Exam 9: Performance Management and Appraisal

John, the supervisor of the manufacturing department at a computer firm, is in the process of evaluating his staff's performance. He has determined that 15% of the group will be identified as high performers, 20% as above average performers, 30% as average performers, 20% as below average performers, and 15% as poor performers. Which performance appraisal tool has John chosen to use?

Which performance appraisal tools require a supervisor to maintain a log of positive and negative examples of a subordinate's work-related behavior?

Which performance appraisal problem is associated with supervisors giving all of their subordinates consistently high ratings?

What are the four job-relevant dimensions that can be measured by the graphic-rating scale method of performance appraisal? What problems are associated with graphic-rating scales?

Why is it important for a manager to appraise a subordinate's performance? How can a manager handle a subordinate who is defensive when told that his or her performance is poor?

Which of the following is most likely NOT a role played by the HR department in the performance appraisal process?

Studies suggest that managers who receive upward feedback from identified subordinates view the upward appraisal process more negatively than do managers who receive anonymous upward feedback.

Which of the following enables supervisors to oversee the amount of computerized data an employee is processing each day?

Who is in the best position to observe and evaluate an employee's performance for the purposes of a performance appraisal?

The third step of the performance appraisal process is to assess the employee's actual performance relative to work standards.

Top employees often outperform the average or poor employees by as much as 100%.

Oshman manufactures small kitchen appliances, such as blenders, toasters, and mixers. The firm has nearly 80,000 employees in 22 countries. Employees receive annual performance appraisals from their supervisors that combine critical incidents with a graphic rating scale. However, the firm's CEO advocates shifting from performance appraisals to performance management in an attempt to make Oshman more competitive and performance driven. All of the following questions are relevant to Oshman's decision to replace its traditional appraisal methods with the performance management approach EXCEPT:

A supervisor who frequently rates all employees as average on performance appraisals most likely has a problem known as ________.

Peer appraisals have been shown to have a negative effect on task motivation, cohesion, and job satisfaction, so most organizations no longer use them.

What are the guidelines that supervisors should follow to hold effective appraisals and minimize problems like bias and halo effects? How can rating committees improve the fairness of the appraisal process?

The alternation ranking method of performance appraisals can be problematic and unfair if all employees have excellent job performance.

The most popular method for ranking employees is the ________ method.

A talent management philosophy involves segmenting employees based on their value to the firm's success and providing those employees with special coaching, feedback, and development opportunities.

Jason is a conscientious employee, but he is viewed by most of his co-workers as unfriendly. Jason's supervisor rates him low on the traits "gets along well with others" and "quality of work." Which of the following problems has most likely affected Jason's performance appraisal?

Wilson Consulting is a management consulting firm with 70 employees. As associate vice president of marketing, Suzanne Boyle is responsible for conducting performance appraisals of the 12 employees under her direct supervision. Suzanne plans to use the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)to evaluate the performance of her subordinates. Which of the following, if true, supports the argument that BARS is the most appropriate performance appraisal tool for Suzanne to use?