UNIT – I Lesson 1 HRM – AN OVERVIEW Lesson Outline Nature of ...

BARS
Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) approach gets away from measuring
subjective personal traits and instead measures observable, critical behaviors that are
related to specific job dimensions. The various steps under BARS are.
i. Identification of Performance Measures
The first step is the identification of performance measures, that is, the outcome of
an effective job performance. These measures could be identified by knowledgeable
relevant people who may be usually superiors, jobholders and HR personnel or a
combination of all of them. They are asked to identify the important dimensions of the
job.
ii. Identification of Critical behaviours
Critical behaviours are those which are essential for the performance of the job
effectively. These behaviours are generated from different dimensional of the job and are
related to various critical incidents of the job. These may be stated in a few short
sentences or phrases using the terminology of the job in question.
iii. Retranslation of Critical Behaviours
Various critical behaviours as identified in step ii. are retranslated, usually by a
different group of personnel. In the retranslation process, various critical incidents are
classified into clusters with each cluster having similar critical incidents. Those
behaviours which are approved by majority of personnel are kept for further development
and others discarded. The basic idea of this step is to keep the number of behaviours to a
manageable limit and which are more descriptive of the job. The translation process
assures the reliability of the critical behaviours consistent with the job dimensions.
iv. Scaling of Critical Behaviours
Those critical behaviours which are included for the performance apprise during
the process of retranslation are given scales usually in numbers with their description. The
scales may range from 1 to 7 or from 1 to 9, with each point of a scale demonstrating
perceived level of performance. The scale value will be determined on the basis of
estimates provided by various persons in the retranslation process.