Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is true about evaluating employee performance?
a.
Most performance appraisal systems are successful
b.
Most organizations have specific goals for their appraisal systems
c.
360-degree feedback is best used for developmental purposes
d.
All three are true
c
2. The statement “It’s not fair to pay a bad employee the same amount of money as an excellent employee” exemplifies the
need for accurate performance appraisals in:
a.
b.
c.
d.
a
3. Promoting employees until they reach their highest level of incompetence is called the:
a.
Anderson criteria
b.
paradoxical shift
c.
attribution error
d.
Peter Principal
d
4. Which of the following is the most important use of performance evaluation results?
a.
Employee compensation
b.
Employee promotion
c.
Employee training and feedback
d.
Personnel research
c
5. Which of the following is an area of potential use for performance appraisals?
a.
Validation of employment testing
b.
Training needs assessment
c.
Employee training and feedback
d.
All of these
d
6. Which of the following ratings would not be used in a 360-degree feedback system?
a.
Supervisor ratings
b.
Peer ratings
c.
Self-ratings
d.
All three of these would be used
d
7. Whereas supervisors see the _______ of an employees effort, peers often see the _______.
a.
actual behavior / end result
b.
end result / actual behavior
c.
physical part / mental part
d.
mental part / physical part
b
8. _____ ratings have been successful in predicting future success of promoted employees but/and are _____ in
organizations.
a.
Customer and subordinate / seldom used
b.
Peer / seldom used
c.
Self-appraisal / seldom used
d.
self-appraisal / often used
b
9. When peer ratings are used, research has found that high performers evaluate their peers _______ low performers.
a.
the same as
b.
more strictly than
c.
more leniently than
d.
none of these would be true
b
10. Which of the following performance appraisal evaluators is not common or well regarded by managers?
a.
Supervisor
b.
Peer
c.
Subordinate
d.
Customer
d
11. When would the use of subordinate ratings of a supervisor be least desirable?
a.
There are only 1 or 2 subordinates
b.
The ratings are anonymous
c.
The ratings will not affect raises
d.
The job is in the public sector
a
12. According to most research, subordinate feedback results in:
a.
higher supervisor turnover
b.
bad feelings among employees
c.
increased supervisor performance
d.
subordinates being fired
c
13. To get better customer feedback on employee performance, _______ are used.
a.
secret shoppers
b.
consultants
c.
peer ratings
d.
employee comparisons
a
14. Self-appraisals of performance appear to be most accurate when the purpose of the self-appraisal is for:
a.
salary increases
b.
promotions
c.
administrative purposes
d.
research
d
15. Agreement in performance ratings is highest between:
a.
two supervisors
b.
two peers
c.
two subordinates
d.
peers and subordinates
a
16. Which of the following performance appraisal approaches would have dimensions such as “prevent crimes from
occurring” and “minimize citizen complaints”?
a.
Competency focus
b.
Goal focus
c.
Task focus
d.
Trait focus
b
17. Which of the following performance appraisal approaches focus on employees’ attributes such as their dependability,
assertiveness, and friendliness?
a.
Competency focus
b.
Goal focus
c.
Task focus
d.
Trait focus
d
18. Though commonly used, trait-focused performance appraisal instruments are not a good idea for several reasons.
Which of the following is the main reason outlined in your text?
a.
They are hard to construct
b.
They provide poor feedback
c.
Employees hate them
d.
All of these are major problems
b
19. According to your text, a performance appraisal instrument focuses on many areas. Which of the following is NOT
one of the areas listed in your text?
a.
Traits
b.
Competencies
c.
Tasks
d.
Cognition
d
20. Which of the following performance appraisal dimensions focuses on what an employee accomplishes?
a.
Traits
b.
Behaviors
c.
Goals
d.
Cognition
c
21. The most common method of employee comparison is the _______ method.
a.
paired comparison
b.
forced distribution
c.
rank order
d.
behavioral anchored rating scale
c
22. If a supervisor had 10 employees, how many paired comparisons would she have to make for each performance
dimension?
a.
10
b.
25
c.
45
d.
90
c
23. With the _______ method, a predetermined percentage of employees are placed into one of five categories.
a.
paired comparison
b.
forced distribution
c.
rank order
d.
behavioral anchored rating scale
b
24. Which performance appraisal method assumes that employee performance is normally distributed?
a.
Rank order
b.
Paired comparison
c.
Forced distribution
d.
Forced choice rating
c
25. According to your text, the greatest problem with all of the employee comparison methods is that they do not provide
information about _______.
a.
the employee’s motivation
b.
how well an employee is actually doing
c.
work related behaviors
d.
there are no problems with this method
b
26. Which of the following methods is an employee comparison method?
a.
Rank order
b.
Paired-comparison
c.
Forced distribution
d.
All of these methods
d
27. Quality of work is usually measured in terms of _______, which are defined as deviations from a standard.
a.
errors
b.
relevant job behaviors
c.
attendance
d.
all of these
a
28. If an employee was to produce a work product of a quality level above the organization’s standards, it technically
would be called _______.
a.
an error
b.
good worker output
c.
self initiative
d.
none of these
a
29. An employee’s attendance can be separated into several different criteria. According to your text, which of the
following is NOT a criteria used to measure attendance?
a.
Absenteeism
b.
Resignations
c.
Tardiness
d.
Tenure
b
30. Which of the following criteria is a subjective measure of performance for a waitress?
a.
Number of positive comments received
b.
Average amount of money spent on a meal
c.
Number of days absent from work
d.
A supervisor’s rating of dependability
d
31. The most common type of rating scale is the _______scale.
a.
behavioral anchored rating
b.
behavioral observation
c.
graphic rating
d.
forced choice rating
c
32. Which of the following rating scales have been most criticized because of their susceptibility to rating errors such as
halo and leniency?
a.
Behavioral anchored rating scale
b.
Behavioral observation scale
c.
Graphic rating scale
d.
Forced choice rating scale
c
33. What type of rating scale is depicted below?
Job knowledge: Poor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Excellent
Dependability: Poor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Excellent
a.
Behaviorally anchored rating scale
b.
Behavioral observation scale
c.
Graphic rating scale
d.
Mixed standard scale
c
34. A problem with _____ performance statements is that an employee can do everything asked of him by an
organization and still not get the desired results due to factors outside his control.
a.
results-focused
b.
trait-focused
c.
behavior-focused
d.
emotion-focused
a
35. A rating scale that uses anchors such as always, often, and seldom is an example of which type of rating scale?
a.
Employee comparison
b.
Frequency
c.
Expectations
d.
Goal
b
36. Meta-analysis results indicate that objective and subjective measures of performance:
a.
are slightly correlated (r = .39)
b.
are highly correlated (r = .80)
c.
are not correlated (r = .02)
d.
can never be correlated
a
37. Which of the following is NOT true about rater training?
a.
Most organizations spend considerable time training supervisors how to rate performance
b.
Frame-of-reference training is an effective form of rater training
c.
Training increases employee satisfaction with ratings
d.
All three are true
a
38. Perhaps the best rater training program is ________.
a.
the Cronbach method
b.
frame-of-reference training
c.
BARS training
d.
no rater training program is effective
b
39. In performance appraisal, critical incidents are an important part of the _____ process.
a.
documentation
b.
evaluation
c.
political
d.
political
a
40. Documentation helps reduce the effects of all the following except ______.
a.
first impressions
b.
recent behaviors
c.
leniency
d.
extreme behaviors
c
41. Documenting employee performance:
a.
increases employee anxiety
b.
decreases rating accuracy
c.
reduces legal liability
d.
increases recency errors
c
42. A type of distribution error in which a rater tends to rate every employee at the upper end of the scale is called
_______ error.
a.
leniency
b.
central tendency
c.
strictness
d.
halo
a
43. A type of distribution error in which a rater tends to rate every employee in the middle of the scale is called _______.
a.
leniency
b.
central tendency
c.
strictness
d.
halo
b
44. A _______ error occurs when a rater allows either a single attribute or an overall impression to affect their ratings.
a.
leniency
b.
proximity
c.
strictness
d.
halo
d
45. Which type of rating error does not necessarily rate all employees similarly?
a.
Strictness error
b.
Leniency error
c.
Central tendency error
d.
Halo
d
46. An employee’s ratings on the dimension of initiative are highly correlated with all of the other performance appraisal
dimensions (e.g., cooperation, job accomplishment, job knowledge). Which type of rating error may be occurring?
a.
Central tendency error
b.
Strictness error
c.
Halo error
d.
Proximity error
c
47. If managers allow their performance ratings of one employee to affect their performance ratings of another employee,
they have committed a _______ error.
a.
strictness
b.
contrast
c.
carry over
d.
proximity
b
48. Janet is perceived by her dining room manager, Sarah, as the best waitress who ever worked for her. Naturally, Janet’s
ratings on her performance appraisal are all high. Tom, on the other hand, is an average waiter; yet, after evaluating Janet,
Sarah’s ratings of Tom are below average. This type of rating error is referred to as:
a.
contrast error
b.
halo error
c.
proximity error
d.
preference error
a
49. Bob has been a model employee all year except for the last two to three weeks; yet, Bob’s ratings on his performance
appraisal reflect his performance during this last two-week to three–week period. This type of rating bias is referred to as:
a.
strictness error
b.
contrast error
c.
the recency effect
d.
infrequent observation
c
50. Observation and cognitive processing of behavior occurs during the:
a.
performance appraisal review
b.
actual performance appraisal evaluation
c.
selection of the performance criteria
d.
instrument development stage
b
51. The ____ affects the quality of ratings provided by raters.
a.
amount of stress in the rater’s environment
b.
the feelings the rater has toward the ratee
c.
the race of the rater and the ratee
d.
all of these are factors
d
52. Which of the following is NOT a limitation to employment-at-will?
a.
Public policy
b.
Implied contracts
c.
Covenants of good faith
d.
All of these are limitations
d
53. Progressive discipline is especially important if a ______ employee violates a company rule.
a.
senior
b.
new
c.
private sector
d.
poor performing
a
54. A performance appraisal instrument would be most useful in terminating an employee due to:
a.
a violation of company rules
b.
a layoff
c.
an inability to perform
d.
employment-at-will
c
55. If an employee is to be terminated, when is the best time to inform the employee?
a.
Monday afternoon
b.
Friday morning
c.
Friday afternoon
d.
The day doesn’t really matter
a
Objective Short Answer
56. What are four behavior-focused appraisal systems?
57. What are three employee comparison methods?
58. In recalling employee performance, what do we typically remember?
59. What are the common errors that occur with performance ratings?
60. What are the three main distribution errors in performance ratings?
61. In a non-employment-at-will state, what are the three legal reasons for terminating an employee?
62. If an employee is to be terminated for violation of a company rule, what are the five things the courts will consider?