Case 7.1: The Politics of Performance Appraisal
Max Steadman, Jim Coburn, Lynne Sims, and Tom Hamilton are managers at Eckel Industries, a manufacturer of arc-welding equipment in Minneapolis. They work in the manufacturing division each supervising a different department within the division. Every Friday the managers meet after work for drinks to relax, gossip, and give and receive advice about problems on the job. This week they discuss performance appraisals which they recently conducted. Each of the managers completed evaluation forms using graphic rating scales on each employee then discussed the appraisal with that employee.
Throughout the discussion they give their opinions on how performance appraisals should be conducted and …show more content…

2. In your opinion, at what point does “fine-tuning” evaluations become unacceptable distortion?
Distortion takes place when improper emphasis is given to various job elements. As mentioned previously, I believe that accuracy definitely needs to have a base in the evaluation. I would not want to deviate too far from the truth in performance. I agree with Max that if you think a slight change will make a big difference in relation to attaining what you believe is best for the individual and the department, it would be deemed appropriate. The point where “fine-tuning” becomes unacceptable distortion, in my opinion, is when the base of accuracy is not accurate anymore.
3. Assume you are the vice president of human resources at Eckel Industries and that you are aware that fine-tuning evaluations is a prevalent practice among Eckel managers. If you disagree with this perspective, what steps would you take to reduce the practice?
In order to deviate from fine-tuning I would allow manager to increase the level of participation of employees in the evaluations process, have the managers set specific performance goals with employees, and require managers to provide valuable feedback throughout the year to employees. According to research, setting specific goals increases performance and if managers are providing feedback