Deck 11: Performance Appraisals

Question 1

Which of the following is not one of the dimensions on which an appraisal format is evaluated?

A) Cost
B) Personnel research potential
C) Employee agreement
D) Administrative ease

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In what type of system are annual goals established and passed down through the organization?

A) Performance standards review
B) Management by objectives
C) Forced distribution
D) Total Quality Management

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The question,"Does the instrument lend itself well to validating employment tests?" applies to which criterion of appraisal formats?

A) Validity
B) Administrative
C) Cost
D) Personnel research

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which one of the following is generally not true of management by objectives?

A) Individual goals are linked to the company's strategic goals.
B) Performance is determined based upon the extent of goal achievement.
C) Goals are established by management and assigned to individual employees.
D) Manager and subordinate have performance-related discussions during the rating period.

Question 5

In _____ ranking,raters look at a list of employees,decide who the best employee is,and cross that person's name off the list.From the remaining names,the manager decides who the worst employee is and crosses that name off the list-and so forth.

A) paired-comparison
B) straight
C) alternation
D) forced distribution

Question 6

_____ is one of the best appraisal formats in terms of legal defensibility.

A) BARS
B) MBO
C) Standard rating scales
D) Ranking

Question 7

A major criticism of standard rating scales is:

A) raters have different definitions of scale levels.
B) employees don't understand standard scales.
C) they are costly to develop.
D) they encourage halo and horns errors.

Question 8

The major complaint of both managers and employees regarding the appraisal process is that:

A) appraisals were not helpful in guiding improvement.
B) reviews don't differentiate between poor,average and good performance.
C) appraisals are too subjective.
D) rating forms are too complex and time consuming.

Question 9

In the _____ type of performance evaluation,supervisors answer open-ended questions.

A) MBO
B) standard rating scale
C) BARS
D) essay format

Question 10

Which of the following types of rankings would be least preferred by managers of more than 10-15 employees?

A) Straight
B) Alternate
C) Paired comparisons
D) Forced distribution

Question 11

First impression error is to _____ error as leniency error is to severity error.

A) halo
B) horn
C) recency
D) clone

Question 12

_____ errors are the most difficult form of error to eliminate.

A) Clone
B) Leniency
C) Central tendency
D) Halo

Question 13

Deming's major argument regarding performance appraisals is that:

A) the work situation is the major determinant of performance.
B) performance appraisals support team work.
C) peer ratings are better than supervisor ratings.
D) lack of training makes performance appraisals redundant.

Question 14

If the work of a secretary is judged by the number of words per minute and errors per page,the measure is:

A) very reliable.
B) a fair and valid performance measure.
C) well accepted by employees and supervisors.
D) likely deficient.

Question 15

Telling raters that sometimes the work environment and system affect job performance more than the individual employee's behavior:

A) helps improve inter-reliability.
B) leads to higher ratings.
C) has very little effect on ratings.
D) leads to lower ratings.

Question 16

Last year your performance was not very good and your performance rating was below average,but this year you have done very well exceeding your performance goals.To your surprise,your boss gives you just an average performance rating.What error has your boss most likely committed?

A) Horn
B) Halo
C) Severity
D) Spillover

Question 17

The highest level of agreement among respondents to a study of successful MBO programs was on the fact that:

A) goals and objectives should be specific.
B) objectives should be assigned a priority.
C) objectives should include a plan of action.
D) pay incentives should be attached to goals.

Question 18

All of the following are true findings regarding MBO except that:

A) individual performance improves.
B) organizational performance improves.
C) superior/subordinate communication improves.
D) MBO requires less documentation than other rating methods.

Question 19

The most common form of outcomes-based appraisal is:

A) the essay method.
B) MBO.
C) the performance standards review.
D) the BARS.

Question 20

As the compensation manager for a small company,the CEO has asked you to explain why an experienced supervisor gave many employees who reported to her inaccurate performance ratings this year.Which of the following factor is not a likely cause for the behavior? The supervisor:

A) spent too much time preparing the ratings.
B) feels guilty.
C) dislikes confrontation.
D) failed to observe actual performance.

Question 21

Teaching raters what constitutes good,average,and poor performance is _____ training.

A) performance-standard
B) rater-error
C) performance-dimension
D) Six-Sigma

Question 22

When tasks are highly uncertain and it is not clear how to define successful performance,the most appropriate rating format is:

A) BARS.
B) MBO.
C) standard rating scales.
D) ranking.

Question 23

"Rank and yank" is a _____ rating format.

A) alternation ranking
B) forced distribution ranking
C) paired-comparisons
D) BARS

Question 24

_____ is the best appraisal format across the five criteria for evaluating rating formats.

A) Ranking
B) MBO
C) BARS
D) Standard rating scales

Question 25

The best appraisal format for employee development is:

A) BARS.
B) MBO.
C) the essay method.
D) the ranking method.

Question 26

Which of the following are not true regarding performance appraisals?

A) Race has no effect in layoff decisions.
B) Males are rated higher than females.
C) Raters with traditional stereotypes rate females less accurately.
D) Variation in performance affects ratings.

Question 27

Which of the following is not true regarding self-ratings? Self-ratings:

A) tend to be lenient.
B) are best used for development.
C) are often used as the first step in the appraisal process.
D) tend to be more reliable than peer ratings.

Question 28

Which of the following is most likely to motivate employees to perform better?

A) Across-the-board increases common in unionized firms
B) Raises based on competency tests
C) Raises based on the CPI
D) Seniority-based pay increases

Question 29

Merit guidelines allocate pay increases based upon:

A) seniority and performance.
B) performance level.
C) performance level and employee position in their pay grade.
D) performance and size of merit budget.

Question 30

All of the following are steps to creating a good performance appraisal process except:

A) performance dimensions are linked to the strategic plan.
B) use experienced consultants to develop the rating process.
C) train raters in use of the system.
D) diagnose performance problems in advance.

Question 31

Among peer raters,the most objective evaluations are given by:

A) more experienced workers.
B) workers who are not close friends with ratees.
C) high performing workers.
D) low performing workers.

Question 32

The most reliable performance ratings are done by:

A) peers.
B) supervisors.
C) customers.
D) self.

Question 33

All of the following are strengths of 360-degree feedback except that it:

A) is useful for both administrative and development purposes.
B) improves employee self-awareness.
C) promotes better performance.
D) improves communication between supervisors and staff.

Question 34

When a job involves very routine,mechanistic tasks,the best appraisal format that is most appropriate is:

A) BARS.
B) MBO.
C) standard rating scales.
D) alternation ranking.

Question 35

All of the following are categories of rater training except _____ training.

A) rater-error
B) performance-standard
C) behavior modeling
D) performance-dimension

Question 36

In which of the following rating formats are leniency,severity,and central tendency errors not present?

A) Standard rating scales
B) BARS
C) MBO
D) Ranking

Question 37

Which of the following statements is true regarding rater training?

A) Training programs lasting over two hours are as effective as shorter ones.
B) Rater-error training is more effective than performance-standard or performance-dimension.
C) Lectures on how to improve ratings are ineffective.
D) Training to reduce halo and improve accuracy have been most successful.

Question 38

When a job involves less routine tasks,but an outcome can be specified,an excellent rating format is:

A) BARS
B) MBO
C) standard rating scales
D) essay

Question 39

Raters who are low on conscientiousness and very agreeable tend to:

A) be very accurate raters.
B) commit central tendency error.
C) commit halo error.
D) commit leniency error.

Question 40

Some companies have dropped the use of "rank and yank" because _____.

A) of law suits charging age discrimination.
B) they can hurt morale.
C) they are not effective in getting rid of "deadwood."
D) managers resist this rating format.

Question 41

Of the many factors affecting supervisors' ratings of subordinates,the major influence is actual performance.

Question 42

The total quality management advocates contend that telling raters that much of performance is caused by the system rather than the individual employee makes ratings less accurate.

Question 43

Workers who start out as high performers but decline,are rated slightly higher than those whose performance is consistently low.

Question 44

The greatest amount of research on rating formats has focused on reducing error and improving accuracy.

Question 45

Ratings of high performing employees tend to be accurate since supervisors are not embarrassed to give praise.

Question 46

Subordinate ratings are more accurate when they are not anonymous.

Question 47

A major difference between rankings and ratings is ratings use an absolute versus a relative scale.

Question 48

The performance of hourly workers is more likely to be tied to quantifiable measures than managerial workers.

Question 49

Research has shown that the BARS format has proven the best for reducing rating errors.

Question 50

Rankings are more popular among managers than ratings as they are less complex and uni-dimensional.

Question 51

Since peers and co-workers have good knowledge of the work of their peers,peer ratings have become more common than ratings done by supervisors.

Question 52

Halo error is when performance at the end of a rating period has a large influence on the rating for the entire period.

Question 53

Since much of performance may be explained by one performance factor,it may not be useful to rate performance on many dimensions.

Question 54

360-degree feedback is used primarily with managers and other high-level employees.

Question 55

In making performance appraisals,managers tend to focus on either good performance,counterproductive performance,or both.

Question 56

Overall performance in both the standard rating scale and MBO is the weighted average of ratings on all dimensions.

Question 57

MBO requires more paperwork than other rating methods and increases both performance pressure and stress.

Question 58

Supervisors' ratings are less likely to terminate employees for performance when unemployment is low.

Question 59

MBO is particularly well suited as a basis for administrative decisions such as pay raises.

Question 60

In most Asian cultures,employees do not welcome performance feedback.

Question 61

What is the significance of promotions as a pay-for-performance tool?

Question 62

Keeping a performance diary helps employers defend against discrimination charges stemming from performance ratings.

Question 63

Performance-dimension training provides raters with a standard of comparison or frame of reference for making appraisals.

Question 64

Why is it pertinent to define behavioral expectations for highly routine tasks?

Question 65

Unlike employment tests,performance appraisals are not subject to the same EEO regulations.

Question 66

A recommended practice for appraisal interviews is to have the employee complete a self-appraisal form prior to the appraisal interview.

Question 67

List the areas of errors in the performance appraisal process.

Question 68

Performance appraisals are more accurate when raters are required to provide feedback to subordinates.

Question 69

What are the key suggestions for an effective performance appraisal process?

Question 70

Which is the most popular appraisal method which uses outcomes as a standard?

Question 71

Describe the paired comparison method of appraisal.

Question 72

How do you define a good appraisal format?

Question 73

What are the types of pay systems that do not have high motivational potential,but provide equal increases to all employees regardless of performance?

Question 74

What are the various factors that influence performance ratings?

Question 75

Though raters typically store information about worker performance accurately,when they recall information,it is in terms of trait categories.

Question 76

The first question in designing merit guidelines is how much of an increase does it take for employees to recognize the raise as a real increase.

Question 77

Requiring raters to provide written justification of their ratings improves rating accuracy.

Question 78

The main problem of use of merit pay is how to get employees to view raises as a reward for performance.

Question 79

What was Deming's major criticism against performance appraisals?

Question 80

In merit guidelines,employees low in the pay range receive higher percentage increases than employees higher in the range.