A functional assessment procedure, which was designed to identify insufficient skills that may have been responsible for employee performance problems, was administered to four foremen employed in a large construction organization. Results of this assessment procedure identified two skill areas, product knowledge and data entry, as deficient.…

People may be an organization's most important resource but their performance is absolutely critical to the organization's survival and ultimate growth. What produces human performance? What are the critical components? This manuscript develops the basic thinking about what causes a human to perform and then presents evidence for the addition of…

Robin E. Perry's study compared the job performance of public child welfare agency caseworkers who had received bachelors degrees in social work and caseworkers whose bachelors degrees were in other practice fields. The study found no significant effects on subsequent job performance from having received a social work degree. Several…

People vary considerably in their work performance as well as their overall approach to work. At one extreme are the outstanding performers, who approach work with enthusiasm and energy, and, at the other extreme, are those who seem to do only what is necessary to get by. Organizatins often invest a good deal of energy in trying to improve the…

One of the most popular and often studied topics in the organizational socialization literature is Van Maanen and Schein's [Van Maanen, J., & Schein, E. H. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. In B. M. Staw (Ed.), "Research in organizational behavior" (Vol. 1), pp. 209-264. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.] theory of organizational…

Task analyses have traditionally been framed in terms of overt behaviors performed in accomplishing tasks and goals. Pioneering work at the Learning Research and Development Center looked at what contribution a cognitive analysis might make to current task analysis procedures, since traditional task analysis methods neither elicit nor capture…

This book examines faculty performance appraisal especially in light of ethical and legal issues involved in the appraisal process. Part 1 contains three chapters concerned with the structure and ethics of evaluation. These chapters provide a frame of reference for the next two chapters that deal with criteria used in performance appraisals and…

This paper briefly reviews the higher education literature on nonacademic staff evaluation, followed by a description of the development of process of staff performance appraisal being implemented at Atlantic Baptist College (New Brunswick, Canada). Steps in the development process are outlined starting with the writing of a report on compensation…

Findings from a study that designed a theoretical compensation system for school administrators incorporating concepts of career/work development and adult life stages are presented in this paper. Methodology involved: a literature review of compensation practices in education; a discussion of new forces in the field affecting considerations in…

This practicum sought to elevate the morale level of direct-care staff in a residential group care setting providing residential care to dependent, neglected, and/or abused children ages 7 through 17. Four solution strategies were attempted that addressed the areas of staff support, communication, and recognition. A representative of a top…

The advances of contemporary rhetorical theory can be drawn upon to resolve the competing values of the two constituencies that have a stake in performance appraisals: the manager and the employee. One reason for problems in the existing model of performance appraisals is that the two sides perceive themselves to be in opposition, and that very…

The purpose of this study was to measure library users' reactions to the physical characteristics and the information and treatment received at the Orem (Utah) Library information desk. Over a 3-day period, a questionnaire designed by the researchers was distributed to 207 users, ages 11 and over, as they left the library. The results were…

An objective, measure-oriented job performance appraisal plan permits management to evaluate worker performance more accurately and precisely, and provides a means for assessing the degree-of-match between employee qualifications and job skills requirements for hiring, advancement, and dismissal decisions. Deficient appraisals may be costly,…

In Tennessee, varied data-gathering devices have been employed in an attempt to determine whether an educator is qualified for a given level on the state's career ladder program and, thereby, should attain the meaningful financial benefits linked to that status. In its first year of operation, the Tennessee program employed several domains of…

A study examined the impact of recruitment policies on the flow of job applicants and quality of new workers. The process of determining a recruitment and selection strategy appeared to be one of considering the trade-offs between engaging in extensive search (high number of applicants per offer) or intensive search (great amount of time spent per…