7 - Performance management Flashcards
What is performance management?
The process through which managers ensure that employees’ activities and outputs contribute to the organisation’s goals.
What does performance management require?
- Knowing what activities and outputs are desired
- Observing whether they occur
- Providing feedback to help employees meet expectations
What are the stages of the performance management process?
step 1: define performance outcomes for company division and department.
step 2: develop employee goals, behaviour, and actions to achieve outcomes.
step 3: provide support and ongoing performance discussions.
step 4: evaluate performance.
step 5: identity improvements needed.
step 6: provide consequences for performance results.
What are the three purposes of performance management?
Strategic purpose, administrative purpose, developmental purpose.
What is strategic purpose?
Means effective performance management helps the organization achieve its business objectives.
What is administrative purpose?
Refers to the ways in which organisations use the system to provide information for day-to-day decisions about salary, benefits, and recognition programs.
What is developmental purpose?
Means that it serves as basis for developing employees’ knowledge and skills.
What is the criteria for effective performance management?
- Fit with strategy
- Validity
- Reliability
- Acceptability
- Specific feedback
What are the two scales used for measuring performance of traits/attributes?
Graphic rating scale and mixed-standard scale.
What is a graphic rating scale?
- Lists traits and provides a rating scale for each trait.
- The employer uses the scale to indicate the extent to which an employee displays each trait.
What is a mixed-standard scale?
Uses several statements describing each trait to produce a final score for that trait.
What are the three methods of measuring performance of rating behaviours?
Critical-incident method, behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS) and behavioural observation scale (BOS).
What is the critical-incident method?
- Based on managers’ records of specific examples of the employee acting in ways that are either effective or ineffective.
- Employees receive feedback about what they do well and what they do poorly and how they are helping the organization achieve its goals.
What is the behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS)?
Rates behavior in terms of a scale showing specific statements of behavior that describe different levels of performance.
What is behavioural observation scale (BOS)?
- A variation of a BARS which uses all behaviors necessary for effective performance to
rate performance at a task. - A BOS also asks the manager to rate the frequency with which the employee has exhibited the behavior during the rating period.
What is an example of measuring results?
Management by objectives (MBO): people at each level of the organization set goals in a process that flows from top to bottom, so that all levels are contributing to the organization’s overall goals.
These goals become the standards for evaluating each employee’s performance.
In fixed standards vs comparisons, what are the absolute measures?
Predefined standard:
- compares each employee to predefined standards
- performance of colleagues does not affect individual scores.
In fixed standards vs comparisons, what are the relative measures?
Simple ranking, forced distribution, paired comparison.
What is simple ranking?
Requires managers to rank employees in their group from the highest performer to the poorest performer.
What is forced distribution?
Assigns a certain percentage of employees to each category in a set of categories.
What is paired comparison?
Compares each employee with each other employee to establish rankings.
What are the sources of performance information?
360-degree performance appraisal.
What is the 360-degree performance appraisal?
Performance measurement that combines information
from the employees’:
- Managers
- Peers
- Subordinates
- Self
- Customers
What are the types of performance measurements rating errors?
Contrast errors, distributional errors, rater bias.
What are contrast errors?
The rater compares an individual, not against an objective standard, but
against other employees.
What are distributional errors?
The rater tends to use only part of a rating scale.
What are the three types of distributional errors? Explain each one.
- Leniency: the reviewer rates everyone near the top.
- Strictness: the rater favors lower rankings.
- Central tendency: the rater puts everyone near the middle of the scale.
What is rater bias?
Raters often let their opinion of one quality color their opinion of others.
What is one types of rater bias? Explain it.
Halo error: when the bias is in a favorable direction. This can mistakenly tell employees they don ́t need to improve in any area.
What are the ways to measure job performance?
- Trait approach
- Behavior approach
- Results approach
What is the trait approach?
Emphasises individual traits and attributes of employees.
What is the behaviour approach?
Emphasises how employees do the job.
What is results approach?
Emphasises what employees produce.
