Evaluating employee performance: Does the appraisal instrument make a difference?

This study compares the relative advantages of behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) vis-à-vis global rating scales in terms of: (a) rating dispersion (b) halo effect (c) incremental utility (d) test-retest reliability, and (e) criterion-related validity. Results on two industrial samples of technicians, one from the U.S. (N = 74) and one from Australia and New Zealand (N = 145), showed that the BARS were not superior to the global rating scales on any of the scale properties examined. In fact, the global scales showed slightly greater criterion-related validity and generally lower interscale correlations than did the BARS. In view of the time and resources that must be expended in the development of BARS, such results strongly question the usefulness of the procedures underlying the development of BARS. Discussion also addresses the issue of the practical usefulness of any performance appraisal tool that is not integrated within the overall appraisal system.