Page 3 - The MIL Leadership Line: January 2022

If an individual has already been counseled or spoken to on multiple occasions
throughout the year, a written performance improvement plan which identifies the
continuing deficiencies, the time frame for improvement, and expected outcomes
and consequences of failure to meet those outcomes should be developed and
implemented, in consultation with Human Resources.

Common Rating Errors:

» Attribution bias – Thinking poor performance is the employee’s fault and superior performance is a
result of the manager only.

» Central tendency – Playing it safe and giving a midpoint score.
» Contrast effect – Comparing an employee’s performance relative to the previous evaluation.
» First impression – Ignoring or distorting subsequent information to avoid changing the initial positive
or negative judgement.
» Halo effect – Erroneously appraising an individual’s performance based on a perceived positive quality,
feature, or trait.
» Horn effect – Misguidedly appraising the individual’s performance based on a perceived negative
quality or feature.

» Leniency – Rating the employee higher or lower than they deserve
» Recency effect – Narrow focus on recent events rather than the entire performance period such as
inadvertently ignoring achievements from earlier in the performance evaluation period.
» Similarity/“like me” – Favorable ratings given to employees who have similar values or interests to you.

Goals

Don’t forget about goals! Take an interest in your employees’ professional and career
development – it shows that you are committed to their success and enhances their overall
engagement and satisfaction. This does not mean that you need to have all the answers for
them or promise them that a promotion is forthcoming. As a leader your role is simply to
guide, coach, and where possible, provide opportunities to grow and develop.