Problem 1
learning goals:
part 1:
- What factors influence work attitude?
- What kind of work attitudes do exist in the work field?
- What is work performance?
part 2:
- How to assess work performance?
- What is the best method to assess work performance?
o Strengths and weaknesses
- What tools are available to assess work performance?
o How reliable are those tools?
- How do biases, heuristics and distortions influence assessment?
- How does behavior influence assessment?
Motowidlo – a theory of individual differences in tasks and contextual performance
- previous: selection research paid more attention to predictors of performance than
the performance construct itself, they don’t describe general and theoretically
satisfying models
- 2 themes of general models or theories of job performance:
o 1. dimensional structure, identify categories of performance applicable to all
jobs
o 2. causal pattern between antecedents of job performance and its
dimensional components, identify factors that explain variability
- this theory incorporates both themes
3 main points of this article
- 1. job performance defined as: aggregated value to the organization of the discrete
behavioral episodes that an individual performs over a standard interval of time
- 2. distinction between task and contextual performance is useful for identifying and
defining underlying dimensions of the behavioral episodes that make up the
performance domain
- 3. theory predicts: individual differences in personality and cognitive ability (in
combination with learning experiences) lead to variability in knowledge, skills and
work habits that mediate the effects of personality and cognitive ability on job
performance
Basic assumptions about job performance
- job performance is behavioral, episodic, evaluative and multidimensional
- essentially the degree to which an individual helps the organization reach its goals
behavioral construct:
- behavior is what people do while at work
- performance is behavior with an evaluative component (positive or negative)
, - results are states/conditions that’re changed by performance, helps or hinders an
organization’s goal
- a performance model should focus on behavior instead of results because results are
affected by other factors and don’t represent the person’s own contribution clearly
- behavioral focus is necessary to develop a psychological understanding
episodic:
- behavior is a continuous stream and people do many things that neither help nor
hinder the organization
- occasions when people do things relevant to the organizational goal are the episodes
that make up the domain of job performance
- behavior is separated by breakpoints that define their beginnings and endings
evaluative
- behavioral episodes have varying contribution values for the organization (positive or
negative)
- people can identify behavioral episodes as more or less organizationally
desirable/effective or not
multidimensional – most important assumption
- dilemma:
o to accumulate information, a single performance construct – unidimensional
o but there’re different kinds of behaviors and too heterogenous to allow
comparison
- solution: organize the domain into behaviorally homogenous categories and
aggregate contribution values in each category
Task performance and contextual performance important
- 2 types of task performance
o 1. activities that transform raw materials into good and services (selling
merchandise, teaching, performing a surgery etc.)
o 2. activities that service and maintain the technical core by refilling its supply
of raw material
o task performance has a direct relation to the organizations technical core
- contextual performance maintains the broader organizational, social and
psychological environment for the technical core to function effectively (activities like
helping and cooperating with others, or enhancing the psychological climate)
Individual differences in task and contextual performance
- focus on individual difference variables as antecedents of task and contextual
performance
- meta-analysis by Hunter: -not so important
o relations between ability, job knowledge, work sample performance (job
skill), and supervisory ratings of performance (measure of job performance)
o results ability directly affects job knowledge and skill, and it affects job
performance only through its effects on knowledge and skill
learning goals:
part 1:
- What factors influence work attitude?
- What kind of work attitudes do exist in the work field?
- What is work performance?
part 2:
- How to assess work performance?
- What is the best method to assess work performance?
o Strengths and weaknesses
- What tools are available to assess work performance?
o How reliable are those tools?
- How do biases, heuristics and distortions influence assessment?
- How does behavior influence assessment?
Motowidlo – a theory of individual differences in tasks and contextual performance
- previous: selection research paid more attention to predictors of performance than
the performance construct itself, they don’t describe general and theoretically
satisfying models
- 2 themes of general models or theories of job performance:
o 1. dimensional structure, identify categories of performance applicable to all
jobs
o 2. causal pattern between antecedents of job performance and its
dimensional components, identify factors that explain variability
- this theory incorporates both themes
3 main points of this article
- 1. job performance defined as: aggregated value to the organization of the discrete
behavioral episodes that an individual performs over a standard interval of time
- 2. distinction between task and contextual performance is useful for identifying and
defining underlying dimensions of the behavioral episodes that make up the
performance domain
- 3. theory predicts: individual differences in personality and cognitive ability (in
combination with learning experiences) lead to variability in knowledge, skills and
work habits that mediate the effects of personality and cognitive ability on job
performance
Basic assumptions about job performance
- job performance is behavioral, episodic, evaluative and multidimensional
- essentially the degree to which an individual helps the organization reach its goals
behavioral construct:
- behavior is what people do while at work
- performance is behavior with an evaluative component (positive or negative)
, - results are states/conditions that’re changed by performance, helps or hinders an
organization’s goal
- a performance model should focus on behavior instead of results because results are
affected by other factors and don’t represent the person’s own contribution clearly
- behavioral focus is necessary to develop a psychological understanding
episodic:
- behavior is a continuous stream and people do many things that neither help nor
hinder the organization
- occasions when people do things relevant to the organizational goal are the episodes
that make up the domain of job performance
- behavior is separated by breakpoints that define their beginnings and endings
evaluative
- behavioral episodes have varying contribution values for the organization (positive or
negative)
- people can identify behavioral episodes as more or less organizationally
desirable/effective or not
multidimensional – most important assumption
- dilemma:
o to accumulate information, a single performance construct – unidimensional
o but there’re different kinds of behaviors and too heterogenous to allow
comparison
- solution: organize the domain into behaviorally homogenous categories and
aggregate contribution values in each category
Task performance and contextual performance important
- 2 types of task performance
o 1. activities that transform raw materials into good and services (selling
merchandise, teaching, performing a surgery etc.)
o 2. activities that service and maintain the technical core by refilling its supply
of raw material
o task performance has a direct relation to the organizations technical core
- contextual performance maintains the broader organizational, social and
psychological environment for the technical core to function effectively (activities like
helping and cooperating with others, or enhancing the psychological climate)
Individual differences in task and contextual performance
- focus on individual difference variables as antecedents of task and contextual
performance
- meta-analysis by Hunter: -not so important
o relations between ability, job knowledge, work sample performance (job
skill), and supervisory ratings of performance (measure of job performance)
o results ability directly affects job knowledge and skill, and it affects job
performance only through its effects on knowledge and skill
