Situation:
Performance appraisal is always a challenge for managers because there are different ways in which we can evaluate performance. Additionally most managers dislike giving constructive feedback that may be taken negatively by employees; however appraisal is important to increasing productivity and creating high-performance work teams. With this in mind there are ethical considerations in the development of performance appraisal systems. Gilbert (2012) addresses the challenges associated with lying and truth-telling in performance appraisal. Consider the following situation:
Suppose that the employee being evaluated is a sixty-four-year-old woman who has announced her intention to retire next year. You have been her supervisor for one year and you judge that her performance is below standard but not bad enough at present to require termination. When you review her personnel file you find that her previous supervisor rated her as satisfactory for each of the last three years. People who have been in the unit for a long time assure you that her performance has not changed this year. One final item of relevance is that she does not take criticism well. In fact she tends to respond to criticism with tears and hostility. Should you rate her as satisfactory as your predecessor did for the last three years or should you rate her as below standard and endure the difficult interview that is sure to follow with very little hope that her performance will improve before she retires? (p.116).
Guidance:
Identify and evaluate the ethical components of this situation. Approach the situation using an ethical theory as a foundation for your views. As you works through the performance appraisal the question about the impact of cultural context becomes something that you should consider. Respond to the following dilemma:
Communicate with your team members about the assignment by selecting the link for Groups under Course Tools in the left navigation bar. Once you have joined your group you will see a group tools section. This contains your group discussion board link where you will discuss the question surrounding performance appraisal systems. This question is addressed in small groups (teams) so that you can generate active dialogue which will help you explore alternate perspectives from fellow students on the topic. This thought-provoking synergetic activity should result in your greater understanding of the content area.
When you have completed its discussions and reached consensus for a response to the question above consider the impact of truth telling and lying and your responsibility to your employees and the organization as a manager in this situation create a short paper presenting your results.
Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length (not including the title and reference pages) usingAPAformatting in Times New Roman 12-point font with one inch margins. Compose your work using a word processing program (or other software as appropriate) and save it frequently to your computer.
This assignment is due Saturday April 8th by 11:59pm.
Compose your work using a word processor (or other software as appropriate) and save it frequently to your computer. When you’re ready to submit your work click Browse My Computer and find your file. Once you’ve located your file click Open and if successful the file name will appear under the Attached files heading. Scroll to the bottom of the page click Submit and you’re done. Be sure to check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors before you post it.