The Politics of Performance Appraisal
The Performance
Technologist’s
Toolbox:
Critical Incidents by Anne F. Marrelli, CPT, PhD
T
his sixth article in the Performance Technologist’s Toolbox series focuses on the critical incident method of data collection. Critical incidents are narrative descriptions of important events that occur on the job and how employees behave in those situations. Critical incidents document the work context, the specific situation that arose, the persons involved, each person’s actions, and the results. The incidents may be confined to a particular topic or may cover the breadth of work experience. John Flanagan pioneered the critical incident technique during World War II as a means of collecting information about the training needs of pilots. Interviewees were asked to describe key successful and unsuccessful events that had occurred on the job (Hoge, Tondora, & Marrelli, 2005; Rothwell & Kazanas, 1992).
For example, below is an actual critical incident that was captured for an employee relations case in a medium-sized organization.
Jack leads a team of 40 consultants in a private sector firm that provides management consulting services. Linda, one of the consultants, had been performing poorly for about a year, but both Jack and her direct manager, Larry, were reluctant to address the issue because on the few occasions they had tried to do so in the past, Linda had become very upset. Linda, in fact, had asked Jack if she could be assigned to a new manager. He assigned her to Amy, a senior consultant who was respected for her managerial abilities. Amy initiated biweekly meetings with
Linda to monitor her progress and provide coaching and feedback. She also worked with Linda to create and implement a performance improvement plan.
When the time came for Linda’s annual performance evaluation, Amy prepared a thorough and candid evaluation, including both Linda’s successes and performance improvement needs. She reviewed the evaluation with Jack, who
Technologist’s
Toolbox:
Critical Incidents by Anne F. Marrelli, CPT, PhD
T
his sixth article in the Performance Technologist’s Toolbox series focuses on the critical incident method of data collection. Critical incidents are narrative descriptions of important events that occur on the job and how employees behave in those situations. Critical incidents document the work context, the specific situation that arose, the persons involved, each person’s actions, and the results. The incidents may be confined to a particular topic or may cover the breadth of work experience. John Flanagan pioneered the critical incident technique during World War II as a means of collecting information about the training needs of pilots. Interviewees were asked to describe key successful and unsuccessful events that had occurred on the job (Hoge, Tondora, & Marrelli, 2005; Rothwell & Kazanas, 1992).
For example, below is an actual critical incident that was captured for an employee relations case in a medium-sized organization.
Jack leads a team of 40 consultants in a private sector firm that provides management consulting services. Linda, one of the consultants, had been performing poorly for about a year, but both Jack and her direct manager, Larry, were reluctant to address the issue because on the few occasions they had tried to do so in the past, Linda had become very upset. Linda, in fact, had asked Jack if she could be assigned to a new manager. He assigned her to Amy, a senior consultant who was respected for her managerial abilities. Amy initiated biweekly meetings with
Linda to monitor her progress and provide coaching and feedback. She also worked with Linda to create and implement a performance improvement plan.
When the time came for Linda’s annual performance evaluation, Amy prepared a thorough and candid evaluation, including both Linda’s successes and performance improvement needs. She reviewed the evaluation with Jack, who
References: Schermerhorn, Jr., J.R., Hunt, J.G., & Osborn, R.N. (2000). Hammond, S.A. (1998). The thin book of appreciative inquiry (2nd ed.) Hoge, M., Tondora, J., & Marrelli, A. (2005). The fundamentals of workforce competency: Implications for behavioral health Marrelli, A.F. (1990). Planning and conducting information systems evaluations Marrelli, A.F., Tondora, J., & Hoge, M.A. (2005). Strategies for developing competency modeling Meister, J.C. (1994). Corporate quality universities: Lessons in building a world-class work force Rothwell, W.J., & Kazanas, H.C. (1992). Mastering the instructional design process: A systematic approach. Worthen, B.R., & Sanders, J.R. (1973). Educational evaluation: Theory and practice