Assignment:
For this discussion assignment you are answering a few questions, and then developing a BARS to evaluate service.
The objective of the BARS exercise is to give you experience in developing a type of appraisal format and to see the benefits and drawbacks of using the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) format.
First, please answer these questions:
- Have you ever experienced a performance appraisal you thought was unfair or illegal? If no, find someone who has and get their answers to these questions! What was the system? Why was it unfair?
Now, create a 9 point BARS for evaluating a customer service representative (you choose the specific type of job, based on your preferences/interests... but let us know what the title of this job is and where they work!).
For the scale, 1 = low effectiveness and 9 = high effectiveness.
* Step 1: Generate behavioral examples related to customer service. You probably have some horrific and some great stories that illustrate various levels of customer service you have experienced. Share them! These serve as critical incidents and should illustrate extremely effective to extremely ineffective performance.
* Step 2: Rate each of your examples on effectiveness (remember, 1 is low, 9 is high).
* Step 3: Choose nine items as behavioral anchors for the final scale. Create a diagram or illustration for us, so we can see what it looks like.
In your replies to others, please consider and answer the following:
- Are there any noticeable differences between scales?
- What are some common behaviors that appear on all scales?
- Do you think the rating scale is fair? Why or why not?