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Enhancing Employee Performance Appraisals: Memory, Heuristics, and Effective Strategies

Performance appraisals are critical processes for providing feedback on employee job performance, often conducted annually or semi-annually. However, they hinge on a supervisor’s ability to accurately remember and assess each employee’s contributions. This module explores cognitive processes in performance evaluation, including observation, information encoding, storage, retrieval, and the potential pitfalls of heuristics that can lead to bias, such as the halo effect. Strategies to improve accuracy include training, structured ratings, and effective feedback mechanisms. For employees, being prepared and tracking performance is key to receiving beneficial evaluations.

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Enhancing Employee Performance Appraisals: Memory, Heuristics, and Effective Strategies

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Memoryand Performance Appraisals at Work Module from SIOP

  2. Performance Appraisal • Process by which employees are given feedback on job performance • Often annual or semi-annual • The question: How is a boss supposed to remember what each employee did or didn’t do?

  3. What’s going on? Performance appraisal can be viewed as a classic example of how we cognitively process and remember things The boss (or other rater)… • observes relevant behaviors • encodes information about performance • stores encoded information in memory • retrieves information needed for the evaluation • integrates retrieved information with other available info (e.g., documentation) • assigns an evaluation to the person being rated

  4. Heuristics: How Raters Cope” • Many raters use heuristics to create “cognitive shortcuts” to help make ratings • The problem: Heuristics are based on general impressions or information and lack specificity • Halo error!

  5. How can raters be more accurate? • Training (e.g., Frame-of-Reference) • Diary/log keeping • Make performance appraisal a process, not an “event” • Structure the performance appraisal ratings so that specific information has to be recalled • One tool: Behaviorally anchored rating scales

  6. Maintains A Good Work Relationship Discusses work-related issues with supervisor and other work group members using knowledge gained from work experience to improve work unit efficiency or quality, or to solve work-related problems.

  7. What can YOU do? • If you’re receiving a performance evaluation • Come prepared • Keep track of what you do • If you have a “Development Plan,” bring it • Any specific information you can provide makes the rater’s job easier • Don’t panic! • The most common use for performance appraisals is feedback; accurate feedback can only help you get better at your job

  8. For more information… Balzer, W. K., & Sulsky, L. M. (1992). Halo and performance appraisal research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 975-985. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.77.6.975 DeNisi, A. S., Cafferty, T. P., & Meglino, B. M. (1984). A cognitive view of the performance appraisal process: A model and research propositions. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 33, 360-396. doi:10.1013/0030-5073(84)90029-1 Uggerslev, K. L., & Sulsky, L. M. (2008). Using frame-of-reference training to understand the implications of rater idiosyncrasy for rating accuracy. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 711-719. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.711

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