BARRIERS/ERRORS/BIASES

IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
 The Similar-to-me Effect.
 Attribution error.
 First Impression Error-confirming one’s expectation/primacy error.
 The Halo/Horn Effect.
 Selective Perception.
 Stereotyping.
 Self-fulfilling prophecy/pygmallion effect.
 Recency effect.
 Skewing errors.
– Central tendency, leniency, strictness bias.
Shortcuts in Judging Others:
1.) Selective Perception
2.) Halo Effect
3.) Contrast Effects
4.) Projection
5.) Stereotyping
Specific Applications in Organizations:
1.) Employment Interview

2.) Performance Expectations

(Self Fulfilling Prophecy)

3.) Performance Evaluation

4.) Employee Effort

1) Leniency (positive bias) Common
X Rating
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Very Average Excellent Scale Errors
Poor

All lead to a
2) Severity (negative bias) restriction in the
range of
X performance
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Very Average Excellent scores
Poor

3)Central Tendency (midpoint)

X
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____
Very Average Excellent
Poor
 Stereotypes
• Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the
group to which that person belongs and thus cause
problems in accurate retrieval of information.
• Can be misleading in case of employment interviews and
one can lose a very deserving candidate too. Basically
the person is having closed windows and doesn’t let
fresh, new ideas to pop-in.
 STEREOTYPING PROCESS
Develop social categories
And assign traits
To them.

Person is identified with a

Social category based on
Observable information

Assign social category’s

Cluster of traits
In the person
 Supervisors form
Expectations
About employees

Employee’s behaviour
Becomes consistent Expectations affect
With supervisors SELF-FULFIILING Supervisor’s behaviour
expectations PROPHECY Towards employee
CYCLE

Supervisor’s behaviour
Affect employees’
Abilities and self-efficacy
 Self-fulfilling prophecy = the tendency to create
or find in a situation or individual what one
expects to find.
• Because one believes something, one acts in a way
that makes the outcome more likely.
– Negative example: assume individual has no ambition
so gives no challenging work; individual is bored and does
not work well, confirming manager’s initial belief
– Positive example: believe exceptional potential in
employee so give challenge, support, praise; employee
thrives in this attention and support, performing well, thus
confirming manager’s expectations.
 Halo Effects
Halo effect = one attribute of a person or situation is used to
develop an overall impression of that individual or
situation. (positive aspect)
• Happens at organizing stage of perception.
• Common – e.g., when we meet a new person who smiles
at us, we have immediate first impression that the person
is friendly.
• Can create distortion in performance appraisals, e.g., good
attendance = intelligent, responsible
– Need to ensure appraisal based on facts, not biased impressions.
 Halo
Error
Responsibility
Commitment
Initiative
Sensitivity
Judgement
Communication

High ratings on other Observation of specific

performance behavior (s) (e.g.,
dimensions volunteers to work
overtime)
 Selective Perception
Selective perception = tendency to notice those
aspects of a person or situation that are
consistent with or reinforce the perceiver’s
existing attitudes, beliefs or needs.
• Influences attention stage – what we notice.
• Most easily overcome by gathering perceptual
info from others to see if one has only picked
up on part of the picture.
 Projection
Projection = assigning one’s personal
attributes to another individual.
• Happens at interpreting stage of
perception.
• E.g., when manager assumes subordinate
reacts to a work opportunity the same way
as the manager.
 Projection
• Controlled through:
– self-awareness (realizing one’s
own needs) and
– strong empathy (being able to
put oneself in the other’s
position and understand their
perspective)
Contrast effect = when an individual’s
characteristics are contrasted with those of
people recently encountered who rank higher or
lower on those characteristics.
• Person in job interview appears stronger when
immediately following a weak candidate.
• Awareness of potential distortion from contrast
effect needed.
 Performance Appraisal
Training
1) Frequent observation of performance and feedback (both
positive and negative)
2) Recordkeeping (ongoing if possible)
3) Encourage self-assessment of employees
4) Focus on behaviors (not traits)
5) Use specific behavioral criteria and standards
6) Set goals for employees (specific and challenging ones)
7) Focus on how to observe job behaviors and provide
incentives to do so
 POTENTIAL APPRAISAL

Is the assessment of an individual’s likely

performance in a higher, more
responsible position in the organisational
hierarchy
 POTENTIAL APPRAISAL
REQUIRES INFO ON
• Career paths in the organisation
• Job/role descriptions of jobs across the
organisation
• Past performance of the employee
 STEPS IN POTENTIAL
ASSESSMENT
 Role description
 Determination of qualities required to
perform the role
 Determination of indicators of the qualities
 Determination of the components of the
system

• Organizing the system

• Feedback on potential appraisal and career
planning
 PHILIPS HI-LO MATRIX
(Exhibit 10.3)

High
Problem
Children
Trg. Or
Potential

seperation.

?
Solid Citizens
70-75%
planned Emp. Lie here

separation

Low High
Performance