomplished evaluation process
during interview supervisor should communicate expectation that appraisal interview will be interactive
during interview supervisor should communicate goal of understanding & improving performance
opinion of courts, in most states, that employers have right to hire & fire employees at will & without any specific cause employment-at-will doctrine
statements in employment applications and company manuals reaffirming an organization’s right to hire and fire at will employment-at-will statements
progressive discipline providing employees with punishments of increasing severity, as needed, in order to change behavior
research indicates employees who are actively involved in interview from start to finish will be more satisfied with the results
positive feed back should always be given first
negative feedback is positioned btwn positive feedback feedback sandwich
liberal use of positive feedback helps employees accept negative feedback
liberal use of positive feedback helps supervisors who tend to avoid providing negative feedback in an effort to reduce chance of interpersonal conflicts
to attribute others' failure/poor performance to personal rather than situational factors fundamental attribution error
awareness & acknowledgement of __ __ for performance is especially important because we have a tendency called fundamental attribution error external factors
goals should be mutually set, at the end of the interview, for future performance & behavior
when goals are mutually set, at the end of the interview, both supervisor & employee should understand how these goals will be met
employment-at-will doctrine is used in the __ sector private
in the public sector an employee can be fired only for cause
limits to employment-at-will doctrine include __ laws, such as CA, MT, & NY state
limits to employment-at-will doctrine include __ of federal or state government provisions
employees cannot be fired for reasons protected by federal/state law provisions of federal or state
limits to employment-at-will doctrine include public __ policy/interest
employers cannot terminate employee for exercising a legal duty, jury duty, or refusing to violate the law or professional ethics public policy/interest
limits to employment-at-will doctrine include __ contracts
unions enter into __ __ __ (contracts) with employers that also limit or negate employment-at-will collective bargaining agreements
limits to employment-at-will doctrine include __ contracts implied
employment-at-will is nullified if an employer implies that an employee "has a job for life," or can be fired only for certain reasons implied contracts
limits to employment-at-will doctrine include __ of good faith & fair dealing covenants
courts have ruled that employers must act in good faith & deal fairly with an employee covenants of good faith & fair dealing
to __ __ __ to use policy of employment-at-will, most organizations include employment-at-will statements protect their right
in situations not covered by employment-at-will an employee can only legally be terminated if probationary period, violation of company rules, inability to perform, & economically caused reduction in force (layoffs)
period in which employees prove they can perform well probationary period
employees can be terminated __ __ during probationary period than at any other time more easily
courts consider __ __ in determining legality of decisions to terminate an employee for violating company rules five factors
rule against particular behavior must actually exist; cannot be "unwritten" rules 1st factor in determining legality of decisions to terminate an employee for violating company rules
if rule against particular behavior exists, must prove the employee knew the rule; either through oral/written communication 2nd factor in determining legality of decisions to terminate an employee for violating company rules
ability of employer to prove that employee actually violated the rule; proof through witnesses, video, & job samples 3rd factor in determining legality of decisions to terminate an employee for violating company rules
extent to which the rule has been equally enforced 4th factor in determining legality of decisions to terminate an employee for violating company rules
extent to which the punishment fits the crime; must make reasonable attempt to change employee's behavior through progressive discipline 5th factor in determining legality of decisions to terminate an employee for violating company rules
in progressive discipline, the longer an employee has been with an organization the greater the number of steps that must be taken to correct the behavior
in order to termination an employee for an inability to perform the job, the organization will need to prove that employee could not perform the job & that progressive discipline was taken to give the opportunity to improve
for an employer to survive a court challenge to terminating poor-performing employee, it must first demonstrate that a reasonable standard of performance was communicated to the employee
for an employer to survive a court challenge to terminating poor-performing employee, after demonstrating that a reasonable standard of performance was communicated to the employee, it must next demonstrate that there was a documented failure to meet the standard
a properly designed performance appraisal system is the key to legally terminating an employee
legal performance appraisal systems are based on a job analysis
legal performance appraisal systems have concrete, relevant standards that have been communicated to employees
legal performance appraisal systems involve multiple behavioral measures of performance
legal performance appraisal systems are standardized & formal
legal performance appraisal systems provide the opportunity for employee appeal
in cases of large layoffs, requires that organizations provide workers with at least 60 days notice Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Act (WARN)
when terminating an employee the first step is to ensure that legal process has been followed
when terminating an employee the second step is to determine how much help to offer the employee
when terminating an employee the final step is to schedule appropriate time/place to conduct the communication
The statement "It's not fair to pay a poor employee the same amount of money as an excellent employee" exemplifies the need for accurate performance appraisals in determining salary increases
___ ratings have been successful in predicting future success of promoted employees but/and are __ in organizations peer; seldom used
According to most research, subordinate feedback results in increased supervisor performance
Whereas trait-focused instruments concentrate on who or what an employee __,task-focused instruments focus on what an employee ___ is; does
involves comparing each possible pair of employees and choosing which one of each pair is the better employee paired comparison
most common type of rating scale is the __ __ scale graphic rating
Amy works at a bank that is trying to get customers to apply for vehicle loans. As hard as Amy tries, she is unsuccessful because bank's loan rates are not competitive. When evaluating Amy's performance, her supervisor must consider the loan rates as a source of contamination
Documenting employee performance reduces legal liability
affects the quality of ratings provided by raters amount of stress in the rater's environment, feelings the rater has toward the ratee, & race of the rater and the ratee
performance appraisal instrument would be most useful in terminating an employee due to inability to perform
Created by: lfrancois
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