{
  "title": "Performance appraisal: what a rating actually measures",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/evaluation-de-la-performance-ce-que-mesure-vraiment-une-note-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-09-23",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Scrapping ratings has become common. Research suggests a prior question: what does an appraisal actually contain?",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Executive Leadership",
  "place": {
    "name": "Basel",
    "region": "Bâle-Ville",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "The founding result",
      "point": "Steven Scullen, Michael Mount and Maynard Goff (2000, Journal of Applied Psychology) decomposed the variance of multi-source ratings: a substantial share reflects rater idiosyncrasy — the rater's own way of scoring — rather than observed performance."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the recent debate clarified",
      "point": "Seymour Adler and colleagues (2016, Industrial and Organizational Psychology) set out the arguments for and against abolishing ratings."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The nuance that changes the decision",
      "point": "Kevin Murphy (2020, Journal of Organizational Behavior) argues that performance evaluation will not disappear, because organisations must settle pay and promotion decisions."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What follows for a leadership team",
      "point": "If part of the rating belongs to the rater, the priority is not the scale but calibration: confronting managers' judgements on real cases."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical implication, verifiable in-house",
      "point": "A check requiring no instrumentation: for a single job level, compare the distribution of ratings given by each manager."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Goff",
      "year": "2000",
      "source": "Journal of Applied Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Murphy",
      "year": "2020",
      "source": "Journal of Organizational Behavior"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 295,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2026-09-23-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/evaluation-de-la-performance-ce-que-mesure-vraiment-une-note",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/evaluation-de-la-performance-ce-que-mesure-vraiment-une-note-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/evaluation-de-la-performance-ce-que-mesure-vraiment-une-note-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/evaluation-de-la-performance-ce-que-mesure-vraiment-une-note-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/leadership-excellence/bale",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/bale",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}