Ch 5: Performance

Question 1

Which of the following is false concerning performance measures?

a. Relationships among different types are generally low to moderate.
b. They are interchangeable and may be substituted for one another.
c. Each type gives a different perspective on performance.
d. There are low correlations between supervisory ratings and objective measures.

Answer 1

b. They are interchangeable and may be substituted for one another.

Question 2

All of the following are likely to make employees feel more positively toward performance monitoring except:

a. They believe the activities monitored are job relevant.
b. They are able to delay or prevent monitoring at particular times
c. They are aware when it is taking place so they can censor their actions.
d. They are able to participate in the design of the monitoring system.

Answer 2

c. They are aware when it is taking place so they can censor their actions.

Question 3

Performance ___________ systems are developed by HR and handed to managers to use in evaluation of subordinates; performance ___________ feedback occurs whenever a supervisor or subordinate feels a discussion about expectations and performance is necessary.

a. criteria; management
b. management; criteria
c. appraisal; management
d. management; appraisal

Answer 3

c. appraisal; management

Question 4

A performance rating form used for administrative purposes would be least valid for which of the following circumstances?

a. Salary adjustment
b. Employee feedback
c. Promotion
d. Firing

Answer 4

b. Employee feedback

Question 5

Which of the following is false concerning task-based ratings?

a. They tend to be the most easily defended in court.
b. They are generally most easily accepted by incumbents.
c. The rating systems are usually direct extensions of job analysis.
d. They rely on some trait analysis for accuracy

Answer 5

d. They rely on some trait analysis for accuracy

Question 6

When central tendency error occurs, it is often observed that:

a. average performers receive the best scores.
b. an extreme score is avoided in favor of a “safe” score.
c. average performers are favored.
d. extreme scores are chosen to move people away from the mean.

Answer 6

b. an extreme score is avoided in favor of a “safe” score.

Question 7

Julie is reluctant to assign bad ratings for her subordinates for fear of “ruffling feathers.” As a result, she tends to be unusually easy in her ratings. Julie is committing what type of error?

a. Central tendency error
b. Halo error
c. Leniency error
d. Severity error

Answer 7

c. Leniency error

Question 8

In looking at how judges perceive performance evaluation, the characteristics most commonly cited in court decisions include all of the following except:

a. whether raters were consistent over time.
b. whether a job analysis was used to develop the system.
c. whether the raters were given written instructions.
d. whether multiple raters agreed on the ratings.

Answer 8

a. whether raters were consistent over time.

Question 9

Objective performance measure

Answer 9

Usually a quantitative count of the results of work such as sales volume, complaint letters, and output.

Question 10

Judgmental performance measure

Answer 10

Evaluation made of the effectiveness of an individual’s work behavior, most often by supervisors in the context of a yearly performance evaluation.

Question 11

Hands-on performance measurement

Answer 11

Type of measurement that requires an employee to engage in work-related tasks; usually includes carefully constructed simulations of central or critical pieces of work that involve single workers.

Question 12

Walk-through testing

Answer 12

Type of measurement that requires an employee to describe to an interviewer in detail how to complete a task or job-related behavior; employee may literally walk through the facility (e.g., a nuclear power plant), answering questions as he or she actually sees the displays or controls in question.

Question 13

Electronic performance monitoring

Answer 13

Monitoring work processes with electronic devices; can be very cost effective and has the potential for providing detailed and accurate work logs.

Question 14

Performance management

Answer 14

System that emphasizes the link between individual behavior and organizational strategies and goals by defining performance in the context of those goals; jointly developed by managers and the people who report to them.

Question 15

Task performance

Answer 15

Proficiency with which job incumbents perform activities that are formally recognized as a part of their job.

Question 16

Behavior that goes beyond what is expected.

Answer 16

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)

Question 17

Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and threatens the well-being of the organization, its members, or both.

Answer 17

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB)

Question 18

Duties

Answer 18

Groups of similar tasks; each duty involves a segment of work directed at one of the general goals of a job.

Question 19

Examples of behavior that appear “critical” in determining whether performance would be good, average, or poor in specific performance areas.

Answer 19

Critical incidents

Question 20

Graphic ratings scale

Answer 20

Graphic display of performance scores that runs from high on one end to low on the other end.

Question 21

List of behaviors presented to a rater, who places a check next to each of the items that best (or least) describe the ratee.

Answer 21

Checklist

Question 22

A checklist that includes items that have values or weights assigned to them that are derived from the expert judgments of incumbents and supervisors of the position in question.

Answer 22

Weighted checklist

Question 23

Format that requires the rater to choose two statements out of four that could describe the ratee.

Answer 23

Forced-choice format

Question 24

Rating format that includes behavioral anchors describing what a worker has done, or might be expected to do, in a particular duty area.

Answer 24

Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)

Question 25

Format that asks the rater to consider how frequently an employee has been seen to act in a particular way.

Answer 25

Behavioral observation scale (BOS)

Question 26

Form of evaluation that involves the direct comparison of one person with another.

Answer 26

Employee comparison methods

Question 27

Ranking of employees from top to bottom according to their assessed proficiency on some dimension, duty area, or standard.

Answer 27

Simple ranking

Question 28

Technique in which each employee in a work group or a collection of individuals with the same job title is compared with every other individual in the group on the various dimensions being considered.

Answer 28

Paired comparison

Question 29

Process of collecting and providing a manager or executive with feedback from many sources, including supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers, and suppliers.

Answer 29

360-degree feedback

Question 30

Inaccuracies in ratings that may be actual errors or intentional or systematic distortions.

Answer 30

Rating errors

Question 31

Error in which raters choose a middle point on the scale to describe performance, even though a more extreme point might better describe the employee.

Answer 31

Central tendency error

Question 32

Error that occurs with raters who are unusually easy in their ratings.

Answer 32

Leniency error

Question 33

Error that occurs with raters who are unusually harsh in their ratings.

Answer 33

Severity error

Question 34

Error that occurs when a rater assigns the same rating to an employee on a series of dimensions, creating a halo or aura that surrounds all of the ratings, causing them to be similar.

Answer 34

Halo error

Question 35

Training that makes raters aware of common rating errors (central tendency, leniency/severity, and halo) in the hope that this will reduce the likelihood of errors.

Answer 35

Psychometric training

Question 36

Frame-of-reference (FOR) training

Answer 36

Training based on the assumption that a rater needs a context
or “frame” for providing a rating; includes
(1) providing information on the multidimensional nature of performance, (2) ensuring that raters understand the meaning of anchors on the scale, (3) engaging in practice rating exercises, and (4) providing feedback on practice exercises.

Question 37

Negative feedback that is cruel, sarcastic, and offensive; usually general rather than specific and often directed toward personal characteristics of the employee rather than job-relevant behaviors.

Answer 37

Destructive criticism

Question 38

Rating system that requires evaluators to place employees into performance categories based on a predetermined percentage of employees in different categories (low, moderate, high).

Answer 38

Forced-distribution rating system

Question 39

Rating system that requires evaluators to place employees into performance categories based on a predetermined percentage of employees in different categories (low, moderate, high).

Answer 39

Forced-distribution rating system

Question 40

Technique that allows researchers to code various characteristics and determine which weighed most heavily in raters’ decision making.

Answer 40

Policy capturing

Question 41

3 Components of Performance Management

Answer 41

Definition of performance
Actual measurement process
Communication between supervisor & subordinate about individual behavior & organ. expectations