problem 1 - job performance Flashcards
what is job performance
the degree to which an individual helps the organization reach its goals
is behavioral, episodic, evaluative & multidimensional
performance is a behavioral contruct
performance is behavior with an evaluative component → behavior that can be evaluated as positive or negative for individual or organizational
2 imp reasons why should focus on behavior instead of results:
1. states/conditions of things/people that are changed by performance are also affected by other factors not under the individual performer’s control
2. a behavioral focus is necessary to develop a psychological understanding of selection processes and apply the full range of psychological principles and tools to the problem of prediction most fruitfully
performance behavior is episodic
streams of work behavior are punctuated by occasions when people do something that does make a difference in relation to organizational goals
these are the behavioral episodes that make up the domain of job performance
performance behavior episodes are evaluative
only behavioral episodes that make a difference to organizational goal accomplishment are part of the performance domain + that they vary widely according to their organizational contributions
* both behaviors that have pos & neg effects + behaviors that have big or small effect
* = behavioral episodes in the performance domain have varying contribution values for the organization
Thus, it is possible to identify behavioral episodes that are regarded as more or less organizationally desirable and to scale the degree to which they are organizationally desirable with enough precision to distinguish between them
performance domain is behaviorally multidimensional
- All behavioral episodes can be scaled according to a common metric: contribution value - when expressed this way job performance is unidimensional
- However there are many different kinds of behaviors that would advance or hinder organizational goals - shouldnt just lump them all together
what is task performance
an individual’s proficiency with which they perform activities which contribute to the organization’s technical core
can be direct or indirect & is multidimensional
2 types:
1. Activities that transform raw materials into the goods & services that are the organization’s products
2. Activities that service and maintain the technical core & enable it to function effectively
what is contextual performance?
activities which do not contribute to the technical core but which support the organizational, social, and psychological environment in which organizational goals are pursued
2 types:
1. Behaviors which aim primarily at the smooth functioning of the organization as it is at the present moment
2. Proactive behaviors which aim at changing and improving work procedures and organizational processes
individual differences in task & contextual performance
3 direct determinants of job performance
Declarative knowledge: knowledge of facts, principles, and procedures
Procedural knowledge and skill: skill in actually doing what should be done; combination of knowing what to do and actually being able to do it
Motivation: combination of choice to exert effort, choice of how much effort to exert and choice of how long to continue to exert effort
individual differences in task & contextual performance
McCrae and Costa (1996) metatheoretical framework
Basic tendencies: the fundamental capacities and dispositions that describe differences between individuals - define potential for observable behavior
Characteristic adaptations: concrete expressions of abstract basic tendencies and take the form of specific skills, habits, preferences, attitudes, and patterns of behavior that people learn as their basic tendencies interact with their environments over time
Objective biography: the set of overt behaviors that theories of personality often try to predict; - basically job performance
Causal relations between these three variables: basic tendencies directly affect characteristic adaptations that, in turn, directly affect objective biography (no direct link between basic tendencies and objective biography)
individual differences in task & contextual performance
Motowildo’s theory
Individual differences in personality and cognitive ability + learning experiences lead to variability in characteristic adaptations that mediate effects of personality and cognitive ability on job performance
* The kinds of traits and characteristic adaptations that are related to task performance are different from those that are related to contextual performance
Basic tendencies divided into:
* Cognitive ability - presumed to be a better predictor of task performance
* Personality variables - presumed to be better predictors of contextual performance
Motowildo’s theory
Task performance
knowledge, skills & habits
Task knowledge: knowledge of facts and principles related to functions of the organization’s technical core + knowledge of procedures, judgmental heuristics, and rules for processing information and making decisions about matters related to the technical core
* People with high levels of cognitive ability = more likely to master and remember relevant facts, principles, and procedures
Task skills: skill in actually using technical info + applying knowledge to perform the necessary actions smoothly, quickly, and without error
* Cognitive ability has direct effects on task knowledge that, together with task skill, also mediates effects of ability on job performance
Task habits: patterns of responses to task situations that either facilitate or interfere with the performance of task behaviors + motivational task habits
* Expected to be affected by individual differences both in cognitive ability and in personality traits such as conscientiousness
Motowildo’s theory
Contextual performance
knowledge, skills & habits
Contextual knowledge: knowledge of facts, principles, and procedures for effective action in situations that call for helping and cooperating with others, following organizational rules, persisting despite difficult obstacles, etc.
* People who have personality characteristics consistent w these elements should be more likely to notice that certain patterns of behavior are more effective in such situations and = more likely to master this knowledge
Contextual skills: skill in actually carrying out actions known to be effective for handling these situations
* Determined largely by personality traits such as extraversion and agreeableness +
Contextual habits: patterns of responses that either facilitate or interfere with effective performance in contextual work situations
* Might be at least somewhat affected by conscientiousness, but we expect that other personality traits that reflect tendencies to adopt one interpersonal or social style rather than another, traits such as extraversion and agreeableness
process underlying performance change over time
early phases of skill acquisition: performance relies largely on ‘controlled processing’ - the availability of declarative knowledge & the optimal allocation of limited attentional resources
* tranisition stage: when person is new at a job & tasks are novel - cog ability is relevant for perf
later stages: performance largely relies on automatic processing, procedural knowledge, and psychomotor abilities
* maintanance stage: when task accomplishment becomes automatic - cog ability less imp & dispositional factors more imp
perspectives on performance
individual differences perspective
focuses on perf differences between individuals + seeks to identify the underlying factors
* cog ability: ppl w high cog abilities perform better than ppl w low cog abilities
* personality: general relationships between personality factors and perf are relatively small - strongest relationships for neuroticism and conscientiousness
* motivation: may be caused by differences in motivational traits and differences in motivational skills
* self efficacy: shown to be related to both task & contextual perf + imp in learning process
* professional experience: shows a positive, although small relationship with job perf
perspectives on performance
situational perspective
factors in the individuals’ environment which stimulate and support or hinder performance
* job characteristics model: assumes that job characteristics have an effect on critical psychological states which in turn have an effect on personal & work outcomes
* sociotechnical systems theory: describes work systems as composed of social and technical subsystems - perf improvement can only follow from the joint optimization of both subsystems
* role theory: role ambiguity and role conflict are conceptualized as stressors that impede performance (weak empircal support)
* situational constraints: stressors within in the work env & stressors caused by the actual work itself assumed to impair job performance directly
