Subjectivity and Managerial Discretion in Assessing Performance and Assigning Workplace Rewards, Opportunities, and Sanctions

• In Event: 1568 - Culture and Organizations

Abstract

How performance management systems function in corporate settings has remained largely a “black box.” We draw on observations of calibration meetings held at two companies to shed light on how performance ratings and workplace rewards, opportunities, and sanctions are distributed to workers. While previous research has focused largely on the intentional or unintentional bias implicated in managerial decision-making in performance management, this article exposes the challenges inherent in attempting to manage a workforce “objectively,” especially one engaged in the production of knowledge work. In response, we argue that today’s performance management systems represent “means-ends decoupling” (Bromley and Powell 2012).

Author

• Kristine Kilanski, Independent Scholar