Performance Measurement

Performance Measurement

1. basic concepts

   • goes beyond annual review but can be used for employee development, motivation, rewards, transfers, promotions and layoffs
   • hands on performance measures
     • simulations of critical pieces of work that involve single workers
     • allows assessment of infrequent but important work activities
   • electronic performance monitoring
     • cost effective
     • research data is more related to attitudes rather than performance
     • needs to be used carefully to avoid impairing worker motivation and satisfaction
   • performance management is the most common term
     • to emphasise the link between individiual behavior and organisational strategies and goals
     • performance as defined by the desired goals

2. Performance rating substance

   • most common method
     • alot of sophisticated models for the rating process
     • best to obtain ratings of specific aspects of performance rather than overall performance
   • organisational citizenship behaviour
     • research on these dimensions suggest that these are valuable additions to task-based performance ratings
   • instruments inlcude rating scales, checklists, behaviourally anchored rating scales and behavioural observation scales
   • characteristics of the performance scale can affect the validity of the resulting ratings
     • 2. the extent to which the rated dimension is behaviourally defines
     • 1. the extent to which the meaning of the response categories is defined
     • 3. the extent to which a person interpreting the ratings can understand what response the rater intended
   • involves direct comparison of one person to another are called employee comparison methods
     • simple ranking
     • paired comparison method

3. Performance rating process

   • sources of rating information comes from supervisors, peers, those being rated, subordinates of that person, clients and suppliers
     • new development of the 360 degree assessment that includes these sources
   • common errors in performacne ratings are central tendency errors, leniency error, severity error and halo error
   • rating distortions can be corrected through rater training, which includes administrative training, traditional psychometric approaches and frame of reference training
   • constant concern about reliability and validity
     • low inter rater reliability
       • need to combine sources to get the 'full performance picture'
     • more information gathers the more comprehensive the performance estimate will be

4. social and legal context

   • ratings can be affected by organisational politics and differing perspective of the stakeholders involved.
   • individual workers seek performance feedback because it reduces uncertainty and provides external information to balance internal perception
     • workers and supervisors prefer recieving/giving positive feedback
   • feedback is more effective when there is a larger number of information sources (360 degree assessment)
   • cultural improvements need to be made and counted for in performance measurement
   • issues with fairness during legal proceedings on performance measurement are typically more concerning than the technical characteristics of the system