Contextual Performance Ratings Research Articles

The influence of covariates on latent job performance ratings from differing sources: A mimic modeling approach

The potential for differential functioning of performance assessments across ratings sources has gained recent research interest. This study used multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) to examine whether measures of task and contextual performance are invariant across both supervisors and subordinates. As an extension, multiple indicators multiple causes modeling (MIMIC) was used to examine potential covariates of task and contextual performance ratings on latent task and contextual performance variability. Consistent with previous research, I found measurement invariance across subordinate- and supervisor ratings. Moreover, MIMIC results showed supervisor and subordinate demographic variables systematically influenced latent task and contextual performance variability despite measurement invariance over these rating sources. Implications for multi-source performance systems are discussed.

When Opposites Hurt: Similarity in Control in Leader-Follower Dyads as a Predictor of Job Performance Evaluations

Status-seeking behaviors are linked to executive career progression, but do leaders appreciate being surrounded by followers eager to move up in the organizational hierarchy? Building on the self-enhancement theory, we propose that leaders with high self-assessed getting-ahead behaviors give better performance evaluations to subordinates who also have willingness to get ahead behaviors. In contrast, leaders with low self-assessed getting-ahead behaviors are quite reserved about the performance of subordinates high in the getting-ahead dimension. We also propose that overall, ambitious leaders evaluate more positively their followers’ performance than leaders with more modest desire to get ahead. We suggest that this effect is magnified when the status differential between the leader and the follower is reduced due to differences in age or hierarchical level (i.e., a younger leader or too few hierarchical levels between the leader and the subordinate). The results obtained by using polynomial regression and response surface techniques to analyze a sample of 138 leader-follower dyads supported our hypotheses showing a supervisor’s contextual performance ratings skew rooted in leaders’ desire to get ahead. We conclude by deriving the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

The prediction of task and contextual performance by political skill: A meta-analysis and moderator test

Political skill is a relatively newly articulated construct. Despite its novelty, it has been investigated in a variety of contexts, showing promise not only as a descriptor of several organizational phenomena, but also as a predictor of job performance. Given this status, it seems appropriate to review the empirical literature to this point for political skill's overall viability as a predictor of job performance (i.e., task and contextual performance), as well as to investigate one potential moderator of the political skill-to-performance relationship, namely, the interpersonal and social requirements of occupations. We present a brief review of political skill. We then describe juxtaposed theoretical positions from which are derived two very different patterns representing the relationship between the social requirements of occupations and the strength of the political skill-to-performance ratings correlation. Next, we meta-analyze known studies that link political skill scores to ratings of task and contextual performance to test these differing predictions. Results indicate that on-the-average political skill is a valid predictor of both task and contextual performance ratings. However, as the interpersonal and social requirements of the occupations increased, so did the strength of the positive relationship between political skill and task performance ratings. Also as hypothesized, political skill was found to be a better predictor of contextual performance than task performance. Implications for personnel selection and training practices are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.

Breaking rules for the right reasons? An investigation of pro‐social rule breaking

SummaryPro‐social rule breaking (PSRB) is a form of constructive deviance characterized by volitional rule breaking in the interest of the organization or its stakeholders. Over the course of three studies, we developed a generalizable measure of PSRB and placed it in a nomological network with personality, workplace perceptions, counterproductive behaviors, and task and contextual performance ratings made by supervisors and coworkers. Results indicate that PSRB is negatively related to task performance ratings across both sources despite its pro‐social motivation intended to help the organization. Potential directions for future research concerning reactions to constructive deviance are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Supervisor Appraisal as the Link Between Family–Work Balance and Contextual Performance

We examined the relationship between subordinates’ family to work balance (conflict and enrichment) and two dimensions of contextual performance (interpersonal facilitation and job dedication) reported by supervisors. Beyond the direct effects, we hypothesized that supervisor’s appraisals of employee conflict and enrichment would influence the supervisor’s contextual performance ratings. Data collected from a matched sample of 156 private sector employees and their supervisors indicated that the supervisor’s performance ratings were impacted by the supervisor’s appraisal of enrichment. However, the supervisor’s appraisal of conflict only mattered for interpersonal facilitation. There was a direct effect of subordinate’s conflict on both dimensions of contextual performance.

Factors Influencing the Inflation of Task Performance Ratings for Workers With Disabilities and Contextual Performance Ratings for Their Coworkers

Contrary to many myths regarding their potential performance, workers with disabilities generally receive performance ratings similar to their nondisabled coworkers. However, their ratings possibly may be inflated above their actual performance levels. In a laboratory experiment, we constrained the performance of a worker with a disability to an extremely low level and assessed the effects of helping behavior, presence and type of disability in the worker, and the perceived attributions of controllability of the disability on task performance ratings for the workers with disabilities and on contextual performance ratings for their coworkers. We found that the perception that a worker is not responsible for the onset of a disability and that having any disability, regardless of type, artificially inflates task performance ratings. We also found inflated contextual performance ratings for coworkers who work with persons who are perceived as being responsible for the onset of their own disability.

Factors Affecting the Convergence of Self-Peer Ratings on Contextual and Task Performance

This study examines factors that predict the extent to which 408 operating-level workers rated themselves higher, lower, or the same as their coworkers rated them, for both task and contextual performance. On ratings of contextual performance, underestimators tended to be distinguished by significantly higher levels of both self-monitoring and social desirability. This trend operated similarly, though not significantly for task performance. Additionally, ratings of quantity of work obtained the highest degree of self-peer rating convergence as compared to ratings of quality of work and contextual performance. These results are discussed in terms of the practical implications for multirater systems.