Deck 7: Managing Employees Performance

Question 1

Management by objectives (MBO)systems seldom link employee performance to the organization's strategic goals.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Performance management involves only an annual performance appraisal meeting.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Performance management can achieve its strategic purpose only when measurements are truly aligned with the organization's goals and when the goals and feedback about performance are communicated to employees.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Rating all employees as somehow "average" or in the middle of the scale is called strictness error.

Question 5

In general,evaluation of results is less subjective than other kinds of performance measurement.

Question 6

Comparative techniques of performance management reduce the problems of leniency,central tendency,and strictness.

Question 7

In the forced-distribution method,employees are ranked from highest to lowest.

Question 8

The critical-incident technique is a behavioural approach to performance management.

Question 9

Performance management is the process through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs contribute to the organization's goals.

Question 10

The first step in the performance management process is to appraise performance.

Question 11

The most effective way to improve performance varies according to the employee's age and years of service with the organization.

Question 12

When performance measures are subjective,legal challenges may arise.

Question 13

Behavioural approaches to performance measurement tend to be valid.

Question 14

Simply asking a supervisor to rate an employee's performance on a scale of 1 to 5 would likely have low interrater reliability.

Question 15

Specific feedback is a criterion for effective performance measures.

Question 16

The feedback stage of performance is usually comfortable for managers but uncomfortable for employees.

Question 17

Balanced scorecards are widely used in both the public and private sector.

Question 18

Appraisal politics refers to evaluators purposefully distorting employees' ratings to advance their personal goals.

Question 19

Managers are the most-used source of performance information.

Question 20

Organizations establish performance management systems to meet three broad purposes: strategic,administrative,and developmental.

Question 21

Which of the following is a step in the performance management process?

A) Define performance outcomes for company,division,and department.
B) Develop employee goals,behaviours,and actions to achieve outcomes.
C) Provide support and ongoing performance discussions.
D) Evaluate performance.
E) All of the choices are steps in the performance management process.

Question 22

Consistency of results when more than one person measures performance is called:

A) internal consistency reliability.
B) interrater reliability.
C) interrater validity.
D) test-retest reliability.
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 23

Which method of performance measurement builds on the critical incident approach and is intended to define performance dimensions specifically,using statements of behaviour that describe different levels of performance?

A) Forced-distribution method
B) Graphic rating scale
C) Mixed-standard scale
D) Behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS)
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 24

Which of the following is a purpose of performance management?

A) Administrative.
B) Developmental.
C) Strategic.
D) Administrative,"developmental," and "strategic."
E) Developmental and "strategic" only.

Question 25

If a performance measure lacks ________ reliability,determining whether an employee's performance has truly changed over time will be impossible.

A) external
B) interrater
C) strategic
D) long-term
E) test-retest

Question 26

Which purpose of performance management involves serving as the basis for developing employees' knowledge and skills?

A) Strategic
B) Administrative
C) Developmental
D) Career transition
E) Management

Question 27

The most widely used method for rating attributes is the:

A) management by objectives scale (MBO).
B) behavioural observation scale (BOS).
C) behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS).
D) mixed-standard scale.
E) graphic rating scale.

Question 28

Performance management is the process through which managers ensure that employees' activities and outputs _______ the organization's goals.

A) violate
B) contribute to
C) change
D) supplement
E) help

Question 29

In which performance technique are managers given three statements of performance per dimension and asked to indicate whether the employee's performance is above (+),at (0),or below (-)the statements?

A) Behaviourally anchored rating scale
B) Mixed-standard scale
C) Behavioural observation scale
D) Graphic rating scale
E) Management by objectives

Question 30

Which one of the following is a comparative performance appraisal technique?

A) Simple ranking
B) Forced-distribution method
C) Paired-comparison method
D) Simple ranking,"forced-distribution method," and "paired-comparison method."
E) Simple ranking and "forced-distribution method" only.

Question 31

Which purpose of performance management refers to how organizations use the system to provide information for day-to-day decisions about salary,benefits,and recognition programs?

A) Strategic
B) Administrative
C) Developmental
D) Career transition
E) Management

Question 32

The extent to which the performance measure gives guidance to employees about what is expected of them refers to which criterion associated with effective performance measures?

A) Reliability
B) Validity
C) Specific feedback (specificity)
D) Acceptability
E) Fit with strategy

Question 33

If a manager considers one employee at a time and indicates a number or a word to signify the degree to which that employee demonstrates a particular attribute,he or she is using a:

A) critical incidents approach.
B) mixed-standard scale.
C) behavioural observation scale.
D) graphic rating scale.
E) simple ranking.

Question 34

Traditional approaches to management have viewed _____________ as the primary means of performance management.

A) teamwork
B) computer software
C) performance appraisal
D) objective setting
E) performance feedback

Question 35

Which performance management evaluation criterion is concerned with maximizing the overlap between actual job performance and the measure of job performance?

A) Reliability
B) Acceptability
C) Specific feedback
D) Validity
E) Fit with strategy

Question 36

What type of performance measurement method involves assigning a certain percentage of employees to each category in a set of categories?

A) Simple ranking
B) Forced-distribution method
C) Paired-comparison method
D) Mixed-standard scales
E) Graphic rating scale

Question 37

Effective performance management can:

A) tell top performers that they are valued.
B) encourage communication between managers and their employees.
C) establish uniform standards for evaluating employees.
D) help the organization identify its strongest performers.
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 38

Comparing salespeople on the basis on how many calls they make to customers could be a(n)_______________ measure because making a lot of calls does not necessarily improve sales or customer satisfaction.

A) unreliable
B) deficient
C) contaminated
D) valid
E) unacceptable

Question 39

A customer service representative calmed an irate client and managed to successfully tackle the problem bothering her.For the representative's supervisor (in the context of performance management),this would be an example of a(n):

A) MBO.
B) OBM.
C) critical incident.
D) BARS.
E) balanced scorecard.

Question 40

According to a report from the Conference Board of Canada,"Compensation Planning Outlook 2014," what percentage of organizations said their performance management system was "very effective"?

A) 5%
B) 20%
C) 40%
D) 50%
E) 75%

Question 41

What is a recommended way to deal with underperformers?

A) Discipline.
B) Specific,direct feedback on performance problems.
C) Ignore the employee.
D) All of the choices are recommended ways to deal with an underperformer.
E) Only "discipline" and "specific,direct feedback on performance problems."

Question 42

Which one of the following statements about peers as a source of performance information is FALSE?

A) Peers have expert knowledge of job requirements and bring a different perspective to the evaluation which can provide extremely valid assessments of performance.
B) Friendships (or rivalries)have the potential to bias ratings.
C) Peer ratings are particularly useful when supervisors do not have the opportunity to observe employees.
D) Peers are less likely to be willing to participate in reviews used for employee development than for administrative decision making.
E) All of the statements are true.

Question 43

A plan for managing the behaviour of employees through a formal system of feedback and reinforcement refers to:

A) behaviourally anchored rating scale (BARS).
B) behavioural observation scale (BOS).
C) critical incidents.
D) organizational behaviour modification (OBM).
E) management by objectives (MBO).

Question 44

If a student evaluating his or her professor at the end of term rates the professor low on all performance criteria due to dissatisfaction with the professor's grading scale,the student has likely committed which rater error?

A) Similar-to-me error
B) Halo error
C) Central tendency
D) Horns error
E) Contrast error

Question 45

What do we call a meeting at which managers discuss employee performance ratings and provide evidence supporting their ratings with the goal of eliminating the influence of rating errors?

A) Performance feedback
B) Succession planning
C) Calibration meeting
D) Political behaviour
E) Performance improvement meeting

Question 46

The category of employee least valued by organizations is likely to be:

A) misdirected effort.
B) solid performer.
C) underperformer.
D) underutilized.
E) both "solid performer" and "underperformer."

Question 47

Managers can improve the performance feedback session by:

A) discussing only the areas of required improvement.
B) using the tell-and-sell approach during the feedback session.
C) emphasizing personality,not behaviour.
D) emphasizing behaviour,not personality
E) discussing only the areas where the employee met and exceeded expectations.

Question 48

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

A) Productivity measurement and evaluation systems
B) Management by objectives
C) Assessment centres
D) Organizational behaviour modification
E) Mixed-standard scale

Question 49

To protect against legal challenges it is important to have a performance management system based on:

A) representative workforce.
B) strategic planning.
C) workforce planning.
D) valid job analyses.
E) employee and manager needs.

Question 50

Frequent performance feedback,goal setting,and restructured job assignment may be effective ways to improve performance for which grouping of employees?

A) Solid performers.
B) Underutilized.
C) Misdirected effort.
D) Underperformer.
E) These methods will not improve performance for any grouping of employees.

Question 51

Which approach to performance feedback is considered superior?

A) Problem-solving
B) Tell-and-sell
C) Tell-and-listen
D) Tell-and-train
E) Tell-and-hide

Question 52

Employers are cautioned to consider the ________ rights of workers before they implement GPS systems to monitor the location of employees.

A) communication
B) human rights
C) privacy
D) personal
E) both "communication" and "privacy."

Question 53

Most managers rely on which one of the following approaches to performance feedback?

A) Problem-solving
B) Tell-and-sell
C) Tell-and-listen
D) Tell-and-train
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 54

Rating all employees as somehow "average" or in the middle of the scale is called:

A) focus on activities.
B) recency emphasis.
C) central tendency.
D) contrast error.
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 55

Lawsuits related to performance management usually involve charges of illegal discrimination or:

A) unjust (or constructive)dismissal.
B) reverse discrimination.
C) unfair labour practices.
D) sexual harassment.
E) employment equity.

Question 56

A summary of performance gaps that includes an action plan mutually agreed to by the employee and supervisor with specific dates to review progress is a(n):

A) performance support plan.
B) performance improvement plan.
C) employment contract.
D) legal issue in performance management.
E) employee-employer agreement.

Question 57

Appraisal politics are likely to occur when:

A) raters are accountable to the employee being rated.
B) the goals of rating are not compatible with one another.
C) performance appraisal is directly linked to highly desirable rewards.
D) top executives tolerate or ignore distorted ratings.
E) any or all of the conditions are present.

Question 58

When managers are being evaluated,____________ are especially valuable sources of information.

A) other managers
B) direct reports
C) previous customers
D) their bosses
E) peers

Question 59

An effective way to reduce rating errors in performance appraisals involves:

A) training.
B) punishment.
C) MBO.
D) BARS.
E) using a balanced scorecard.

Question 60

The organizational approach to performance management that integrates strategic perspectives including financial,customer,internal business processes,and learning and growth is called:

A) management by objectives.
B) behaviourally anchored rating scale.
C) balanced scorecard.
D) graphic rating scale.
E) mixed-standard scale.

Question 61

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the following sources of performance information: managers,peers,direct reports,self,and customers.

Question 62

Name at least five actions a company could take to ensure it has a performance management system that meets legal requirements.

Question 63

What are the three broad purposes of performance management systems? Briefly discuss each of the purposes identified.

Question 64

Identify at least five types of errors and biases that commonly influence performance measurements.

Question 65

Name and discuss at least five ways to make the process of providing performance feedback more effective.