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 Central Tendency Bias?
Central tendency bias refers to a tendency for raters, or managers to evaluate most of their employees as "average" when they apply a rating scale. So, for example, given a scale that runs with points on it that run from one (poor) to seven (excellent), with four being the average, many managers will refuse to use the points at either of the ends. There will be a tendency for almost all ratings to fall
within the 3-5 range. This can be problematic since a very poor employee may be rated slightly above average even though this rating is inaccurate, or, on the other side, a superior employee may be rated in that same 3-5 range even though he or she deserves a more excellent rating.
Shorter rating scales (e.g. those with only three points, rather than seven) tend to cause less central tendency bias, but they also become less exact.
You've probably heard managers say, "I never rate people as excellent." This is an example of central tendency bias.