Question

Discuss the various rater errors in performance management.

HRM

Answer 1

There are the following rater errors in performance management:

1. Halo effect: It occurs when an overall positive or negative impression of a rater of an individual employee encourages him to rate him the exact same across all rating dimensions. It happens when a manager likes or dislikes an employee. For example, rating an employee 1 or 5 in all dimensions.

2. Leniency error: It occurs when a manager rates all employees at either top of the positive or negative end of the scale. It happens because of the manager overemphasizing either positive or negative behavior. For example, providing 1 or 5 ratings to all employees.

3. Central tendency error: It occurs when the manager avoids making extreme judgment and rates employees in the middle of the scale. It happens when the manager is not comfortable. For example, rating employees 3 in all dimensions.

4. Recency error: It occurs when a manager allows more recent incidents to affect the overall rating. It happens because of the recent impact of an employee over the manager. For example, the recent performance of an employee was good while he was great overall, so, the manager will rate him badly.

5. First impression error: It occurs when the manager let the first experience of an employee affect his overall rating. For example, A new employee does great in the honeymoon period but fails to perform better after that. The manager would rate him the best.

6. Similar to me error: It occurs when a manager sees some employees similar to himself. It happens when the manger relates to the employee. He ends up rating such employees higher.