Performance Appraisal: Nonverbal Influences On the Rating Process

Abstract

Until recently, attempts to improve the accuracy of employee performance ratings have been largely disappointing. The reason is that past research has been limited primarily to the verbal ele ment of performance rating; further, it has addressed mainly the behaviors that occur when a rating is actually assigned. Fortunately, research now has begun to examine important nonverbal variables that can affect, over time, the supervisor's development of an employee's performance rating. The model proposed here summarizes that research and highlights the three broad categories of nonverbal influence.