Ateneo de Davao University

School of Business and Governance

Summer Elective 2020

Interactive Case Study 6-4

Minimizing Biases in Performance Evaluation at Expert Engineering, Inc.

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for

BA 937 - Performance Evaluation and Appraisal

Submitted to:
Dr. Felicitas D. Cruz
Professor

Submitted by:
Bernabe M. Barruga
Michael Jhon A. del Sol

May 25, 2020

1. Provide a detailed discussion of the intentional and unintentional rating
distortion factors that may come into play in this situation.

There are several distortion factors that may come into play due to the complexity of
Demetri’s situation at Expert Engineering, Inc. The most obvious situation may stem
from the fact that the firm initiated a big hiring initiative of a dozen new engineers, nine
of who turned out to be graduates from the same university from which Demetri
graduated. Due to this situation, there are several intentional and unintentional errors
that can be made. Demetri may be motivated to provide inflated ratings to maximize
merit raise or rewards, avoid creating a written record, and avoid confrontation with
employees.

Since the new employees hired are graduates from Demetri’s university, he may be
compelled to produce the highest possible reward for these employees resulting in
giving these employees higher ratings than they performed at. Demetri might also avoid
creating a written record so his employees will not be left with a paper trail that will
eventually lead to negative consequences. The final inflated rating may result due to
Demetri’s fear of confrontation with his employees. Since the employees’ stem from the
same roots as Demetri, he may feel uncomfortable with providing them with negative
feedback. Instead he may decide to take the path of least resistance and give inflated
performance ratings. On top of intentional errors in the rating process, I believe that
Demetri is subject to unintended errors as well. Since the employees are from the
same university as Demetri, it is likely that he will formulate an attraction that will cause
him to unintentionally favor these particular employees over others. Demetri may also
be subject to the first impression error because he already has an initial favorable
judgment about the employees who are going to be working for him.
2. Evaluate the kinds of training programs that could minimize the factors you
have described. What do you recommend and why?

To minimize intentional and unintentional errors, we believe that it is better to focus on

the rater’s motivation. Rater training programs should be in place to provide raters with
tools that facilitate implementation of performance management systems effectively and
efficiently. These programs have the objective of preventing rating distortion. Rater
training programs must demonstrate to the raters that the benefits of providing accurate
ratings outweigh the benefits of intentionally distorting ratings by inflation, deflation, or
central tendency.

In addition, to accomplish this task, rater-training programs should cover information,

motivation, evaluating performance, and how to interact with employees when they
receive performance information. The information part of the program should cover how
the system works. In order for a rater to conduct an accurate rating, he must be aware
of the different aspects, and reasons for implementing the performance management
system. The rater-training program must also stress motivation. The program must
stress the benefits of providing accurate ratings, and even give the supervisor the
appropriate tools to do so.

If Demetri can understand the importance of an accurate rating, he is more likely to

disregard the favoritism that he has towards particular employees. The program must
also give the rater information that will allow them to conduct an appraisal interview.
This information will also allow the rater to train, counsel, and coach employees.

In regard to specific training- programs, we would recommend that Demetri undergo

both frame of reference training, and behavioral observation training.