Performance in Relation to Job Skill Importance: A Consideration of Rater Source

This study investigated relationships between the performance levels of incumbents on job skills and the importance attributed to those job skills. Supervisors and job incumbents rated both the performance of skill dimensions and the importance of those skills for respective incumbents' positions. Results indicated that the ratings of performance and importance on matched skill areas correlated positively, although relationships were somewhat stronger for incumbent data as compared with data provided by supervisors. Supervisors and incumbents agreed moderately on which skill areas were important for various positions, but the interrater agreement was much lower for performance ratings of the skill areas. For some skill areas, incumbent-rated importance and supervisor-rated performance, as well as incumbent-rated performance and supervisor-rated importance, were significantly correlated.