Reference no: EM132712564

Case Study: Performance Appraisal As The Production Supervisor for Sweeny Electronics, Sara Joseph was generally well regarded by most of her subordinates. Sara was an easygoing individual who tried to help her employees in any way she could. If a worker needed a small loan until payday, she would dig into her pocket with no questions asked. Should an employee need some time off to attend to a personal problem, Sara would not dock the individual's pay; rather, she would take up the slack herself until the worker returned. Everything had been going smoothly, at least until the last performance appraisal period. One of Sara's workers, Bill John, had been experiencing a large number of personal problems for the past year. Bill's wife had been sick much of the time, and her medical expenses were high. Bill's son had a speech impediment, and the doctors had recommended a special clinic. Bill, who had already borrowed the limit the bank would loan, had become upset and despondent over his circumstances. When it was time for Bill's annual performance appraisal, Sara decided she was going to do as much as possible to help him. Although Bill could not be considered more than an average worker, Sara rated him outstanding in virtually every category. Because the firm's compensation system was heavily tied to performance appraisal, Bill would be eligible for a merit increase of 10 percent in addition to a regular cost-of-living raise. Sara explained to Bill why she was giving him such high ratings, and Bill acknowledged that his performance had really been no better than average. Bill was very grateful and expressed this to Sara. As Bill left the office, he was excitedly looking forward to telling his work buddies about what a wonderful boss he had. Seeing Bill smile as he left gave Sara a warm feeling.

1. From Sweeny Electronics' standpoint, what difficulties might Sara's performance appraisal practices create?

2. What can Sara do now to diminish the negative impact of her evaluation of Bill?