Site Areas
-
HOME - An Alternative To The Traditional Annual Performance Review: The Hooper-Bacal Model
- Workplace Bullying As A Performance Issue
- Bacal's Articles On Performance Management
- Frequently Asked Questions About Performance Reviews
- Performance Management Tools
- Managing Performance Free Library
- Our Performance Management Services
- The Complete Guide To An Effective Performance Management System
- Guest Articles On Appraisals and Reviews
- Bacal's Books
- Our Free Videos
- Third Party Videos
- Understanding Employee Performance
- Managing And Evaluating Job Performance As A Management System
- Understanding The Complex and Startling World of What Determines Employee Productivity
- The Wacky World of Employee Rating Forms and Documenting Performance
- Your Guide To Performance Management Methods - From Ratings To Rankings, Critical Incidents, and 360 Multi-Rater Feedback
Performance Tutorials
What Is The False Attribution Bias? An Exceedingly Serious Employee Review Issue
We have a tendency to attribute success or failure to individual effort and ability (at least in North America). So when someone does well, we give them credit, and when someone does less well, we suggest it's somehow their fault. While there is some truth in this, the reality is that performance is a function of both the individual and the system he or she works in. Often we misattribute success and failure and assume they are both under the complete control of the employee. If we do, we will never improve performance.
This is exceedingly important for both the company, managers and employees. So much of what is accomplished, and not accomplished in organizations is a result of multiple factors, many of them completely NOT under the control of individual employees.
For example, a raw material supplier is late on a shipment. As a result, the manufacturing employees make far fewer widgets, which require the raw material. The False Attribution Error would be operating if the employees were evaluated as less able, or less productive, even though the factors that cause lost productivity are not under their control.
That's why individual performance needs to be assessed in context, and considering many factors in the system within which the employee works.