Manifestation of idiosyncratic rater effect in employee performance appraisal

Athmeeya Hunuganahalli Paramesh,Rajesha Thekkekutt Mathukutti,Vishal Samartha,Iqbal Thonse Hawaldar

doi:10.21511/ppm.18(3).2020.19

Athmeeya Hunuganahalli Paramesh, Rajesha Thekkekutt Mathukutti + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.18(3).2020.19

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Abstract

Performance appraisal is the bedrock of talent management and has received much attention from scholars and researchers alike in their pursuit to develop accurate, objective, and robust Performance Management Systems (PMS). Through survey questionnaire the present study examines the prevalence of idiosyncratic rater biases on the performance appraisal systems and evaluates the measure of its impact. The correlations between the personality traits and the similarities of the raters’ workplace characteristics with the raters’ performance ratings are also determined. The study has provided empirical evidence of the manifestation of idiosyncratic rater bias in the company under study. The idiosyncratic rater tendencies showed a significant impact on performance ratings. It was seen that about one-third of the variations in the ratings were resultant of the idiosyncratic factors, such as similarities in the personality traits and workplace identities. It is also found that there exists a positive correlation between the similarities in the identities, as well as the personality traits of the raters and the ratees, and the way the rating awarded by the rater.

Highlights

Employees are the “greatest asset” of any organization
The idiosyncratic rater tendencies showed a significant impact on performance ratings
The data fortify the second objective of the study that there exists a positive correlation between the similarities in the identities, as well as the personality traits of the raters and the rates, and the way the rating awarded by the rater, which is an extension of the studies conducted by Ben-Ner, McCall, Stephane, and Wang (2009) and Barrick and Mount (1991)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Employees are the “greatest asset” of any organization. In the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century, the human capital’s quality is the determinant of the long-term viability and competitive advantage of any organization. The general inference drawn from the existing literature is that the actual work performance has a constructive but less than optimum consequence on ratings (Scullen, Mount, & Goff, 2000) Factors influencing performance Mount, and Goff (2000) studied the factor influratings encing the performance rating and found that the idiosyncratic rater effect accounted for more than In their theory, Wherry and Bartlett (1982) in- 50 percent of the rating variance. Recency error, rater attitudes, person- that idiosyncratic rater effect as the main variance al bias and values discrimination between inside component of work performance ratings Internal consistency of the data measured by the second part of the questionnaire could be characterized as “reliable”, i.e., between 0.84 and 0.90

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Findings

CONCLUSION