Deck 3: Traditional Bases for Pay: Seniority and Merit

Question 1

There are 15 animal keepers working for the XYZ Company.Their supervisor is required to rate the performance of these workers based on the following criteria: 30% of the animal keepers will be rated as below-average,40% of the animal keepers will be rated as average,and 30% of the animal keepers will be rated as above average.What type of performance appraisal is used?

A) paired comparison
B) forced distribution
C) critical incident technique
D) behavioral observation scale

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which performance appraisal tool is most often used with managers and professional employees?

A) trait systems
B) management by objectives
C) comparison systems
D) behavioral systems

Answer 2

B

Question 3

XYZ Company ranks its employees from the best performer to the poorest performer and the employee with the best performance receives the highest ranking.What type of performance appraisal method is used by this company?

A) comparison system
B) trait system
C) behavioral system
D) goal-oriented system

Answer 3

A

Question 4

This term refers to the minimum pay increase that employees view as a significant change in their compensation amount.

A) halo effect increase
B) minimal pay incident
C) just-meaningful pay increase
D) satisfactory compensation payment

Question 5

Who determines the particular objectives in a management by objectives (MBO)appraisal system?

A) the employees
B) the supervisors
C) both the employees and supervisors
D) the board of directors

Question 6

Which pay system is most widely used in America today?

A) skill based pay
B) longevity pay
C) merit pay
D) seniority pay

Question 7

Which two factors should compensation professionals consider before endorsing the use of merit pay systems?

A) supervisor's rating bias & stock price
B) job design & supervisor's rating bias
C) job analysis & stock price
D) commitment from top management & job design

Question 8

If an employee is rated as outstanding on her leadership ability she was probably rated using which appraisal system?

A) trait system
B) goal-oriented system
C) comparison system
D) behavioral system

Question 9

The collective bargaining system was established by passage of which federal Act?

A) National Labor Regulations Act
B) National Labor Relations Act
C) Union Labor Regulations Act
D) Union Labor Relations Act

Question 10

In 2011,employees were expected to earn average merit increases of what percent?

A) 1.3%
B) 2.9%
C) 5.2%
D) 8.3%

Question 11

Jack works at an auto dealer as a sales professional.At the beginning of every year,he and his supervisor determine objectives for Jack together,which are tied to corporate objectives.One of the objectives is related to the customer satisfaction.Jack always remains in contact with customers to whom he sold cars even after six months following the sale.His performance appraisal partially depends on the customer satisfaction survey results.What kind of performance appraisal method does this auto dealer use for Jack?

A) trait systems
B) comparison systems
C) behavioral systems
D) goal-oriented systems

Question 12

Management by objective is part of which type of performance appraisal system?

A) goal-oriented system
B) trait system
C) behavioral observation scale
D) behaviorally-anchored rating scale

Question 13

This term is defined as added pay for employees who have reached the maximum of a pay grade and who are unlikely to move into higher grades.

A) longevity pay
B) merit pay
C) seniority-based pay
D) incentive pay

Question 14

This type of behavioral performance appraisal system requires the review of past performance behaviors and outcomes in order to identify them as either successful or unsuccessful.

A) management by objectives (MBO)
B) behavioral observation scales (BOS)
C) behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS)
D) critical incident technique (CIT)

Question 15

Which evaluation system requires that supervisors compare each employee to every other employee,identifying the better performer in each pair?

A) forced distribution
B) hierarchical
C) paired comparison
D) the critical incident technique

Question 16

Which of the following is based on the human capital theory?

A) seniority pay system
B) BOS
C) merit pay system
D) BARS

Question 17

This performance appraisal system is based on employees and supervisors identifying on-the-job behaviors and behavioral outcomes that distinguish successful from unsuccessful performances.

A) behaviorally anchored rating scales
B) critical incident technique
C) behavioral observation scales
D) forced distribution system

Question 18

Which performance appraisal system displays illustrations only of positive behaviors shown by an employee in various job dimensions?

A) behaviorally-anchored rating scales (BARS)
B) behavioral observation scales (BOS)
C) management by objectives (MBO)
D) critical incident technique (CIT)

Question 19

Among the various performance appraisal techniques,this appraisal system is the most defensible in court because it is based on actual observable job performance behaviors.

A) behaviorally-anchored rating scales
B) 360 degree performance appraisals
C) paired comparison
D) forced distribution

Question 20

Which of the following is an advantage of seniority pay systems?

A) they reward exemplary performance
B) they encourage employees to continue to increase their skillsets
C) they help to promote product quality
D) they reward employees on an objective basis

Question 21

XYZ Movers,a professional relocation company,has 3-person teams for their moving services.The company asks customers to complete a satisfaction survey regarding their recent move.For an employee's performance appraisal,customer satisfaction surveys are also considered in addition to his/her supervisor and team member ratings.Which of the following best describes this situation?

A) paired comparisons
B) positive halo effect
C) 360-degree performance appraisals
D) first-impression effect

Question 22

________ pay increase refers to the minimum pay increase that employees will as making a worthwhile change in compensation.

Question 23

A manager in a company gives higher performance appraisal rating to employees whose children attend the same elementary school as his/her children than employees without any children.What kind of rater error was made by the manager?

A) negative halo effect
B) first-impression effect
C) similar-to-me effect
D) contrast errors

Question 24

Which performance appraisal error reflects the tendency to rate every employee at the low end of the rating scale,regardless of actual performance?

A) error of central tendency
B) contrast errors
C) negative halo error
D) errors of strictness

Question 25

This occurs when a rater generalizes good performance behavior in one aspect of the job to all aspects of the job.

A) similar-to-me effect
B) first-impression effect
C) positive halo effect
D) negative halo effect

Question 26

The halo effect and similar-to-me effects are considered examples of which type of rating error?

A) trait system errors
B) contrast errors
C) illegal discrimination errors
D) bias errors

Question 27

________ by ________ is used mainly for managerial and professional employees,and typically evaluates employees' progress toward strategic planning objectives.

Question 28

The concept that employee's knowledge and skills can be used to generate superior productivity is known as ________ theory.

Question 29

Job analysis is vital to companies that wish to establish ________ comparison systems.

Question 30

When supervisors rate all employees close to average,they commit errors of ________.

Question 31

The General Schedule (GS)classifies federal government jobs into ________ classifications based on such factors as skill,education,and experience levels.

Question 32

With these errors,supervisors tend to rate employees' performances lower than they would be if compared against objective criteria.

A) critical errors
B) leniency errors
C) strictness errors
D) contrast errors

Question 33

This type of performance rater's error occurs when the rater generalizes bad behavior on one aspect of the employee's job performance to the employee's over-all performance.

A) negative impression errors
B) negative leniency error
C) error of strictness
D) negative halo effect

Question 34

With the ________ comparative appraisal technique,supervisors compare each employee to every other employee,selecting the best performer in each dyadic instance.

Question 35

This term refers to a difference between the output of a human judgment process and that of an objective,accurate assessment.This difference could be due to bias,prejudice,or other subjective,extraneous influences.

A) content validity
B) rating error
C) the performance appraisal process
D) a first-impression effect

Question 36

Among the various performance appraisal techniques,________ is the only one based on actual observable job behaviors.

Question 37

This type of appraisal error takes place when managers rate employee's performance more highly than they should compared with objective criteria.

A) errors of strictness
B) errors of central tendency
C) errors of leniency
D) contrast errors

Question 38

An appraisal system that requires all employees be placed in groups that span the spectrum from well above average to well below average performance is called a ________ performance appraisal.

Question 39

A manager expects high levels of performance from a newly hired employee,Ashley,as she graduated from a prestigious Ivy League university.A year later,the manager rates Ashley's job performance higher than her actual performance due to his initial belief.What kind of rater error was made by the manager?

A) negative halo effect
B) first-impression-effect
C) positive halo effect
D) contrast errors

Question 40

________ systems evaluate a given employee's performance against the performance of other employees.

Question 41

A company of 15 employees has recently decided to overhaul its performance appraisal system.Which plan would be most appropriate for the company to adopt? Why?

Question 42

Discuss the concept of "just-meaningful pay increase." How can it can strengthen the pay-for-performance link?

Question 43

List and discuss four possible limitations of merit pay programs.How can a company overcome these limitations?