THINKING CRITICALLY Case 12-A: Using 360-Degree Performance Appraisals Margaret
ID: 352436 • Letter: T
Question
THINKING CRITICALLY Case 12-A: Using 360-Degree Performance Appraisals Margaret Jenkins is an administrative assistant in the engi- the department could be of greater value to their work. neering department. She is responsible to Adam Clark, one Being a new director, he is very aware of the stature that of the engineering directors. Margaret is a ten-year veteran Margaret holds in the department, and he wants to take a in the engineering department but has only reported to very positive approach to Margaret's performance. Adam Adam for six months. She has a reputation as a good per- has enrolled Margaret in the company's new plan where former and steady contributor to the department with an she will be provided with several feedback and assess- excellent attendance record. All of the other administrative ment instruments from her department and company cow- assistants and engineering personnel like Margaret because orkers. As a result of this feedback, Margaret is given a plan to correct some of her oversocializing behaviors. She is also to return to her normal activities and seek clarifi- she is a social person who takes an interest in everyone. In a typical day, Margaret arrives at work on time, and then goes to the cafeteria for coffee and conversa- tion with her many friends and coworkers. This usually lasts about half an hour. Margaret does receive personal phone calls during the day and makes phone calls on per- sonal matters quite often. She is also the first person to be involved with gatherings for birthdays and retirement activities. The engineering section is involved in several large and complex new projects that will demand close cation with Adam and other employees on ways she can improve her value to the company. RESPONDING TO THE CASE 1. How would this new type of performance appraisal 2. What else needs to go on in an organization for this 3. What type of potential problems might one be on plan help Margaret, and how would it help Adam? type of performance appraisal to work? the lookout for when using this type of appraisal attention to communication and follow-up activities. Adam is interested in finding ways to improve Margaret's job scope and her job performance. He believes that Margaret's long service and experience in instrument?Explanation / Answer
1 ) This new type of appraisal which provides feedback to margaret to overcome her negatives and focus on positives which makes her a better employee of the organization. This in result will help Adam by improvising the quality of work done under him.
2) The feedback provided to margaret must be a proper one rather than random. All the employees providing feedback should have in mind that their feedback should be useful to the person not degrading them. Margaret also must take this feedback in good spirit and improvise her performance based on it .
3) There are 8 viable issues with performance appraisals. They are:
a) compare and contrast: each and every employee perform an activity differently. We should never compare and use it for appraisal
b) similarity error: managers tend to look into the performance of the employees and expect similar results but as said earlier appraisal must be done on individual performance not with similarity of others
c) the halo effect: managers appraisal is generally affected by the positive or negative feelings he has towards the employees. This is not fair to the employees.
d) recency effect: usually performance appraisal takes place once a year. Taking note of recent performance rather than the whole year is an error made by managers.
e) severity / leniency effect: some managers have lenient tendency and grade all employees as an above average while other managers grade them too strictly
f) bias: mamagers prefer and give give importance to some employees and neglect the others
g) stereotyping: making an performance appraisal based on gender , where the employee is from or other similar categories is an error .
h) attribution error: assuming the reason for the performance or behavior of an employee and judging on it is also an error in the appraisal.
In 360 degree appraisal another issue management faces is the employees collude with each other and give rating better for each other rather than truthful feedback. In recent times managements are questioning the quality of 360 degree appraisal.
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