Conversations About Job Performance

Conversations About Job Performance details the Communication-Centered Approach (CCA) to performance appraisal that is focused on its most challenging part—the appraisal interview.

For many years, researchers and practitioners have devoted substantial time and effort to develop satisfactory performance appraisal systems that impart useful information to employees about their job performance. Nonetheless, problems continue to arise, principally because managers often find it difficult to provide feedback on performance to their employees. If this sounds familiar to you, you’ll need this book, which details the Communication-Centered Approach (CCA) to performance appraisal that is focused on its most challenging part—the appraisal interview.

The CCA described by authors Gordon and Miller is important because, despite the continuing evolution of performance appraisal, a conversation about the employee’s performance is still a very important component of the latest systems. Also, focusing on communication offers a valuable perspective on all aspects of performance appraisal: the definition of performance and its various facets, how performance information is given and perceived, and the interactional context that affects the meaning of feedback.

Thoughtful insight and communication literature that is the basis for each of these ideas is included, as well as illustrations on how the conceptual foundation may be translated into practice.