HRM textbook

290 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
FIGURE 9-2 Part of
360-Degree Feedback Survey
Source: www.hr-survey.com/sd3609q.
htm, accessed April 28, 2009.
Supervisors must be familiar
with appraisal techniques,
understand and avoid problems
that can cripple appraisals,
and know how to conduct
appraisals fairly.
the change process. 26 Also, 360-degree appraisals are more candid when subordinates
know rewards or promotions are not involved.
There are several ways to improve 360-degree appraisals.
* Anchor the 360-degree rating dimensions (such as conflict management ) with
specific behavioral examples (such as effectively deals with conflicts ). 27
* Carefully train the people who are giving and receiving the feedback. 28
* With so many appraisers involved, each potentially with his or her own ax to
grind, make sure that the feedback the person receives is productive, unbiased,
and development oriented. 29
* Reduce the administrative costs associated with collecting multisource feedback by
using a Web-based system such as the one in Figure 9-2. This lets the rater log in,
open a screen with a rating scale, and rate the person along a series of competencies
with ratings such as capable and effective. 30
TECHNIQUES FOR APPRAISING PERFORMANCE
The manager generally conducts the actual appraisal using a formal tool or
method like one or more of those described next. The two basic questions in
designing the actual appraisal tool are what performance dimensions to measure,
and how to measure them. For example, in terms of what dimensions to
measure, we might measure the employee s performance in terms of generic
dimensions such as quality and timeliness, or with respect to achieving specific
goals. In terms of how to measure it, you can use one or more of various
tools or methods, such as graphic rating scales or forced distribution
( grading on a curve ).We ll start with the most popular, graphic rating scales.
Source: Getty Images, Inc.
Graphic Rating Scale Method
The graphic rating scale is the simplest and most popular method for
appraising performance. Figure 9-3 shows one graphic rating scale.
A graphic rating scale lists traits or performance dimensions (such
as communication or teamwork ) and a range of performance values
(from below expectations to role model or unsatisfactory to
outstanding, ) for each trait. The supervisor rates each subordinate by