critical incident technique


critical incident technique

an examination of a series of important incidents in an employee's work performance so as to isolate the factors which determine effectiveness. Usually the employees will be asked to suggest these critical incidents themselves and to indicate what influenced their effectiveness, or lack of it, in each case. This method can be used in PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL, especially when a key objective is improving work performance. Its benefits are that it encourages individuals to consider their own performance, and in so far as they propose the issues to be considered it can make appraisal a fairly open and nonthreatening process.