Performance Management: Customer Rating Errors and Training

This report delves into the realm of performance management, specifically addressing the issues arising from customer rating errors within customer service environments. It begins by identifying various biases that can skew customer ratings, including leniency, central tendency, strictness, contrast, false attribution, and the halo/horns effect. The report then emphasizes the critical need to align organizational goals with the personal goals of employees to enhance performance and satisfaction. Furthermore, it suggests the implementation of comprehensive training programs for managers to mitigate rating errors and provide more accurate and unbiased feedback. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of effective performance appraisal systems and offering recommendations for improving these systems to ensure fair and accurate evaluations.

Performance Management
Student’s Details

Performance Management 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Identify the reasons for customer rating errors................................................................................2
Leniency Bias..............................................................................................................................3
Central Tendency Bias.................................................................................................................3
Strictness Bias..............................................................................................................................3
Contrast Bias................................................................................................................................3
False Attribution Bias..................................................................................................................4
The Halo/Horns Effect.................................................................................................................4
Need for the alignment of organizational goals and personal.........................................................4
Training programs for managers to improve rating feedbacks........................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................7

Performance Management 2
Introduction
Performance appraisal is an effective and essential tool for employee satisfaction and
employee retention. Employees are valuable assets in any organization, thus, keeping employees
motivated and satisfied is an essential phenomenon in the Human resource management process.
In the given situation customer services employees in a firm are not satisfied with the
performance appraisal system in the organization. Employees in the organization also feel a lack
of alignment and coordination and huge gaps between organizational goals and performance
assessment criteria.
Thus, this study focuses on reasons for errors in customer ratings for customer service
employees. This study covers an assessment of alignment or coordination with the organizational
goals and personal goals of customer services. This study recommended effective training
programs for managers to carry out adequate performance assessment programs.
Identify the reasons for customer rating errors
To measure the employee’s performance there are numerous methods have been adopted
by the human resource department of the organizations. Measuring the employee’s performance
on the client or customer satisfaction level is one of the most effective performance measurement
methods. In the customer rating methods, supervisors evaluate the employee's performance
according to the customer's satisfaction rating level (Aguinis, 2013).
In this customer rating method, managers evaluate employee's performance on the given
rating by the customers that lie from least satisfied or unsatisfied to highly satisfied. In this rating
method, managers evaluate employee's performance on the average satisfaction scale rating
given by the customer. This is a highly effective tool to measure employee's performance and

Performance Management 3
mainly uses in 360degree performance measurement method. But sometimes this method leads
to biased ratting and rating errors that impact on employee performance measurement negatively.
There are many reasons behind rating errors for customer service employees. The errors mainly
occur due to customers' and raters' biasness.
Leniency Bias
Sometimes customers feel sympathetic for employees or service providers for several
reasons such as the same backgrounds, cultural influence, and poor financial background of the
employee or many more reasons (Cheng, Hui, & Cascio, 2017).
Central Tendency Bias
Most of the time raters give an average rating instead of experience, which leads to
central tendency biases. In this rating system, employees who are performing high also end up
with a middle rating which has a direct effect on employee performance assessment (Bassig,
2018).
Strictness Bias
In a strictness rating system, the rater overreacts on a small mistake and gives a rating on
basis small bad experience an employee. Just due to a small mistake customer generalized
overall experiences and give the rating for his assumption that performance is below standard
(Citeman, 2006).
Contrast Bias
Sometimes customer evaluates the employee's performance by comparing his previous
experiences. This comparison of the customer can be negative or positive. It is based on previous
experiences (Aguinis, 2013).

Performance Management 4
False Attribution Bias
Sometimes raters or customers assume that they can control the success and failure of the
employee. Thus, in the influence of false attribution, they give a false or biased rating to
employees. (Swift, Moore, & Gino, 2013)
The Halo/Horns Effect
The halo effects error occurs when a customer or rater evaluates employee's performance
on just one aspect and ignores other performance aspects. This aspect can be either good or bad.
The entire good or bad performance of the employee is judged by a single aspect (Aguinis,
2013).
Need for the alignment of organizational goals and personal
Although there a huge difference between organizational goals and personal goals of the
employees, yet it is important for business managers and supervisors aligning organizational
goals and personal goals to achieving organizational growth, to enchaining employees'
performance and increasing employee satisfaction.
The alignment in personal goals and organizational goals is important to set a tone for
organizational development strategies. Organizational goals are set as the benchmark and overall
strategy of the concerned organization. To achieve these organizational goals, step by step
progress is dependent on personal goals. Personal goals are nothing but up-warding steps
towards organizational goals (Change ur story, 2018).
The alignment of personal goals with organizational goals gives a sense of contribution
and participation for organizational success to the employee. In the lack of alignment, employees
feel detachment towards the organization which leads to employee turnover and low
productivity.

Performance Management 5
Alignment in personal goals and organizational goals helps employees to clear out work
priorities. This alignment in both goals provides a clear path or mission towards organizational
growth. A basket of tasks leads employee's distraction that what to be done and how to be done.
This goal aliment gives a clear path to employees to go to achieve organizational vision and
success (Lavoie, 2016).
Thus, it is important for the managers to develop an aliment between organizational goals
and personal goals to attain organizational success by removing obstacles such as unclear vision
and strategy and a sense of detachment.
Training programs for managers to improve rating feedbacks
As we have already discussed that customer rating and feedback are effective methods to
measure employee's performance. But the managers need to get this rating free from errors and
biases. Thus, managers and supervisors need to learn biased free ratings and feedback methods.
Managers need training programs that include various techniques and methods to improve error-
free feedback methods. This training program should some learnings.
Clearly state the purpose of the rating in rating program. It is important for the supervisor
to learn that the purpose of the rating program should be clear. Rating programs should include
an easy understanding of the impact of rating on the performance improvement of the employee.
It is also important for the managers to develop easy, concise and clear questions and
statements. Because unclear, lengthy and difficult question leads to error in the result because of
the biased rating of employee. Training programs for the managers should also include a course
which enhances understanding towards the suitability of the rating program, like managers
cannot imposes online, or offline, written, and oral rating methods for all types of customer.
Every customer has different adaptability, understanding and accessibility for the rating system.

Performance Management 6
It is also important t to develop an understanding in managers to recognized rating errors and
measure the employee's performance on the measurement tools (Kumar, 2005).
Because error-free rating and effective performance measurement tool is a crucial key for
employee's growth and organizational growth. An adequate performance measurement tool leads
to adequate results that help employees to deliver high performance, to keep them satisfied and
motivated.
Conclusion
Employee performance measurement is a crucial part of HRM strategy. It is important for
managers to deliver error-free and adequate performance appraisal to employees. In this case,
scenario managers appraise employee's performance on the customer's rating. This discusses
concludes that various reasons to deliver biased ratings. Thus managers need to go through a
certain training program to ignore these errors to measure employee performance.

Performance Management 7
Bibliography
Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance Management. New Jersey: Pearson.
Bassig, M. (2018, April 12). Are Online Reviews Fundamentally Biased? Retrieved February 4,
2020, from Reviewtrackers: https://www.reviewtrackers.com/blog/online-review-bias/
Change ur story. (2018, October 4). Should I align the company’s goals with my personal career
goals? Retrieved February 5, 2020, from Change ur story:
https://changeurstory.in/should-i-align-the-companys-goals-with-my-personal-career-
goals/
Cheng, H. C., Hui, C. H., & Cascio, F. W. (2017). Leniency Bias in Performance Ratings: The
Big-Five Correlates. Frontiers in Psychology, 521-555.
Citeman. (2006, July 13). The problem in performance appraisal. Retrieved February 5, 2020,
from Citemen: https://www.citeman.com/795-problem-in-performance-appraisal.html
Kumar, D. (2005). PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: The Importance of Rater Training . Journal
of the Kuala Lumpur Royal Malaysia Police College, , 1-17.
Lavoie, A. (2016, May 17). 3 Steps for Aligning Your Organizational Goals. Retrieved February
5, 2020, from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275768
Swift, A., Moore, A. D., & Gino, F. (2013). Inflated Applicants: Attribution Errors in
Performance Evaluation by Professionals. PLoS ONE, 1-47.