Deck 6: Evaluating Employee Performance

Question 1

The use of multiple perspective performance appraisals may lead to

A) increased reliability of performance appraisals.
B) more accurate and complete performance appraisals.
C) an increased sense of fairness and acceptance by the evaluated worker.
D) All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

Objective performance criteria would be most easily developed for the job of

A) dancer.
B) bank teller.
C) executive vice president.
D) author.

Answer 2

bank teller.

Question 3

The evaluation of employees' job performance is

A) not very important to the organization.
B) important to the individual worker, but not to the organization.
C) a vital personnel function.
D) only important for I/O researchers.

Answer 3

a vital personnel function.

Question 4

The extent to which performance appraisals contain elements that detract from the accurate assessment of job performance refers to

A) criterion relevance.
B) criterion deficiency.
C) criterion usefulness.
D) criterion contamination.

Question 5

An example of a soft performance criterion is

A) how many light bulbs are packaged per hour.
B) how effective a manager is in motivating subordinates.
C) how long it takes a worker to assemble a toy product.
D) how many dollars in sales are generated by a salesperson.

Question 6

The extent to which the means of appraising performance is pertinent to job success refers to

A) criterion relevance.
B) criterion deficiency.
C) criterion usefulness.
D) criterion contamination.

Question 7

A worker who displays tremendous work effort may best be evaluated using

A) observational techniques.
B) objective performance criteria.
C) subjective performance criteria.
D) checklists.

Question 8

Objective performance criteria

A) involve judgments or ratings made by a knowledgeable individual.
B) are always clearly established by organizations.
C) involve the measurement of quantifiable aspects of job performance.
D) do not differ from subjective performance criteria.

Question 9

Peer ratings of performance appraisal are

A) rarely used because they are inaccurate.
B) frequently used because they are very accurate.
C) potential sources of conflict between coworkers.
D) accurate, although they are often discrepant from supervisor performance appraisals.

Question 10

Objective performance criteria are

A) less prone to bias and distortion than subjective performance ratings.
B) not directly tied to "bottom line" assessments of success.
C) easily developed for all types of jobs.
D) always completely descriptive of successful job performance.

Question 11

Performance appraisals assess worker performance

A) in terms of productivity.
B) in comparison to certain predetermined standards.
C) in terms of worker attitude and commitment.
D) All of the above

Question 12

Relevant performance criteria for a teacher would NOT include

A) the degree of learning demonstrated by students.
B) the number of school days missed by students.
C) the number of complaints received from parents.
D) the number of school days missed by the teacher.

Question 13

By far, most performance appraisals are performed by

A) workers rating their own performance.
B) supervisors.
C) customers.
D) co-workers.
E) All of the above

Question 14

For the worker, performance appraisals are most important as

A) sources of feedback to improve performance.
B) opportunities to interact with coworkers.
C) sources of information regarding jobs in other organizations.
D) opportunities to interact with evaluators.

Question 15

The degree to which a criterion falls short of measuring job performance refers to

A) criterion relevance.
B) criterion deficiency.
C) criterion usefulness.
D) criterion contamination.

Question 16

For the organization, performance appraisals serve as

A) assessments of productivity of individuals and work units.
B) sources of validation for employee selection and placement methods.
C) sources of information for employee needs.
D) All of the above

Question 17

A common source of criterion contamination is

A) the use of objective performance criteria.
B) the use of subjective performance criteria.
C) appraiser biases.
D) a lack of time to develop accurate performance criteria.

Question 18

Performance criteria are

A) always measured in terms of the number of units produced.
B) the means of predicting successful or unsuccessful career development.
C) a product of job analyses.
D) All of the above

Question 19

Self-appraisals of worker performance

A) are useful in encouraging worker commitment to performance goals.
B) are always invalid and biased.
C) are often inaccurate and thus should not be used.
D) decrease communication between workers and supervisors.

Question 20

To be useful, a performance criterion should

A) be relatively easy and cost-effective to measure.
B) be seen as relevant by the appraiser and by the employee.
C) be seen as relevant by the management of the organization.
D) All of the above

Question 21

Comparative methods of appraising the performance of a nurse would include

A) recording poor, average, and good behavioral incidents.
B) comparing the nurse's performance to that of every other nurse in the department.
C) recording the number of times the nurse was observed performing key work behaviors.
D) obtaining performance appraisals from patients, doctors, and other nurses.

Question 22

The use of behaviorally anchored rating scales

A) is time-consuming because BARS are difficult to develop.
B) allows a clear focus on performance behaviors that are relevant to a particular job.
C) helps to overcome rater biases.
D) All of the above

Question 23

Checklists consist of statements about performance

A) in a variety of jobs.
B) which are defined by the worker.
C) which are derived from observations of all workers.
D) which are derived from a job analysis.

Question 24

Comparative methods of performance appraisal include

A) the ranking technique.
B) checklists.
C) graphic rating scales.
D) subjective performance evaluations.

Question 25

Using a paired comparison method of performance appraisal for four employees would result in how many separate comparisons?

A) four
B) six
C) eight
D) sixteen

Question 26

A variation of checklist ratings is the

A) behavioral observation scale.
B) narrative method of performance appraisal.
C) forced-choice scale.
D) forced distribution.

Question 27

One way to deal with the personal biases of performance appraisers is to

A) use very discriminating selection procedures in selecting appraisers.
B) use appraisal instruments that are not influenced by appraiser biases.
C) make appraisers more aware of their own biases.
D) personal biases are inevitable and cannot be controlled in performance appraisals.

Question 28

The vast majority of performance appraisals use

A) graphic rating scales.
B) behaviorally anchored rating scales.
C) behavioral observation scales.
D) narrative methods.

Question 29

An example of the halo effect in performance appraisal would be

A) a harsh appraisal given to an unattractive worker.
B) a good appraisal given to a very productive worker.
C) a good appraisal given to a very attractive worker.
D) a good appraisal given to a worker based on multiple attributes.

Question 30

360-degree feedback refers to

A) providing workers with complete performance appraisals by supervisors.
B) allowing workers to explain deficiencies in their performance.
C) gathering performance appraisals from supervisors, subordinates, peers, and others.
D) large organizational meetings designed to assess the effectiveness of performance appraisals.

Question 31

Behavioral observation scales involve

A) the direct observation and assessment of performance behaviors.
B) multiple observers who rate the performance behaviors of workers.
C) a focus on expectations that workers are able to perform specific behaviors.
D) a focus on key work-related behaviors exhibited by the worker and recalled by the rater.

Question 32

The use of narrative methods of performance appraisal

A) limits the ability of raters to emphasize important work elements.
B) makes it difficult to compare workers' performance.
C) allows the worker to contribute to his/her own appraisal.
D) allows the clear communication of the meaning of the appraisal to the worker.

Question 33

In the forced distribution method, raters

A) assign workers to different classes based on work difficulty.
B) compare workers with previous employees.
C) assign workers to established categories ranging from poor to outstanding.
D) observe all workers and rank them from best to worst.

Question 34

Recency effects occur because

A) workers are more motivated to perform right before performance appraisals.
B) performance assessments usually rely on the rater's memory of a worker's performance.
C) raters focus too much on past performance and do not consider present performance.
D) most workers are evaluated immediately after being hired.

Question 35

Leniency and severity errors lead to

A) a lack of discrimination between good and poor workers.
B) accurate performance appraisals for only favored workers.
C) discriminatory practices in hiring and promotion decisions.
D) All of the above

Question 36

Subordinate appraisals of performance are most commonly used

A) when organizations are testing new training programs.
B) to assess the effectiveness of organizational leaders and supervisors.
C) to increase organizational communication.
D) for making promotion decisions.

Question 37

A leniency error can be defined as

A) an overall positive evaluation of a worker based on one known positive action.
B) the tendency to give all workers very negative performance appraisals.
C) the tendency to give all workers very positive performance appraisals.
D) the tendency to favor some workers over others because of personal opinion.

Question 38

The actor-observer bias involves

A) the actor overattributing cause to his/her personal characteristics and observers overattributing cause to the situation.
B) observers being biased towards favoring the actor.
C) the attempts of actors to influence and bias the judgments of observers.
D) the actor overattributing cause to the situation and observers overattributing cause to personal characteristics of the actor.

Question 39

The personal biases of performance appraisers

A) never influence appraisals if standardized instruments are used.
B) are commonly based on worker sex, age, race, and physical characteristics.
C) are always less influential than other response biases.
D) are involved in the actor-observer bias.

Question 40

If high levels of performance are attributed to a worker's effort, he/she would receive

A) a better performance appraisal than a worker whose performance is attributed to talent.
B) a worse performance appraisal than a worker whose performance is attributed to talent.
C) the same performance appraisal as a worker whose performance is attributed to talent.
D) performance appraisals are not influenced by worker effort.

Question 41

It is always possible to obtain objective performance criteria for a job, while subjective criteria are very difficult to develop.

Question 42

Comparative methods of performance appraisal include the ranking technique, the paired-comparison technique, and the forced-choice scale.

Question 43

Performance appraisals serve many purposes for the worker, the supervisor, and for the
organization as a whole.

Question 44

Self-appraisals of performance are usually used in conjunction with supervisor appraisals.

Question 45

Comparative methods of performance appraisal are simple to use but may sometimes yield misleading results.

Question 46

A good appraisal of team performance should include

A) members' competencies.
B) team behaviors.
C) total team performance.
D) All of the above

Question 47

Cognitive approaches to understanding the performance appraisal process focus on

A) how information about worker performance is acquired.
B) how evaluators organize and store information about worker performance.
C) how evaluators retrieve and translate stored information in appraising performance.
D) All of the above

Question 48

Behaviorally anchored rating scales are job evaluation methods that use a predetermined scale to rate the worker on important job dimensions.

Question 49

The worker's perception of the performance appraisal process is greatly determined by

A) providing the worker with a raise or a promotion after appraisal.
B) how other workers are evaluated.
C) how feedback information is presented by supervisors.
D) the instruments used to assess performance.

Question 50

The performance appraisal process involves

A) the performance assessment and employee actions which result from that assessment.
B) the performance assessment and performance feedback.
C) the performance assessment, performance feedback, and retraining.
D) supervisors observing workers.

Question 51

Subjective performance criteria are less prone to bias and distortion than are objective criteria.

Question 52

One way to increase the reliability of performance appraisals is to use multiple ratings of
performance.

Question 53

There is generally good agreement between performance ratings made by peers and those
made by supervisors.

Question 54

Criterion usefulness describes the extent to which a performance criteria is usable in appraising a particular job.

Question 55

Performance appraisals cannot legally be used to evaluate the effectiveness of training programs.

Question 56

Evaluators typically form opinions about workers' performance

A) as they observe worker behavior on a daily basis.
B) only when they are asked to make a direct performance appraisal.
C) based on their own performance in comparison to that of the appraised worker.
D) based on their recollections of past worker performance.

Question 57

Court cases have ruled that "valid" performance appraisals must be

A) based on comparative methods.
B) based on a job analysis.
C) conducted only by supervisors and relevant coworkers.
D) conducted every six months.

Question 58

In non-U.S. cultures, there may be difficulties associated with using individual performance appraisals because

A) emphasis may be placed on group rather than individual performance in that culture.
B) they are illegal in many countries.
C) more emphasis is placed on motivation than performance outside the U.S.
D) non-U.S. workers resist all forms of performance appraisal.

Question 59

Effective performance feedback involves

A) descriptive rather than evaluative feedback.
B) specific rather than general feedback.
C) an agreement between the worker and the appraiser on needed changes in performance.
D) All of the above

Question 60

Subordinate appraisals are more likely to be viewed positively by supervisors when they
are accompanied by other sources of appraisal data.

Question 61

Explain 360-degree feedback, including its advantages and disadvantages.

Question 62

Discuss how performance appraisals may be improved.
CHAPTER 7 : Employee Training and Development

Question 63

Explain the importance of accurate performance appraisals to organizations in making employee decisions.

Question 64

Although it is important for supervisors to give workers feedback concerning their performance, most workers are not interested and prefer to avoid performance feedback.

Question 65

Describe three comparative methods of rating performance.

Question 66

Performance appraisals must be based on job analyses, but they do not have to be standardized in terms of administration.

Question 67

In general, the greater the delay between performance and the appraisal of work behaviors, the less accurate the appraisal will be.

Question 68

Describe the process of causal attribution, and how it is relevant to performance appraisals.

Question 69

The actor-observer bias is a main reason why supervisors and subordinates do not always
agree when it comes to performance appraisals.

Question 70

A disadvantage of narrative methods of performance appraisal is that they offer no quantification of performance.

Question 71

The use of checklists may limit the focus of performance appraisals, since the rater must choose from among a limited number of statements which may not capture all aspects of performance in a job.

Question 72

Of all the biases involved in performance appraisals, the personal biases of raters are the most easily overcome.

Question 73

Contrast hard and soft performance criteria, giving an example of each.

Question 74

Performance feedback is defined as the process of giving information to a worker about performance level with suggestions for future improvement.

Question 75

Explain the concepts of criterion relevance, criterion contamination, criterion deficiency, and criterion usefulness.

Question 76

List and describe three sources of performance ratings.