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SAGE Publishing, 2020
Chapter 9: Performance Management
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. The process of measuring, communicating, and managing employee performance in
the workplace so that performance is aligned with organizational strategy is called
______.
A. performance appraisal
B. performance management
C. employee feedback
D. problem-solving
2. Performance management involves obtaining some form of measurement of ______.
A. developmental review
B. employee performance
C. onboarding procedures
D. training outcomes
3. ______ are meetings managers have with their direct reports on a regular basis,
usually weekly, to discuss performance goals, progress, and related issues.
A. One-on-one meetings
B. Performance appraisals
C. Paired comparisons
D. Fair hearings
4. The percentage of times a customer service representative is able to resolve a
customer issue in just one phone call is an example of a ______ used for performance
appraisal.
A. subjective assessment
B. performance gap
C. quantitative metric
D. training need
5. Successful performance management systems help with ______.
A. employee engagement, employee retention, and turnover
B. employee referrals, retention, and turnover
C. employee engagement, retention, and achieving organizational objectives
D. employee referrals, retention, and achieving organizational objectives
6. Karen is a nurse in a hospital. Her patients are complaining about her slow response
when they call for her. What does Karen’s manager do before she provides coaching
and additional training to help Karen improve her performance?
A. reduce Karen’s hours
B. provide feedback about performance
C. transfer Karen to another department
D. incentivize Karen with a potential bonus
7. The classical view of performance appraisals is that they are a(n) ______.
A. motivational tool
B. measurement tool
C. self-evaluation tool
D. engagement tool
8. A good human resource manager knows to present performance appraisals in a way
that the feedback is acceptable to employees. Acceptability leads to the feedback
serving as a ______.
A. solution tool
B. debate tool
C. strategy tool
D. motivational tool
9. Elsie, a manager, likes Heather and wants her to take over as manager when Elsie
steps up to a new role next month. Elsie helps to ensure that Heather is promoted by
providing an excellent performance appraisal. This is an example of using performance
appraisal as a(n) ______ tool.
A. inspirational
B. motivational
C. political
D. buy–in
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10. ______ refers to the idea that employees should be evaluated using criteria and
standards that were clearly communicated to the employee in advance.
A. Performance appraisal
B. Adequate notice
C. Performance management
D. Paired comparison
11. At the start of each year, the manager and human resource partner meet with
employees to review evaluation criterion and standards for the next year. This is an
example of ______.
A. fair hearing
B. adequate notice
C. judgment based on evidence
D. evaluation evidence
12. The manager and human resource partner meet at the end of each year to review
performance with the employees and explain how their performance appraisal rating
was assigned. They encourage feedback and participation from the employees to
increase the perception of fairness. This is an example of ______.
A. adequate notice
B. one-on-one meeting
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C. chair time
D. fair hearing
13. A formal review meeting explaining to the employee why and how a particular rating
was arrived at involves ______.
A. adequate notice
B. performance appraisal
C. fair hearing
D. management by objectives
14. ______ is the principle that performance standards are administered consistently
across all employees, and the ratings are, to the degree possible, free from personal
biases and prejudice.
A. Judgment based on evidence
B. Management by objectives
C. Frame of reference
D. Calibration
15. Rafael spends a lot of time completing performance appraisals for his team to be
certain that standards are administered fairly and the ratings are based on evidence. He
works hard to remove personal biases and prejudice from the process. This is an
example of ______.
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A. adequate notice
B. face time
C. fair hearing
D. judgment based on evidence
16. ______ refers to the consistency of measurement in performance appraisals.
A. Validity
B. Correlation
C. Linkage
D. Reliability
17. ______ involves using metrics in performance appraisals that truly capture relevant
dimensions of performance.
A. Validity
B. Reliability
C. Linkage
D. Correlation
18. To ensure ______ in performance appraisals, managers use case studies to
practice rating employees. They want to test that different raters evaluate the same
person similarly.
A. validity
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B. fair hearing
C. developmental purpose
D. interrater reliability
19. Ranbir has a problematic employee on his team who likes to complain to human
resources. To avoid conflict, Ranbir rates this employee higher than deserved on a
performance review. What is this an example of?
A. unconscious bias
B. interrater reliability
C. intentional error
D. practical validity
20. Eric is frustrated by the performance appraisal at his company. He feels that it takes
far too long to complete a single appraisal. The performance appraisal system is lacking
which characteristic of an effective system?
A. strategic alignment
B. perceived fairness
C. accuracy
D. practicality
21. When performance appraisals are used for ______ purposes, it means employers
are primarily interested in providing employees periodical, formal feedback on their
performances.
A. management by objectives
B. administrative
C. developmental
D. critical incident
22. When performance appraisals are used for ______ purposes, it means that they are
used to make decisions in the organization, such as assigning merit pay and bonuses,
or determining which employees will be sent to remedial training and which will be
promoted.
A. administrative
B. management by objectives
C. developmental
D. instrumental
23. Amanda looks forward to annual performance appraisals because this is when she
finds out about her merit pay and bonus amount. This is an example of conducting a
performance appraisal for ______ purposes.
A. compliance
B. developmental
C. administrative
D. transformational
24. What are three ways that performance can be measured?
A. knowledge, skills, and abilities
B. traits, behaviors, and results
C. traits, skills, and abilities
D. skills, abilities, and results
25. Jorge evaluates the medical technicians in the emergency department on whether
or not they washed their hands prior to touching a different patient. This is an example
of a ______.
A. trait appraisal
B. behavioral appraisal
C. results-based appraisal
D. 360-degree appraisal
26. The most objective approach to performance appraisal is ______.
A. trait
B. compliance
C. behavioral
D. results based
27. Aaron, a new insurance agent learning the ropes and developing his style, sells
insurance in a congested city with a highly saturated market for insurance sales. He did
not make his sales goal this year and it was reflected negatively on his performance
appraisal. Why does Aaron think this is unfair?
A. The conditions of the market are beyond his control.
B. It takes a long time to travel around the busy city to establish contacts.
C. The goal target was set too high given Aaron’s limited experience.
D. Aaron’s style is not yet as confident as some of his counterparts on the job.
28. ______ is a management strategy where organizational goals are translated into
department goals, which are converted into individual-level goals to ensure that
individual and company goals and objectives are fully aligned.
A. 360-Degree feedback
B. Management by objectives
C. Diary keeping
D. Performance management
29. A measurable business metric that is aligned with a company’s strategy is called a
______.
A. SMART goal
B. paired comparison
C. management proposal
D. key performance indicator
30. ______ are defined at the company level and are measurable business metrics that
are aligned with a company’s strategy.
A. Performance appraisals
B. Key performance indicators
C. Straight rankings
D. SMART goals
31. Goals that have the greatest motivational value are SMART goals. The S in SMART
stands for ______.
A. special
B. super
C. specific
D. smart
32. Goals that have the greatest motivational value are SMART goals. The M in SMART
stands for ______.
A. moving
B. measurable
C. motivational
D. maximizing
33. Goals that have the greatest motivational value are SMART goals. The A in SMART
stands for ______.
A. artful
B. attainable
C. actualized
D. arrived
34. Goals that have the greatest motivational value are SMART goals. The R in SMART
stands for ______.
A. rigorous
B. rolling
C. righteous
D. relevant
35. Goals that have the greatest motivational value are SMART goals. The T in SMART
stands for ______.
A. tenacious
B. total
C. time-bound
D. tested
36. In performance appraisals, ______ involves having the rater rank order all
employees from best to worst.
A. straight rankings
B. paired comparisons
C. forced distribution
D. critical incident method
37. The performance appraisal approach that involves creating rankings by comparing
two employees at a time, until every unique pair of employees have been compared is
called ______.
A. straight rankings
B. paired comparisons
C. forced distribution
D. critical incident method
38. ______, commonly known as “stack rankings,” involve the rater placing a specific
percentage of employees under the exceptional, adequate, and poor performer
categories.
A. Straight rankings
B. Paired comparisons
C. Forced distribution
D. Critical incident method
39. Mateo is completing performance appraisals for his staff. He considers his team as
a whole and then lists his most valuable employee at the top and his least valuable at
the bottom. He then identifies the most valuable and least valuable employees of the
remaining staff. He continues this process until all employees have been evaluated.
Mateo is using which appraisal method?
A. 360-degree feedback
B. absolute ratings
C. relative ranking
D. qualitative assessment
40. A ______ appraisal describes strength and limitations in narrative form as a way to
provide feedback.
A. forced
B. stacked
C. paired
D. qualitative
41. The ______ method is used to identify examples of exceptionally high and low
incidents of performance and to document them in narrative form.
A. straight rankings
B. paired comparisons
C. forced distribution
D. critical incident
42. Sophia works on the learning and development team for her company. She
successfully designed the new employee onboarding program and received a lot of
praise and positive feedback when it rolled out in the company. Sophia’s manager
highlighted this achievement on her evaluation with a narrative about it. This is an
example of the ______ method.
A. quantitative
B. traits
C. critical incident
D. behavior
43. Which is a risk when direct reports are asked to provide performance feedback
about a manager they like?
A. leniency
B. specificity
C. development
D. feedback culture
44. A benefit of self-assessment in a performance review is that ______.
A. it is highly correlated to manager ratings
B. it ensures employee participation
C. it offers a 360-degree perspective
D. it contributes to a hierarchical culture
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45. ______ approach is a method where performance is evaluated from multiple
perspectives all around the focal person, typically including manager, coworkers, and
subordinates in the process.
A. Team feedback
B. Paired comparisons
C. 360-Degree feedback
D. Critical incident method
46. To avoid the limitations of individual metrics in performance appraisals, some
companies have turned to ______.
A. the net promoter score
B. team appraisals
C. 360-degree appraisals
D. organizational accountability scores
47. In ______ systems, goals and performance metrics may be at the group level.
A. straight rankings
B. team appraisal
C. 360-degree feedback
D. forced distribution
48. ______ occur(s) when performance review takes place on the same date for all
employees.
A. 360-Degree feedback
B. Paired comparisons
C. Annual reviews
D. Forced distributions
49. Companies that use performance management systems for administrative purposes
find it easier to allocate their bonus budget when they conduct ______ for all employees
at the same time of year.
A. annual reviews
B. budget meetings
C. calibration meetings
D. chair time
50. Simone completes performance evaluations every year when an employee
completes another year of employment with the company. This helps to spread
evaluations out over the year so that evaluations for the whole team do not need to be
completed within the same timeframe. This is an example of ______ reviews.
A. merit
B. annual
C. compensation
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D. anniversary
51. The ______ error occurs when a performance appraiser tends to rate most
employee highly.
A. leniency
B. severity
C. central tendency
D. calibration
52. The ______ error occurs when a performance appraiser tends to rate most
employees close to the lower end of the scale.
A. leniency
B. severity
C. central tendency
D. calibration
53. Francisco, a human resource manager, is reviewing performance reviews
completed by Abe for his direct reports. Francisco notices that most of Abe’s reviews
are rated toward the lower end of the scale. This is an example of ______.
A. leniency
B. severity
C. central tendency
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D. recency error
54. The ______ error occurs when a performance appraiser tends to rate almost all
employees in the middle category.
A. leniency
B. severity
C. central tendency
D. calibration
55. The ______ occurs when a performance appraisal is based on one or two
performance dimensions, with one prominent dimension positively affecting how the
employee is perceived on other dimensions.
A. horns error
B. halo error
C. recency error
D. leniency error
56. Asher, a social worker, consistently takes the most challenging cases and manages
them well. His supervisor appreciates Asher’s willingness to step up when others do not
want to take on more complex and difficult cases. As result, she does not address
issues with Asher’s attendance and time management. She focuses only on the positive
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dimension of his performance when it is time for a performance evaluation. This is an
example of (a) ______ error.
A. halo
B. central tendency
C. horns
D. leniency
57. The ______ occurs when ratings on one dimension of performance negatively
influence how the employee is perceived on other dimensions.
A. horns error
B. halo error
C. recency error
D. leniency error
58. Aimi missed an important client meeting and lost an account. Her manager focuses
only on this dimension of her performance on her annual review without paying equal
attention to the many deals Aimi closed, contributing to the company’s overall success
during the year. This is an example of a(n) ______ error.
A. halo
B. horns
C. severity
D. central tendency
59. ______ occurs when a performance appraiser focuses on the most recent employee
behaviors, rather than focusing on the entire rating period.
A. Horns error
B. Halo error
C. Recency error
D. Leniency error
60. The tendency to rate all employees as average is the ______ error.
A. leniency
B. severity
C. central tendency
D. halo
61. Mia, a human resource manager, is concerned that some of the managers in the
company do not have the necessary skills to build actionable development plans. What
action should she take next to help address this problem?
A. provide training to managers
B. recommend that the less skilled managers be terminated
C. develop a more reliable rating system for managers
D. use a more qualitative approach for reviews
62. ______ training involves having raters observe examples of performance through
videotapes and then telling them the “true score” and why raters should rate in a
particular way so that different raters pay attention to similar aspects of performance.
A. Central tendency
B. Feedback
C. Frame of reference
D. Performance improvement plan
63. ______ for managers has been shown to increase accuracy in ratings.
A. Leniency training
B. Developmental training
C. Frame of reference training
D. Interrater validity training
64. Training managers on how to confront performance problems is likely to increase
rater ______.
A. leniency
B. central tendency
C. confidence
D. speed
65. When raters know they will need to explain their ratings to employees they tend to
be ______.
A. more severe
B. more confrontational
C. more lenient
D. more confident
66. Many companies believe that holding raters accountable may decrease ______.
A. halo error
B. horns error
C. leniency error
D. favoritism
67. In what kind of meeting do groups of managers come together and discuss the
ratings they will give their employees before ratings are finalized?
A. diary keeping
B. calibration
C. behavior tracking
D. rater motivation
68. Keeping regular records of employee performance for the purpose of accurate
performance appraisals is called ______.
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A. auditing
B. feedback
C. diary keeping
D. critical performance
69. A significant benefit to diary keeping is it ______.
A. enables managers to provide more detailed feedback
B. is a rapid process that can be completed with minimal training
C. ensures managers use ethical decision-making
D. can be given directly to employees in lieu of a performance appraisal
70. A director signing off on a manager’s review of a direct report is an example of
______.
A. calibration
B. halo effect
C. rater accountability
D. ledger keeping
71. Examining whether managers use the same language to describe male and female
subordinates is an example of ______.
A. favoritism
B. record keeping
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C. auditing
D. discrimination
72. Performance review criteria that become outdated as a result of jobs evolving is one
reason that ______ is/are a best practice.
A. calibration meetings
B. diary keeping
C. audits
D. coaching
73. Meena is approached by Paul, an employee who reports to her. Paul is frustrated
because he is working on a report but the data he received from another department
have a number of errors in it. Meena wants to help coach Paul through this situation.
She should ______.
A. point out that he also makes errors sometimes
B. share with him how she has managed similar situations in the past
C. reassign the project to another employee
D. encourage him to tell the other department to make the corrections
74. To ensure that feedback is viewed as helpful and measurement is viewed as fair,
______ must exist between the manager and employee.
A. mentoring
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B. praise
C. trust
D. tolerance
75. The primary goal of a performance improvement plan is to ______.
A. outline the employee’s career development path
B. give an underperforming employee the chance to improve
C. lay the groundwork to terminate the employee’s employment
D. develop stretch goals for employees
76. Performance improvement plans use ______ to make clear the areas that need
improvement.
A. human resource partners
B. SMART goals
C. appraisals
D. threats
True/False
1. Performance management and once-a-year performance appraisals often are
considered synonymous terms.
2. Providing feedback to employees guarantees performance improvement.
3. Companies are interested in predicting and managing performance as an outcome.
4. Numerical ratings are more valuable to employees for feedback than narrative
reviews with open-ended questions.
5. Criteria and metrics used to assess performance should be directly aligned to the
employee’s personal goals.
6. A 360-degree feedback approach is an example of a method used to evaluate an
employee from a single perspective.
7. Leniency is the tendency of a rater to rate employees too highly.
8. Liking is a possible source of rating distortion.
9. Providing raters with frame of reference training improves rater accuracy.
10. Trust between managers and employees is one of the least consequential factors in
performance management.
Essay
1. Analyze the characteristics of effective performance appraisal systems.
2. Examine the critical decisions that human resource departments need to make when
designing a performance management system.
3. Examine factors leading to rating errors when conducting performance appraisals.
4. Analyze ways that a company can improve the effectiveness of its performance
management systems.
5. Examine how and why a performance improvement plan is used for employees who
do not meet established performance standards.