Define job performance. Does it involve results, such as the dollar value of sales? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Job performance is formally defined as the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute, either positively or negatively, to organizational goal accomplishment. This definition of job performance includes behaviors that are within the control of employees, but it places a boundary on which behaviors are (and are not) relevant to job performance. You might be tempted to believe it is more appropriate to define performance in terms of results rather than behaviors. However, using results as the primary indicator of job performance creates potential problems. First, employees contribute to their organization in ways that go beyond bottom-line results. Second, there is evidence that managers' focus on bottom-line results can create a bottom-line mentality among employees, which in turn, results in social undermining. Third, results are often influenced by factors that are beyond the employees' control-product quality, competition, equipment, technology, budget constraints, coworkers, and supervisors, just to name a few. Fourth, results do not tell you how to reverse a "bad year." That is, performance feedback based on results does not provide people with the information they need to improve their behavior.