Hi guys, this blog post is part of a four posts series that talk about the problem of Performance Appraisals as a Rating Device. All series can be found here. This time I will discuss how Categorization and Stereotype can affect Performance Appraisals.
Based on wikipedia definition, Categorization is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood. Categorization implies that objects are grouped into categories, usually for some specific purpose. . A stereotype is a thought that may be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things.These thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect reality”
The book written by Tom Coens and Mary : “Abolishing Performance Appraisals” refers that based in our culture, society and experiences we adopt beliefs and ideas about certain cultures or people based characteristics or tendencies that we observed. After this, our mind start to assign people to a reference category (this person is more a geek type, that person is more boss licker, etc)
This kind of behavior is quite dangerous, because when this happens, we instinctively assign patterns to people that might not be true. When we do this, often we do not take time to actually get to know the person better. When we talk about appraisals process, we have a high risk of not being fair to a person and sabotage all process. At this point, you are thinking this usually never happens because we are all great bosses, but in my experience this will happen more often than what we would think.
This blog post is part of my new book: Get Rid of Performance Appraisals that you can find here. Below you can get a free chapter of the book…
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