The Behavioural Evaluation

This appraises a manager in terms of how he or she went about achieving the results.

•    Focuses on what the manager did, i.e. the process and techniques he used to achieve goals.

•    It shows what the manager is doing right and what he is doing wrong. Instruments are used which identify the key aspects of the managers job.

•    It emphasises manager development and it tries to get at the how of performance by identifying effective behaviours known to produce consistently superior performance.

•    The instruments are designed for specific jobs or for jobs closely related.

A Behaviour Evaluation Instrument

The instrument is usually done on a group of managers together and follows certain steps:

Step 1:    Managers meet and agree on the behavioural areas which should be evaluated.
Step 2:    Ratings are developed for each behavioural area using written states e.g. from very good to very poor.
Step 3:    The statements are evaluated and unclear ones removed.
Step 4:    The statements are then arranged on a scale indicating the best possible behaviour and the worst possible behaviour.

Advantages of Behavioural Evaluation:

•        Is more objective since it’s behaviour (not personality) that is being evaluated.
•        It can help managers discover ways in which they can help subordinates perform better because in developing the scale managers are forced to examine carefully how subordinates perform their work.
•    Also helps managers develop—it indicates areas in which the manager needs specific training.
•    It concentrates on performance under the individual’s control—not affected much by other factors.

Disadvantages:

•    it is costly as the instruments require a lot of time to develop, furthermore it must be done by many managers together.
•    Is only feasible in relatively large organizations.