Home / News / Study Finds Discrepancy between Managers and Employees on Performance Ratings
August 13, 2009
Study Finds Discrepancy between Managers and Employees on Performance Ratings
Misalignment Impacts Career Development, Job
Assignments, and Advancement
BOSTON, MA, August 13, 2009 — A research study
measuring employee development and contribution by global
talent development firm Novations Group, Inc. (www.novations.com) has uncovered a discrepancy
between managers and employees on performance ratings.
Outlined in the white paper Mind the Gap, the ratings
discrepancy has significant impact on employee development
programs, job assignments, leadership development, and
other talent management priorities.
Novations partnered with several leading organizations to
study employee development and contribution. The research
commenced in 2007 and the resulting data set includes
information on the contribution and development of over
2,000 managers and direct reports. Contribution was
measured using the Four Stages® of Contribution model
(see below for more details).
Participating managers were asked to rank order their
direct reports in terms of contribution and performance. By
completing a behavioral and competency-based survey about
each direct report, managers also assessed how their direct
reports contribute to their respective organizations. The
direct reports were asked to complete the same survey,
providing their own assessment of their contribution.
Mind the Gap shows that managers rated their direct reports
about a half of a stage lower than direct reports rated
themselves, with a mean difference of .48 (See Table 1).
Behaviorally, this suggests that managers believed their
direct reports were behaving more dependently (Stage 1)
than independently (Stage 2).
Table 1: Group Statistics
| Rater |
Dominant Stage (mean) |
| Manager |
1.90 |
| Direct report |
2.38 |
Figure 1: Mean dominant stage rating by
managers (on their direct reports) and by direct reports
(self-ratings). Dominant stage was defined as the
stage selected most often to describe behavioral
contributions in response to the 20 survey
items.
“It’s not all that surprising to hear that
managers and employees disagree on their level of
contribution, but organizations need to be concerned by
this,” said Paul Terry, vice president of Global
Partnerships for Novations. “Today, everyone is
trying to do more with fewer employees, so it’s more
important than ever that managers are clear in setting
challenging, but realistic expectations that help employees
stretch and maximize their contribution.”
Because the current research utilized a behaviorally-based
survey, Novations was able to break down the overall
difference to consider managers’ and direct
reports’ ratings on each of ten competencies.
Direct Reports, Managers, and Reasons for
Differing Perspectives
While the current Novations research is unique because of
its recency and behaviorally- based approach, prior
researchers have also noted a difference between
self-appraisal scores and other rater scores. Considering
previous findings can help us to understand a number of
potential factors that may contribute to the discrepancy in
ratings found in the current research.
- Self-rater Bias: Need for Self-esteem. The
implicit need we all have to see ourselves in a positive
light is another reason for the inflation of self
ratings.
- Self-Rater Bias: Lack of Self-awareness. People
may have not intentionally inflated their self-ratings. For
some, the difficulty may lie in understanding what high
contribution looks like for certain competencies.
- Manager Bias: Lack of Awareness. We need to
consider whether managers are aware of the contributions of
their direct reports.
- Manager Bias: Justification of Role. Managers
are only necessary if they have direct reports in need of
supervision.
- Manager Bias: Justification of Budget. Some
people also argue that managers are
“incentivized” to rate people lower in order to
keep the budget tied to compensation down and to keep
short-term promotional expectations in check.
The complete findings will be published in the fall of
2009, and will include content from two additional white
papers that examine the respective impact of gender and
race/ethnicity on contribution.
The Mind the Gap white paper can be accessed online at: http://www.novations.com/publications/white_papers/mind-the-gap-the-discrepancy-between-manager-and-direct-report-ratings,104.html
About the Research
Novations partnered with several leading organizations to
study employee development and contribution. The research
commenced in 2007 and the resulting data set includes
information on the contribution and development of over
2,000 managers and direct reports.
The current research is unique in two ways. First,
the data was collected purely for the purpose of research
and, therefore, was in no way tied to performance
appraisals or 360-degree surveys. Second, because of its
ability to provide insight on the behavioral contributions
of employees, the Four Stages® of Contribution model
was used as the foundation for the current research.
The complete findings will be published in the fall of 2009
About The Four Stages® of Contribution
model
The Four Stages of Contribution model is based on the
research of Drs. Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson and provides
a framework for increasing one’s organizational impact
and influence over time. According to Dalton’s &
Thompson’s research, there is a direct correlation
between a person’s “stage” and his/her
contribution to the organization. Over the course of their
careers, employees can move through as many as four stages,
as outlined below, although organizational needs and
employee goals can affect movement between and within the
stages.
Stage 1: Contributing Dependently
Stage 2: Contributing Independently
Stage 3: Contribution Through Others
Stage 4: Contributing Strategically
Organizations need employees who are continually learning
and willingly accept
supervision (Stage 1) as much as they need employees able
to mentor and coach (Stage 3). However, behaving in ways
associated with latter stages means impacting a larger
cross-section of the organization. Therefore, high
performing organizations must ensure that people
contributing within each stage are also developing
behaviors associated with the next stage. This stretching
and growing prepares employees to, over time, have greater
influence in the organization. As employees develop their
individual capacity, organizations also increase their
overall capacity.
About Novations Group, Inc.
Novations is a talent development firm that provides
consulting, training, and measurement solutions to create
leadership and high performance at every level. For
more than 30 years we have partnered with organizations of
all sizes to unlock the potential of their employees, with
talent development strategies that establish a mindset for
success, a framework for development, and a process for
testing the effectiveness of their efforts.
For more information, visit www.novations.com.
Media Contact:
Clint Poole
617-254-7600
cpoole@novations.com
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