Supervisory Test Performance Management and Coaching 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A supervisor only remembers the last two weeks of an employee's work when completing an annual review. This is an example of:
- Halo effect
- Recency bias (Correct answer)
- Contrast error
- Attribution error
Correct answer: Recency bias
Recency bias occurs when evaluators overweight recent events and underweight performance from earlier in the review period.
Question 2: During a coaching session, an employee becomes emotional and defensive. The supervisor should:
- End the meeting immediately and reschedule
- Acknowledge the employee's feelings and give them a moment before continuing (Correct answer)
- Proceed with the agenda despite the employee's reaction
- Involve HR immediately to de-escalate
Correct answer: Acknowledge the employee's feelings and give them a moment before continuing
Acknowledging emotions before proceeding shows empathy and helps the employee feel heard, which makes them more receptive to feedback.
Question 3: Which of the following is a characteristic of SMART performance goals?
- Subjective and aspirational
- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (Correct answer)
- Set solely by the supervisor without employee input
- Standardized identically across all employees regardless of role
Correct answer: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound
SMART goals include clear criteria for success, realistic expectations, relevance to the role, and a defined deadline.
Question 4: A supervisor rates all employees as 'average' to avoid conflict or favoritism. This is called:
- Recency bias
- Central tendency error (Correct answer)
- Halo effect
- Leniency bias
Correct answer: Central tendency error
Central tendency error occurs when supervisors avoid high or low ratings, clustering all evaluations in the middle of the scale.
Question 5: What is the primary role of feedback in the coaching process?
- To document problems for potential termination
- To provide information that allows employees to adjust and improve their performance (Correct answer)
- To compare employees against each other for ranking purposes
- To satisfy annual HR compliance requirements
Correct answer: To provide information that allows employees to adjust and improve their performance
Coaching feedback functions as a performance mirror, giving employees the data they need to understand gaps and make targeted improvements.
Question 6: Which action BEST demonstrates that a supervisor values employee development?
- Assigning all developmental tasks to HR
- Regularly discussing career goals and providing stretch assignments (Correct answer)
- Reserving training opportunities for the highest performers only
- Allowing employees to choose their own goals without guidance
Correct answer: Regularly discussing career goals and providing stretch assignments
Supervisors who actively discuss career aspirations and provide growth opportunities signal that employee development is an ongoing priority, not an annual event.
Question 7: When should corrective feedback be delivered?
- Only at the scheduled annual performance review
- As soon as possible after observing the performance issue (Correct answer)
- Only after three documented warnings have been issued
- At the end of the quarter to allow patterns to emerge
Correct answer: As soon as possible after observing the performance issue
Timely feedback is more actionable and credible; delaying it until a formal review reduces its impact and can allow problems to worsen.
Supervisory Test Performance Management and Coaching 4
A supervisor only remembers the last two weeks of an employee's work when completing an annual review.
This is an example of: