Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

236 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales

Raters evaluate employees based on a set of behavioral descriptions. The

descriptions list various degrees of behavior with regard to a specifi c per-

formance dimension and identify a range of behaviors from unacceptable

performance to outstanding performance. Ratees do not have to actually

exhibit the behaviors on the scale; rather, the behaviors serve as a guide

to help the rater and ratee understand the level of performance required

for an assigned rating. Unlike some of the other instruments, behaviorally

anchored rating scales (BARS) rely on employee behaviors — what

employees actually do and what is under their direct control.

A problem for many public and nonprofi t service providers is that

despite their best efforts, unacceptable outcomes often result. For example,

a psychiatric client may have a psychotic relapse that requires hospitaliza-

tion despite the social worker ’ s best efforts to help the client remain in the

community. BARS would evaluate the social worker on his behaviors, not

on the number of patients needing hospitalization. An advantage to using

BARS is that they reduce ambiguity because employees are provided with

descriptions of desired levels of performance. They are also accepted by

both raters and ratees because both employees and supervisors participate

in their development. A disadvantage to BARS is that their development

Exhibit 8.2. Trait Rating Scale

Name/rank ______________________________ Section __________________________

Unit ___________________________

Outstanding = 1, Very good = 2, Average = 3, Improvement needed = 4,

Unsatisfactory = 5

Judgment __________________________ Cooperation ____________________________

Dependability _______________________ Knowledge of work __________________

Work initiative _______________________ Public contacts _______________________

Quality of work ____________________ Supervisory ability ___________________

Appearance ________________________ Overall evaluation ____________________