aPHR Performance Management 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which rating scale uses written narratives to describe an employee's performance at each level?
- Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) (Correct answer)
- Graphic rating scale
- Ranking method
- Forced distribution
Correct answer: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)
BARS combines narrative descriptions of behavior with a numeric rating scale, anchoring each level with specific behavioral examples.
Question 2: An employee disagrees with their performance appraisal rating. What is the BEST first step the HR professional should recommend?
- File a formal grievance immediately
- Discuss concerns directly with the supervisor (Correct answer)
- Request a transfer to another department
- Ignore the rating and wait for the next cycle
Correct answer: Discuss concerns directly with the supervisor
The recommended first step is to address disagreements directly with the supervisor before escalating to formal grievance procedures.
Question 3: What does 'management by objectives' (MBO) primarily emphasize?
- Ranking employees against each other
- Setting mutually agreed-upon goals between manager and employee (Correct answer)
- Using standardized behavioral checklists
- Focusing only on end-of-year results
Correct answer: Setting mutually agreed-upon goals between manager and employee
MBO is a collaborative process where managers and employees jointly set specific, measurable objectives that guide performance evaluation.
Question 4: Which type of performance appraisal error occurs when a rater allows one negative trait to influence all other ratings?
- Halo effect
- Horn effect (Correct answer)
- Central tendency
- Recency bias
Correct answer: Horn effect
The horn effect occurs when one negative characteristic causes a rater to rate an employee negatively across all dimensions.
Question 5: A supervisor rates all employees as 'average' to avoid conflict. This is an example of:
- Leniency error
- Central tendency error (Correct answer)
- Strictness error
- Halo effect
Correct answer: Central tendency error
Central tendency error occurs when raters avoid extreme ratings and cluster all evaluations around the midpoint of the scale.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of a performance improvement plan (PIP)?
- To document grounds for termination
- To provide structured support for an employee to meet performance expectations (Correct answer)
- To rank employees for promotion decisions
- To reduce the organization's training budget
Correct answer: To provide structured support for an employee to meet performance expectations
A PIP is designed to give underperforming employees clear expectations, resources, and timelines to improve their performance.
Question 7: Which of the following is a characteristic of effective performance standards?
- They are set unilaterally by HR without manager input
- They are vague to allow for flexibility
- They are specific, measurable, and job-related (Correct answer)
- They apply the same criteria to all job roles regardless of function
Correct answer: They are specific, measurable, and job-related
Effective performance standards must be specific, measurable, and directly tied to job requirements to be fair and legally defensible.
aPHR Performance Management 2
Which rating scale uses written narratives to describe an employee's performance at each level?