Exam 8: Performance Management and the Employee Appraisal Process

Scenario 8.1 Med Supplies Ltd. is a manufacturer and distributor of over-the-counter medical devices such as blood pressure monitors. Med Supplies relies heavily on its sales team to push these products to pharmacies and medical clinics across Canada. Sales reps are paid a yearly bonus based on the team's performance, coupled with annual performance appraisals done by managers. Over the last three years, they have been paid bonuses based on the previous year's performance if it is similar in dollar figure despite losing shelf space in stores or declining individual performances. The managers claim that they do not have the time to do the appraisals, but their superiors think these appraisals are key and need to be the link between employees' goals and the organization's objectives. -Refer to Scenario 8.1. Med Supplies should consider using team appraisals to evaluate the team as a whole. Which of the following is true about team appraisals?

Using the appraisal system for compensation decisions rather than developmental purposes may affect how the rater evaluates the employee.

One disadvantage of peer appraisals is that they furnish less valid information than appraisals by superiors.

In most instances, who is in the best position to perform the function of appraising an employee's performance?

Which of the following is NOT a developmental purpose of performance appraisal?

The best appraisal method to use depends upon the purpose of the appraisal.

Trait appraisal approaches continue to be the most popular systems despite their inherent subjectivity.

One weakness of many performance appraisal programs is that supervisors are not adequately trained; consequently, they provide little meaningful feedback to subordinates.

In delivering a performance appraisal interview, Jacqui is taking a listening perspective. She wants to stimulate growth and development by discussing the problems, needs, satisfactions, and dissatisfactions the employee has encountered on the job. What type of performance appraisal interview is Jacqui delivering?

Which of the following is NOT an environmental factor that may be a source of ineffective performance?

Scenario 8.3 Canadian Fasteners Inc. has recently implemented a Human Resource (HR)system that assists with the recruitment and selection process, as well as administering a pension and benefits program. Included with these programs are training and development programs as well as yearly performance appraisals for both managers and agents who are jointly responsible for bringing in new accounts and maintaining existing ones. While these performance appraisals are done each year, mangers and agents do not receive feedback unless they are unhappy with their salary increases or bonuses. However, HR is now pushing the need for ongoing feedback as it is a key component of its compensation process. -Refer to Scenario 8.3. According to research, which of the following is TRUE about providing feedback?

Every time Sandy makes a mistake at work, her manager writes it down in detail in her employee record. Sandy thinks this is a form of harassment. More likely, what is the manager trying to do?

The critical incident method facilitates employee feedback and development.

If your primary objective for a performance appraisal is to give employees developmental feedback, which of the following appraisal methods should you use?

Team appraisals are a collection of the individual appraisals of a work unit.

Contrast errors are most likely when raters are required to rank employees in order from the best to the poorest.

Which of the following processes would be most helpful to an organization that was suffering from lack of interrater reliability in appraising employee performance?

Results appraisals give employees more responsibility for outcomes and discretion over how to accomplish them.

Suppose the performance evaluations that delivery drivers receive are partially influenced by the fact that some drivers operate in areas where there are major traffic problems while others operate in areas with few traffic problems. Which of the following would these performance evaluations suffer from?

Performance is a function of ability, motivation, and environment.