Deck 10: Performance Appraisal and Career Management

Question 1

In an organization, career management is independent of the performance management process.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Performance appraisals that show evidence of disparate impact must be validated the same as any selection technique.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Which of the following involves interaction between an individual employee or manager in an organization and either a line manager or an HR manager in that organization?

A) A pay survey
B) An individual assessment
C) Internal discourse
D) Career counseling

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A 360-degree appraisal uses performance information collected from people on two sides of a manager, above and below.

Question 5

Katy, a manager, is evaluating her team members by rating them from best to worst. This rating is based on their overall performance. Which of the following performance-appraisal methods is Katy using in the given scenario?

A) The simple ranking method
B) The factor comparison method
C) The critical incident method
D) The forced-distribution method

Question 6

An individual's supervisor is the least likely person to rate the individual in his or her performance appraisal.

Question 7

A central tendency error occurs when one positive performance characteristic causes a manager to rate all other aspects of performance positively.

Question 8

Which of the following is a difference between the establishment and the maintenance stages of a traditional career?

A) The establishment stage consists of individuals aged between late teens and late twenties, whereas the maintenance stage consists of individuals aged between late sixties and early seventies.
B) In the establishment stage, individuals begin to create a relevant role for themselves in a firm, whereas in the maintenance stage, individuals reach a level in the firm that optimizes their talents.
C) In the establishment stage, individuals gradually lose interest in their work, whereas in the maintenance stage, individuals find that the coursework of their field is of interest to them.
D) The establishment stage is the first stage of a traditional career, whereas the maintenance stage is the last stage of a traditional career.

Question 9

A critical incident is an example of particularly good or bad employee performance.

Question 10

Performance appraisals cannot accomplish their goals if:

A) managers and employees do not use the same set of standards to rate performance.
B) there are no false negative or false positive errors in the selection process.
C) the immediate supervisors of employees play the largest role in the employees' appraisal process.
D) appraisals are conducted for less than 30 employees at a time.

Question 11

It is not always clear that errors in performance appraisals are really errors, except for _____.

A) horns errors
B) distributional errors
C) halo errors
D) contrast errors

Question 12

Performance information is gathered from people on all sides of a manager, above, beside, below, and so forth in _____.

A) the downward feedback method
B) a peer assessment
C) the negotiated performance appraisal method
D) a 360-degree appraisal

Question 13

Which of the following is most likely an example of a special career-counseling program?

A) A conference organized by an investment firm about new banking solutions and the resulting career opportunities for its executives
B) A session conducted by a firm for the benefit of its employees who belong to minority groups to integrate them into the daily activities of the firm
C) A workshop conducted by a software development firm to update all its employees on the latest developments in the field of information technology
D) A one-on-one interaction between an employee and his supervisor to discuss the employee's performance in the last fiscal quarter

Question 14

Contextual performance refers to tasks that an employee is expected to perform as part of his or her job responsibilities.

Question 15

Mathew is always late to office. Mathew's manager does not like Mathew's tardiness. Therefore, during a performance review, Mathew's manager gives him low ratings even though his work was impeccable during the performance-review period. In this scenario, Matthew's manager is making a _____.

A) severity error
B) halo error
C) horns error
D) central tendency error

Question 16

The establishment stage is the first stage of a typical career.

Question 17

Which of the following is a difference between a halo error and a horns error?

A) A halo error is the opposite of a distributional error, whereas a horns error is the opposite of a contrast error.
B) A halo error occurs when all aspects of an employee's performance are rated positively, whereas a horns error occurs when all aspects of an employee's performance are downgraded.
C) A halo error is a performance selection error, whereas a horns error is a performance rating error.
D) A halo error occurs when people are compared against one another instead of against an objective standard, whereas a horns error occurs when a rater tends to use only one part of a rating scale.

Question 18

The following item appears in an employee evaluation form of an organization: How does the employee react when faced with challenging tasks?
1 = Gets nervous and asks the supervisor for help
2 = Looks into the problem and asks peers for solutions
3 = Makes a list of possible solutions and shows them to the supervisor
4 = Comes up with innovative solutions on his or her own and fixes the problem within time
Which of the following methods of performance appraisal is the organization using?

A) The management-by-objectives system
B) The paired-comparison method
C) A Likert scale
D) A behaviorally anchored rating scale

Question 19

In the context of rating errors, a contrast error occurs when a manager assigns relatively high or lenient ratings to all employees.

Question 20

In the context of performance rating methods, the specific dimensions measured by graphic rating scales are not typically based on job analysis.

Question 21

Which of the following statements is true of the maintenance stage of a traditional career?

A) The highest growth in the performance of an individual occurs during this stage.
B) The performance of an individual starts being considered relevant by his or her organization during this stage.
C) It involves creating a meaningful and relevant role in an organization.
D) It involves an individual gradually beginning to pull away from his or her work in an organization.

Question 22

In the context of the methods for appraising performance, which of the following consists of a statement or question about some aspect of an individual's job performance?

A) The forced-distribution method
B) A graphic rating scale
C) The critical incident method
D) A side-by-side matrix scale

Question 23

In the management-by-objectives (MBO) system of performance appraisal, an individual's degree of goal attainment:

A) is the same as the degree of accomplishment of the organization's goals.
B) becomes the individual's performance appraisal.
C) rarely forms the basis for the individual's performance evaluation.
D) is qualitative and subjective.

Question 24

Which of the following stages of the traditional career model involves creating a meaningful and relevant role in an organization?

A) The maintenance stage
B) The disengagement stage
C) The establishment stage
D) The exploration stage

Question 25

Which of the following is a similarity between a behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) and a behavioral observation scale (BOS)?

A) Both are cheap to develop.
B) Both involve grouping employees into predefined frequencies of performance ratings.
C) Both are developed from critical incidents.
D) Both allow managers to rate the frequency with which each employee has exhibited effective and ineffective behaviors during the rating period.

Question 26

Which of the following refers to the set of experiences and activities that people engage in related to their job and livelihood over the course of their working life?

A) Acculturation
B) Contextual performance
C) Organizational citizenship behavior
D) Career

Question 27

In the context of the traditional model of career stages, individuals are likely to view work as less important and find other sources for fulfilling their personal needs and goals in the _____.

A) maintenance stage
B) disengagement stage
C) establishment stage
D) exploration stage

Question 28

Which of the following rating errors occurs when a manager gives low ratings to all employees by holding them to an unreasonably high standard?

A) A severity error
B) A halo error
C) A horns error
D) A leniency error

Question 29

Which of the following factors could impact a supervisor's motivation, rather than ability, to provide a meaningful performance appraisal?

A) Inadequate job knowledge
B) Favoritism toward specific workers
C) Inadequate opportunity to observe employee performance
D) Changing technology, which impacts the supervisor's understanding of an employee's job tasks

Question 30

Several firms have claimed to have dropped performance appraisals completely and focused entirely on performance management. Much of this reaction stems from the use of _____.

A) the forced-distribution method
B) the Likert scale
C) a goal-based system
D) a management-by-objectives system

Question 31

Which of the following methods of performance appraisal involves contrasting each individual employee with every other individual employee, two at a time?

A) The paired-comparison method
B) The factor comparison method
C) The critical incident method
D) The forced-distribution method

Question 32

Which of the following is a similarity between leniency and central tendency?

A) Both are contrast errors in performance appraisals.
B) Both are types of distributional errors in performance appraisals.
C) Both occur when people are compared against one another instead of against an objective standard.
D) Both are behaviors that are never stated as formal requirements of a job.

Question 33

Which of the following is a difference between a behavioral observation scale (BOS) and a behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)?

A) A BARS does not allow managers to rate the frequency with which an individual employee has exhibited each effective and ineffective behavior during the rating period, whereas a BOS does.
B) A BARS uses substantially more effective and ineffective behaviors than a BOS to define specifically all the measures necessary for effective performance.
C) A BARS takes more time and can be more expensive to develop than a BOS.
D) A BARS is developed from critical incidents, whereas a BOS is not.

Question 34

In the context of performance appraisals, which of the following occurs when the rater tends to use only one part of a rating scale?

A) A distributional error
B) A contrast error
C) A halo error
D) A horns error

Question 35

Chin, a regional manager at a marketing firm, must formally evaluate his immediate subordinates every year. He does so by using a management-by-objectives system. In the given scenario, Chin is most likely involved in _____.

A) outbound training
B) job evaluations
C) performance appraisals
D) organizational socialization

Question 36

Which of the following is a disadvantage of ranking methods for performance appraisals?

A) They provide no information about the difference between the persons ranked first and second.
B) They are complex and difficult to implement.
C) They do not result in a normal distribution of performance ratings.
D) They require raters to keep a log to record critical incidents that reflect good and bad performance on the part of individual employees.

Question 37

Which of the following is a traditional career stage that involves identifying interests and opportunities?

A) Exploration
B) Establishment
C) Maintenance
D) Disengagement

Question 38

Leroy, a senior manager, has been preoccupied with relocating the marketing division of Clifford Inc. to its new office. As a result, he is unable to monitor the work of his subordinates during this period. Therefore, he decides to give high ratings to all his subordinates in their performance appraisals, irrespective of their actual performance. In the given scenario, Leroy is most likely to commit a _____.

A) severity error
B) leniency error
C) horns error
D) halo error

Question 39

The goal of performance management is:

A) to formally evaluate the performance of employees.
B) to help employees learn and adopt ethnocentric skills relevant to their job.
C) to prevent employees from reaching the disengagement stage of their careers.
D) to improve employee performance.

Question 40

Which of the following is a step in career planning where an organization integrates its performance-management system with its career-management system?

A) Individual assessment
B) Career counseling
C) Organizational specification of career paths
D) Communication

Question 41

Which of the following statements is true of rating performance based on outcomes?

A) This method emphasizes the subjective measures of performance.
B) It focuses on highlighting only the positive aspects of employee performance.
C) It is based on the assumption that similar traits underlie effective performance for all jobs.
D) Feedback is relatively straightforward and easy to interpret.

Question 42

Which of the following is the first step in effective career planning?

A) Communication
B) Individual assessment
C) Career counseling
D) Performance management

Question 43

Which of the following is an advantage of a behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) system?

A) It dramatically increases reliability by providing specific behavioral examples to reflect effective and less effective behaviors.
B) It can be developed quickly and easily.
C) It allows managers to rate the frequency with which individual employees have exhibited specific behaviors during the rating period.
D) It is cheap to develop.

Question 44

Which of the following statements defines a performance appraisal?

A) It is the general set of activities carried out by an organization to improve employee performance.
B) It is the set of experiences and activities that people engage in related to their job and livelihood over the course of their working life.
C) It is the specific and formal evaluation of an employee to determine the degree to which the employee is performing his or her job effectively.
D) It is a phase of career planning in which individuals carefully analyze what they perceive to be their own abilities, competencies, skills, and goals.

Question 45

In the context of performance-appraisal methods, one of the major criticisms that had been leveled against graphic rating scales is that they were especially prone to a series of _____.

A) contrast errors
B) halo errors
C) distributional errors
D) horns errors

Question 46

Which of the following rating errors occurs when a manager assigns relatively high performance ratings to all employees?

A) A severity error
B) A leniency error
C) A horns error
D) A halo error

Question 47

Xavier, a sales manager, set extremely high daily sales targets for his subordinates. As none of his subordinates were able to meet those targets, he gave poor ratings to all subordinates. Which of the following errors did Xavier make?

A) A severity error
B) A halo error
C) A horns error
D) A leniency error

Question 48

Which of the following is developed from critical incidents and uses a substantial number of critical incidents to define specifically all the measures necessary for effective performance?

A) A behavioral observation scale
B) A Likert scale
C) A graphic rating scale
D) A semantic differential scale

Question 49

Which of the following statements is true of the goals set under the management-by-objectives (MBO) system of performance appraisal?

A) They are qualitative and difficult to measure.
B) They are almost always written down.
C) They are subjective in nature.
D) They are the same as the objectives of the organization.

Question 50

Which of the following statements is true of the forced-distribution method of performance appraisals?

A) It requires managers to maintain a log or diary of effective and ineffective employee behaviors.
B) It takes away the power of organizations to control how much money is spent on merit pay.
C) It results in a normal distribution of performance ratings.
D) It involves comparing each individual employee with every other individual employee.

Question 51

Which of the following statements is true of effective career planning?

A) It results in a stronger and more effective workforce for a firm.
B) The chief operating officer of a firm usually represents the firm in the career-planning process.
C) Career planning helps to predict with absolute certainty the level of talent or interest an individual will have in the future.
D) The final step in effective career planning is individual assessment.

Question 52

Organizational citizenship behaviors are behaviors associated with _____.

A) career planning
B) job embeddedness
C) career counseling
D) contextual performance

Question 53

Which of the following is one of the ultimate goals of career management?

A) Having employees enjoy productive and satisfying work careers
B) Preventing employees from reaching the disengagement stage of their careers
C) Preventing the use of ranking techniques for performance appraisal
D) Creating special career-counseling programs for certain categories of employees

Question 54

Which of the following statements is true of performance management?

A) It prevents employees from reaching the disengagement stage of their careers.
B) It aims to promote ethnocentric behavior in the workplace.
C) It is the ultimate goal of performance-appraisal activities.
D) It is a more specific process than performance appraisal.

Question 55

Most companies with a reputation to be great places to work:

A) prevent employees from reaching the disengagement stage of their careers.
B) encourage voluntary retirements.
C) have formal career-planning systems for their managers.
D) use the forced-distribution method for appraising performance.

Question 56

Individuals are more likely to retire when:

A) they reach the establishment stage of their careers.
B) they face gender and racial discrimination at work.
C) their work is part-time.
D) their spouses have retired.

Question 57

The performance-appraisal process at Lorenzo Inc. requires managers to evaluate organizational citizenship behaviors, such as helping coworkers get their work done, integrating new employees into the team, and rewarding the employees accordingly. In the given scenario, the managers are:

A) rating contextual performance.
B) using a management-by-objectives system for appraising performance.
C) rating task behaviors.
D) using a goal-based system for appraising performance.

Question 58

One relatively new innovation in performance-appraisal methods is the use of _____.

A) career counseling
B) the graphic rating scales
C) computer monitoring
D) the forced-distribution methods

Question 59

Natasha, a 29-year-old software developer at Widget Corp., has become a valuable member of her team over the past 5 years. She is acknowledged by the company as someone who should be valued and retained. In the context of traditional career stages, it is evident that Natasha is in the _____.

A) exploration stage
B) establishment stage
C) maintenance stage
D) disengagement stage

Question 60

Which of the following is an approach that attempts to emphasize for managers the fact that performance is multidimensional in nature and to teach those managers about the actual content of various performance dimensions?

A) Onboarding
B) Frame of reference training
C) The critical incident method
D) The forced-distribution method

Question 61

Contrast formal and informal career-counseling programs.

Question 62

Describe the steps involved in a typical career-planning system.

Question 63

Briefly explain the legal issues in performance appraisal.

Question 64

Describe the management-by-objectives method of performance appraisal.

Question 65

Briefly explain the factors that affect an employee's decision to retire.