Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Performance Management 237

is time - consuming and complex because each dimension requires its own

behavioral anchors.

An example of a behaviorally anchored rating scale is presented in

Exhibit 8.3.

Essay

The rater writes a narrative essay describing the employee ’ s performance. The

weakness in this method is that the evaluation may depend on the writing

skills of the supervisor or the amount of time the supervisor takes to complete

the evaluation. Another problem is that raters and employees do not

necessarily use common criteria.

Productivity Data or Work Standards

Raters evaluate employees on expected levels of output and the quality of

output. If employees are to believe that the standards are fair, they should

understand how the standards were set.

Management by Objectives

Raters and employees together determine goals or objectives and a plan

of action for achieving them that the employee is to achieve during the

upcoming evaluation cycle. At a scheduled time, the two participants

reconvene and determine whether the goals have been met. The effective-

ness of management by objectives (MBO) depends on the skills of supervi-

sors and subordinates in defi ning appropriate goals and objectives. Often

easy objectives are set. Sometimes there is an overemphasis on objectives

at the expense of specifying how these objectives are to be obtained. For

example, Internal Revenue Service collection agents need to retrieve

revenue from delinquent taxpayers but not through illegal or intimidating

tactics. Nonprofi ts must be successful in raising money but not through

dishonest fundraising activities.

A typical MBO rating scale is presented in Exhibit 8.4.

Critical Incidents

Raters record actual incidents of successful or unsuccessful performance

of work actions. The rater uses these observations to evaluate employee

performance. An example of a critical incidents report is presented in

Exhibit 8.5.