Deck 8: Appraising Employee Job Performance

Question 1

Management by objectives is a management system designed to achieve organizational effectiveness by steering each employee's behavior toward the individual's career objectives.

Answer 1

False
MBO is designed to steer employee's behavior toward the organization's mission.

Question 2

An advantage associated with employee comparison systems is the ability to compare the performance of people from different departments fairly.

Answer 2

False
These systems do not allow for the comparison of performance of people from different departments fairly.

Question 3

An organization's exposure to discrimination litigation is increased if the performance appraisal system generates feelings of unfairness.

Answer 3

True
Organizations can minimize litigation by using performance appraisal systems that result in accurate and fair ratings. Employees tend to get emotional when they perceive their ratings as unfair or inaccurate.

Question 4

Inaccurate performance ratings are most often attributable to the presence of rater errors.

Question 5

The omission of pertinent performance criterion from a performance appraisal form is referred to as criterion contamination.

Question 6

Most companies use multiple rating systems primarily as feedback devices for performance appraisal.

Question 7

Studies conducted by management expert Howard Risher and others indicate that most organizations are very satisfied with the effectiveness of their performance appraisal systems.

Question 8

MBO provides performance standards that facilitate a common basis for comparison.

Question 9

MBO allows employees to have a say in how their performance will be measured.

Question 10

An appraisal form that suffers from criterion deficiency can steer employee behavior away from organizational goals.

Question 11

A forced distribution approach requires raters to assign a certain percentage of employees to each category of excellence, such as "best," "average," or "worst."

Question 12

To be effective, a performance form must measure relevant information.

Question 13

An effective performance appraisal system can create competitive advantage by directing employee behavior towards organizational goals.

Question 14

A severity error occurs in performance appraisal when raters provide ratings that are unduly high.

Question 15

If the points on a graphic rating scale are not clearly defined, accurate ratings are not likely to be achieved.

Question 16

As a general rule, employees occupying lower-level jobs are most often rated based on results.

Question 17

Central tendency error occurs when an appraiser purposely avoids giving extreme ratings even when such ratings are warranted.

Question 18

The usual consequence of memory decay is the occurrence of halo effect.

Question 19

The halo effect is more likely to occur when the rating standards are objective.

Question 20

While using 360-degree ratings for evaluative purposes, anonymous ratings cannot be used to legally document adverse personnel actions.

Question 21

A good ____ system reinforces an organization's strategic business plan by focusing attention on employees' progress toward meeting their portion of the plan.

A) human resource planning
B) human resource management
C) performance appraisal
D) performance evaluation

Question 22

Performance standards should be specified in broad subjective terms.

Question 23

HR professionals are generally responsible for monitoring and evaluating performance appraisal systems to ensure that they have been properly implemented.

Question 24

When does criterion contamination occur?

A) When all pertinent criteria for evaluating performance are included in the rating form.
B) When irrelevant criteria for evaluating performance are included in the rating form.
C) When irrelevant criteria for evaluating performance are excluded from the rating form.
D) When relevant criteria for evaluating performance are excluded from the rating form.

Question 25

When considering the use of 360-degree performance appraisal systems, the ratings should be introduced for evaluative purposes only.

Question 26

All but which of the following is a problem plaguing existing appraisal systems?

A) Use of only one rater
B) Managers rewarding performance, not seniority and loyalty
C) Failure to base appraisal instrument on job analysis
D) Poor feedback skills of appraisers

Question 27

To help ensure fairness, most organizations require an upper-level management review of completed performance appraisals.

Question 28

____ refers to a situation where irrelevant criteria are included on a rating form.

A) Criterion contamination
B) Criteria deficiency
C) Relevance
D) Job Redundancy

Question 29

Most employees do not react too defensively to criticism during performance feedback sessions.

Question 30

Managers' failure to provide effective feedback is often the death knell of an effective appraisal system.

Question 31

____ refers to the degree to which the rating form includes information that indicates the level or merit of a person's job performance.

A) Relatedness
B) Relevance
C) Reinforcement
D) Reliability

Question 32

The aim of conducting periodic performance review sessions should be to identify problems the employee is facing and to discuss solutions to these problems.

Question 33

When an MBO system is used, managers independently set performance goals for their subordinates.

Question 34

Which of the following performance standards would provide an employee with the clearest idea of what the company expects of them?

A) Work quickly
B) Process eight customer orders per hour
C) Get along with your colleagues
D) Be happy-don't worry

Question 35

Managers are chiefly responsible for implementing an organization's performance appraisal system.

Question 36

Inaccurate performance ratings are often attributable to all but which of the following?

A) Use of only one rater.
B) No rater training.
C) Employees are given opportunity to review their ratings.
D) No rater instructions on how to complete the rating forms.

Question 37

____ is referred to as the omission of pertinent criteria from a rating form.

A) Job redundancy
B) Relevance
C) Criterion contamination
D) Criterion deficiency

Question 38

In providing feedback to employees with respect to their performance, the feedback should not focus on specific behaviors.

Question 39

____ indicate the level of performance an employee is expected to achieve.

A) Performance standards
B) Performance criteria
C) Performance appraisal scores
D) Performance evaluation scores

Question 40

A rating form that includes all the pertinent criteria for evaluating performance and excludes criteria that are irrelevant to job performance is said to be:

A) valid.
B) reliable.
C) relevant.
D) consistent.

Question 41

An organization using a ____ to evaluate employees performance requires raters to rank-order their employees from best to worst.

A) paired comparison
B) simple ranking
C) forced distribution
D) forced choice

Question 42

When faced with a disparate treatment case related to promotion, a court would specifically examine the ____ of the ratings.

A) reliability
B) validity
C) fairness
D) accuracy

Question 43

What type of errors occur when an appraiser avoids giving any ones and fives on a five-point scale leading to difficulties in discerning the best and worst performers?

A) Halo effect
B) Leniency errors
C) Central tendency errors
D) Severity errors

Question 44

____ occur when appraisers purposely avoid giving extreme ratings even when such ratings are warranted.

A) Severity errors
B) Central tendency errors
C) Leniency errors
D) Halo effect

Question 45

Which of the following instruments commonly used for appraising performance employ rankings instead of ratings?

A) Behavior observation scales
B) Management by objectives
C) 360-degree feedback
D) Employee comparison systems

Question 46

____ occur when raters provide ratings that are unduly low.

A) Central tendency errors
B) Leniency errors
C) Severity errors
D) Halo effect

Question 47

When a rater's rating of an employee's performance is based on the rater's estimation of how different types of people behave in certain situations, the rater is using the:

A) central tendency theory.
B) genius theory.
C) implicit personality theory.
D) halo effect theory.

Question 48

A rater's failure to recall all of an employee's pertinent job behaviors that have taken place during a rating period is called:

A) recall deficiency.
B) recall failure.
C) memory deficiency.
D) memory decay.

Question 49

If an appraiser classifies an employee as a conscientious person based on the observation that the individual comes to work early, and due to this classification decides that the employee will pay close attention to detail, the rater is relying on the:

A) behavior motivation model.
B) behavior consistency model.
C) implicit personality theory.
D) implicit behavior theory.

Question 50

With ____, employee performance is evaluated relative to other employees' performance.

A) employee substitution systems
B) employee assistance systems
C) employee comparison systems
D) employee enrichment systems

Question 51

____ acts as a barrier to accurate appraisals because those guilty of it fail to identify specific strengths and weaknesses of their employees.

A) Central tendency
B) Preferential treatment
C) Halo effect
D) Leniency

Question 52

Which type of error occurs as a result of memory decay?

A) Leniency errors
B) Recency errors
C) Severity errors
D) Central tendency errors

Question 53

____ occur when raters provide ratings that are unduly high.

A) Severity errors
B) Leniency errors
C) Central tendency errors
D) Halo effect

Question 54

A ____ approach requires a rater to assign a certain percentage of employees to each category of excellence, such as best, average, or worst.

A) forced distribution
B) simple ranking
C) paired comparison
D) trilateral ranking

Question 55

A ____ occurs when an appraiser's overall impression of an employee is based on a particular characteristic.

A) central tendency error
B) severity error
C) leniency error
D) halo effect

Question 56

When scrutinizing charges of disparate impact in promotions, the court would specifically examine the job-relatedness of the appraisal form and ____ of the ratings.

A) fairness
B) accuracy
C) reliability
D) validity

Question 57

Which type of performance appraisal system ranks employees by matching them against each other with the employee winning the most contests receiving the highest ranking?

A) Simple ranking
B) Paired comparison
C) Forced distribution
D) 360-degree feedback

Question 58

Which type of rating errors lead to an employee receiving a low rating due to poor performance during the last month of a one-year rating period, despite an excellent performance record during the preceding 11 months?

A) Leniency errors
B) Central tendency errors
C) Recency errors
D) Severity errors

Question 59

Ratings that are heavily influenced by recent events may be subject to:

A) the halo effect.
B) recency errors.
C) severity errors.
D) implicit personality theory.

Question 60

____ errors occur when the end points of a rating scale are unrealistically defined.

A) Central tendency
B) Leniency
C) Halo effect
D) Severity

Question 61

Cost associated with creating an effective performance appraisal system include all but which of the following?

A) Bonus and incentive system costs
B) Developmental costs
C) Implementation costs
D) Utilization costs

Question 62

____ is a management system designed to achieve organizational effectiveness by steering each employee's behavior toward the organization's mission.

A) Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)
B) Just-in-time management (JIT)
C) Management by objectives (MBO)
D) Job enrichment (JE)

Question 63

A ____ presents appraisers with a list of traits assumed to be necessary to successful job performance.

A) paired comparison
B) simple ranking
C) graphic rating scale
D) job enrichment scale

Question 64

All but which of the following is a weakness associated with graphic rating scales?

A) Raters are asked to evaluate traits such as demeanor or attitude.
B) Accurate ratings are not likely to be achieved.
C) A single form is applicable to all or most jobs within an organization.
D) A good mechanism for providing specific feedback is absent.

Question 65

All but which of the following is an advantage associated with BOS?

A) BOS is used to direct employee behavior.
B) BOS is used only for jobs with many incumbents.
C) Feedback is given in specific behavioral terms.
D) No single behavior is identified as most descriptive of an employee's performance.

Question 66

Which of the following activities is carried out during the planning process of MBO?

A) Identify individual goals.
B) Identify performance standards and determine how goal attainment will be measured.
C) Identify potential obstacles to reaching goals.
D) Identify the employee's success at meeting goals against the agreed-on performance standards.

Question 67

All but which of the following are disadvantages associated with MBO?

A) MBO does not specify the behaviors required to reach goals.
B) MBO allows employees to have a say in how their performance will be measured.
C) MBO does not provide a basis for comparing performance standards among employees.
D) MBO goal achievement may depend on factors outside a worker's control.

Question 68

How many traits do a typical behaviorally anchored rating scale measure?

A) Four
B) Eight
C) Twelve
D) Sixteen

Question 69

Performance appraisals of an employee are the responsibility of the ____ about 98 percent of the time.

A) immediate supervisor
B) employee himself
C) employees' peers
D) management

Question 70

An individual employee's goals should represent outcomes that, if achieved, would most contribute to the attainment of:

A) the appraisers' goals.
B) managerial goals.
C) the organization's strategic goals.
D) competitive advantage.

Question 71

In which of the following cases is it advisable for an appraiser use a graphic rating scale?

A) If the appraiser is aware of the behavior required for the job and has the opportunity to observe that behavior.
B) If valid output measures are available.
C) If the appraiser is aware of the behavior required for the job and valid output measures are available.
D) If the appraiser does not have the opportunity to observe behavior required for the job and no valid output measures are available.

Question 72

If valid output measures are available, a firm should use:

A) ranking method.
B) BARS.
C) BOS.
D) MBO.

Question 73

In which of the following cases should a behaviorally based rating instrument be used?

A) If valid output measures are available.
B) If valid input measures are available.
C) If the appraiser is aware of the behavior required for the job and has the opportunity to observe that behavior.
D) If the appraiser is aware of the behavior required for the job but does not have the opportunity to observe that behavior.

Question 74

All but which of the following is a weakness associated with employee comparison systems?

A) They force raters to specify their best and worst performers.
B) The accuracy and fairness of the ratings can be questioned.
C) They do not specify what a worker must do to receive a good rating.
D) They do not direct or monitor employee behavior.

Question 75

____ systems focus on end results.

A) GRS
B) MBO
C) BOS
D) BARS

Question 76

When using ____, an appraiser rates job performance by indicating the frequency with which the employee engages in each behavior.

A) BARS
B) GRS
C) BOS
D) MBO

Question 77

Which of the following activities distinguishes BOS from BARS?

A) Collection of critical incidents.
B) Categorization of critical incidents into dimensions.
C) Classification of all behaviors into the appropriate dimensions.
D) Rating of each behavior by the appraiser.

Question 78

All but which of the following are advantages of behaviorally anchored rating scales?

A) Behavior can be monitored and directed.
B) Behaviorally based feedback may be provided by appraisers.
C) Behavioral anchors allow employees to distinguish expected behaviors.
D) Behavioral anchors are superior to graphic rating scales as substantiated by research.

Question 79

How does a BARS anchor each measured trait to reflect varying levels of performance?

A) With numbers
B) With adjectives
C) With examples
D) With case studies

Question 80

MBO is a process that includes:

A) goal setting, planning, and evaluation.
B) job analysis, planning, and evaluation.
C) goal setting, development, and control.
D) development, planning, and control.