Konted's Make My Day 2: The Halo Effect

The Halo Effect

Aside from the mandatory 13th month pay, many companies give other bonuses or incentives to employees. Christmas bonuses, 14th month pay, 15th month pay, merit bonuses, performance bonuses, anniversary incentives, mid year bonuses and other perks are acts of generosity on the part of the company. The company shares whatever gains realized for the years past.

While the 13th Month Pay is mandatory, other company bonuses are discretionary. The company decides when and what to give. (5Snewspic; caption is mine)

Bonuses may be given based on certain percentages of an employee's basic salary. (primexpic; caption is mine)

Bonuses motivate employees to perform better. (philippinespluspic; caption is mine)

Bonuses serve as incentives that prop up the sagging spirit of an employee feeling burned out. (jantoopic; caption is mine)

It is management prerogative to give or not to give bonuses. (optimizeupic; caption is mine)

But before anything else, a performance evaluation is done on each employee. This assessment is based on certain criteria, some of which are Quality of Work, Interpersonal Relations, Work Attitude, Punctuality, Communication Skills and more. The immediate superior is always in the best position to gauge the performance of his subordinates. And he is supposed to do it with objectivity. It is incumbent upon him to do it with "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge."

Companies conduct yearly Performance Appraisal on employees. It is used as basis when giving bonuses, increases or promotions.(slidesharepic; caption is mine)

Superiors tasked to make performance evaluation should be objective. (warestaurantpic; caption is mine)

The company sets the criteria. (drawshoppic; caption is mine)

(laughhubpic)

But this exercise is not that easy. There is always that danger of the so-called "halo effect" getting in the way. It is a form of bias. There is "halo effect" when one good trait of an employee being evaluated is highlighted to the point that the one evaluating ignores the weaknesses of the employee concerned and instead gives him undeserving high points in the other criteria. A case in point is an employee who is "mabait, madaling utusan" who gets a passing mark even if his quality of work suffers, or sometimes fails to meet the quota. This is prevalent in cases where criteria are not quantifiable or measurable. This also happens sometimes during job interviews.

There is Halo Effect when one positive trait of an employee covers up for the other negative traits. (wsjpic; caption is mine)

Bonuses are given, most of the time, company-wide. A Performance Appraisal is done by the immediate superior. (wilkeningkopic; caption is mine)

Physical appearance sometimes may affect your judgment. (politicsoftheworkplacepic; caption is mine)

All criteria set by the company should be considered. (scenicreflectionpic; caption is mine)

The reverse is also true. When one negative trait is highlighted so as to create the tendency to give low marks in the other criteria, there is " horns effect". One negative trait pulls down the points in the other areas of concern. A worker who is "palasagot, mahilig mangatuwiran" is given a low grade even if he is one of the highest producers, surpassing even the quota set by the company. There is no objectivity. There is no fairness. This leads to demoralization, which in turn, affects production.

- Konted