Question
Book title: Industrial/organizational psychology
Read Chapter 4 textbook, pages 97-122
For this assignment, See page 120 “Taking it to the field”.
On page 120, there’s an e-mail from a client presenting you with some challenges related to defining and measuring criteria. Stacia Mattson, who works in the HR department at Collini’s Gardening Servive, is having some problems. Read the e-mail, and provide critiques and suggestions for Stacia.
This activity involves providing a critique of metrics used to assess performance among gardeners. This activity is intended to get you thinking about some of the difficulties associated with defining and measuring criteria. As such, the important part of this assignment is to be effective in critiquing the current metrics provided by Stacia. If you simply state that all the metrics are adequate then you are not thinking carefully about why certain metrics might be different among gardeners.
Following are some potential responses:
| Poor responses . . . | ■ Demonstrate little critical thinking (e.g., “Your performance measures are great!”). ■ Fail to specifically discuss each potential performance measure. ■ Fail to provide Stacia with any potential new performance measure metrics. |
| Good responses . . . | ■ Demonstrate that you have carefully considered what each metric may measure. You should explain to Stacia some of the more obvious shortcomings of each metric. For example, you could note that some clients may want certain plants even if they die easily; if these plants fail to survive, it may not be the fault of the gardener. ■ Provide reasonably effective suggestions for measuring performance, such as supervisor evaluations, peer evaluations, and the like. |
| Excellent responses . . . | ■ Demonstrate that you have carefully considered what each metric measures. You should explain to Stacia some of the more complex shortcomings of the measures (e.g., some plants may be more vulnerable to diseases and insect infestations in particular geographic regions). ■ Provide effective and interesting suggestions for measuring performance, such as how much profit the gardener generates, how many new contracts the gardener sells each year, and so on. |
Possible Critiques
Number of plants that die: The number of plant deaths may not necessarily indicate the gardener’s skill. For example, some clients ask for plants that are difficult to care for; some clients have children or pets that kill the plants; drought, disease, or other problems can also cause plants to die. Furthermore, larger plants (e.g., trees) may create more serious problems if they die, compared to smaller plants (e.g., tulips).
Number of houses visited per week: Some large properties may take a long time to care for; gardeners who visit a large number of houses per week may be doing poor- quality work; if gardeners are in an area where clients are more separated (e.g., rural areas) or where traffic is difficult (e.g., populous urban areas), it may take them a long time to get from one client to another.
Satisfaction ratings from the gardener’s customer: Skilled gardeners may not always be well liked by their clients; clients may also have unreasonable expectations or may imply they are dissatisfied in the hope that they will receive discounts or compensation.
Solution
Industrial Psychology
Collini’s Gardening Service is already considering using three measures of performance. At first, the company suggested using the number of plants that die per year under a given gardener’s care. This criterion is practical and relevant because, considering the ultimate criterion, a gardener should have few, if not none, plants that die under their care (Levy 102). However, this criterion is not reliable because there are also variables that cause the death of plants regardless of the gardener’s skills. For instance, a gardener could be working in an area where the weather is harsh on the trees or in a homestead where pets are likely to destroy plants……………for help with this assignment contact us via email Address: consulttutor10@gmail.com