234 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations
performance of different employees, thus discrediting the supervisor ’ s and
agency ’ s credibility.
Another problem with disingenuous evaluations is that when they are
used for SHRM, the data they provide are inaccurate. Any decisions made
based on the evaluations could prove to be harmful to the future growth
and success of the organization by not recognizing liabilities and identifying
where the agency needs to acquire talent. Inaccurate evaluations also do
not develop individuals (Longenecker & Ludwig, 1990).Performance Appraisal Techniques
There are three general approaches to performance appraisals: absolute,
comparative, and goal setting.◆◆◆- Absolute methods evaluate the employee without referring directly
to other employees. Instead, employees are evaluated against their own
standards. For example, John Doe is evaluated in March and then again
in September, and his September evaluation is compared to his March
evaluation. The strengths identifi ed in March should have been maintained,
and any defi ciencies or problems identifi ed in March should have been
corrected by September. Absolute evaluations are used most frequently for
developmental purposes. - Comparative methods evaluate the employees in one unit relative
to everyone else in the group. In March, all of the juvenile probation
offi cers were evaluated on the same performance dimensions and then
compared to one another. For example, probation offi cer A received the
highest ratings in accuracy and timeliness of presentencing investiga-
tion reports, while probation offi cer C received the lowest rating for
that dimension. Probation offi cer C, however, received the highest rat-
ing for number of clients supervised and number of collateral contacts,
while probation offi cer B received the lowest rating on that dimension.
Comparative evaluations are used to differentiate levels of performance
across employees. - Goal setting evaluates whether the ratee attained predetermined
goals. For example, the supervisor and employee agree that the employee
will prepare seven more grant applications in the next five months to