The Cognitive Ability Test as a Predictor of Job Performance: Is its Validity Affected by Job Complexity and Tenure Within the Organization?

Two measures of job performance of 301 employees of a manufacturing enterprise in Québec (the criteria) were used to assess the stability of predictive validity over time of two specific intelligence tests, OTIS and BETA, whilst the moderating effects of two other variables, tenure and job complexity, were also examined. The predictive validity of the tests was not time-based but when job complexity was considered, the validity increased in relation to the complexity of the job.     

Is there a Preferred Performance Rating Format? A Non-psychometric Perspective

Les échelles d'appréciation constituent une forme d'évaluation des performances qui a rencontré un grand succès ces dernières décennies. En particulier, de gros efforts ont été consacrés au développement d'échelles relativement insensibles aux erreurs et biais cognitifs. Mais on s'est beaucoup moins intéressé au fait de savoir si et comment le type d'évaluation affecte les attitudes professionnelles et les réactions des personnes évaluées. Des données en provenance de quatre études différentes avec des échantillons tirés dans deux pays (lsraël et le Canada) apportent des éléments en faveur de l'idée selon laquelle une évaluation de la performance basée sur le BOS peut être supérieure aux autres méthodes en ce sens qu'elle entraîne des conséquences plus positives au niveau des attitudes.
One aspect of performance appraisal that has received considerable attention over past decades is the rating format. In particular, much effort has been devoted to developing rating scales that are relatively impervious to cognitive rating errors and biases. However, much less attention has been accorded the issues of whether and how an appraisal's format affects work attitudes and reactions of ratees. Data collected in four separate studies and with samples in two nations (Israel, Canada) lend credence to the proposition that a BOS-based performance appraisal and review may be superior to other appraisal methods in terms of yielding more favorable attitudinal effects.     

A New Old Question: Do contextual factors relate to rating behavior: An investigation with peer evaluations

The personality (dispositional) characteristic of self‐monitoring, beliefs and orientations toward the performance appraisal of 62 peer raters were collected in an attempt to predict peer rating behavior (i.e., mean ratings, rater discrimination, and performance appraisal dimensions discrimination). The beliefs and orientation toward appraisal systems emerged moderately related to rating behavior measures. Specific variables included in the category termed rating context revealed further illuminating effects. Furthermore, the moderating effect of self‐monitoring on the relationship rating the context‐rating behavior of peers was solidly supported. Theoretical interpretations of the results were discussed.     

Economic Utility of Training Programs

In economic terms, training projects represent a major outlay for many corporations. In spite of the growing need to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of training programs in organizations, such cost-benefit analyses are rarely conducted. Moreover, the extant conceptual approaches and mathematical formulas typically used for this purpose produce inaccurate estimates of the economic utility of training programs for organizations.An amended approach to this procedure is elaborated and its benefits demonstrated. The proposed model regards any potential plan as an investment project that should be evaluated in a similar way to the assessment of other investment options. Thus, it is recommended that a training project be considered only if its potential real, post-tax rate of return exceeds the real, post-tax cost of capital to the firm, subject to the unique features of investment in human capital. This process could improve the potential financial benefits to the firm, from investment in training.     

Intergenerational occupational transmission: Do offspring walk in the footsteps of mom or dad,or both?

The purpose of this research was to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in order to investigate intergenerational occupational transmission between parents and their children. A sample of 260 undergraduate students completed a questionnaire measuring TPB variables, and congruence was calculated between the parents' occupations and their offspring's chosen profession. Intention to work in the parents' occupations was predicted by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. Congruence between parents' and their children's occupational choice was predicted by intention and perceived behavioral control. The findings provide support to the relational approach in career choice. Implications of the findings for career counselors and young people's career choices are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Distal and Proximal Factors and the Use of Political Considerations in Performance Appraisal

The present study examined the relationships between several distal and proximal factors, and the extent to which raters invoke political considerations during the performance appraisal of subordinates in an organizational setting.Based on the responses of 248 police officers, it was found that Self-Efficacy as Raters and Continuance Commitment contribute uniquely to explaining the variance in the Use of Political Considerations to distort performance ratings, whereas Perceived Organizational Climate only correlated significantly with the latter variable.Implications of these findings are discussed and a replication with extended clusters of distal and proximal factors is suggested.     

Additional Evidence of Attitudinal Influences in Performance Appraisal

The attitudes of twenty-nine managers toward performance appraisal and toward their organization were used to predict differences in mean ratings and measures of discrimination among ratees and performance dimensions. Substantial multiple correlations were obtained for all three dependent variables (between 32 and 46% of the variance in each measure was explained), and several individual correlations were statistically significant. Raters who showed low levels of confidence in the appraisal system, high levels of discomfort, or high levels of instrumental commitment were more likely to provide ratings that were unusually high or that did not discriminate well among ratees and/or dimensions. Raters who showed higher levels of attitudinal commitment or who perceived more risks associated with distorting ratings tended to provide lower ratings and to discriminate among ratees and/or dimensions.     

Impact of Rater Beliefs Regarding Performance Appraisal and Its Organizational Context on Appraisal Quality

The relationship between attitudes and beliefs regarding performance appraisal and its organizational context and three measures of rating quality (i.e., rating level, discrimination among ratees, discrimination among rating dimensions) were examined. Eighteen of twenty-four directional predictions about the correlations between attitudinal measures and rating behavior measures were supported. However, because of the expected weak to moderate relationships between predictors and criteria and the use of small samples, statistical power was generally low, and many of the individual observed correlations failed to reach significance. Nevertheless, the consistent pattern of support for the directional predictions suggests that the attitudes and beliefs studied here provide a useful basis for understanding performance appraisal behaviors.     

Does Conscientiousness Moderate the Relationship Between Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Performance Appraisal and Rating Behavior?

Attitudes, beliefs, and orientations of 253 managers toward performance appraisal, along with the personality dimension conscientiousness, were used to predict rating behavior (i.e., mean ratings and measures of performance dimensions discrimination and ratee discrimination). As predicted, relationships between rater attitudes and rating behavior were moderated by conscientiousness; correlations between the attitudes and rating behavior were strongest for raters who were relatively low on conscientiousness.