Background
- Task performance – effectiveness with which job incumbents perform activities that contribute to the organization’s technical core either directly by implementing a part of the technological process, or indirectly by providing it with needed materials or services
- Contextual activities are important because they contribute to organizational effectiveness in ways that shape the organizational, social, and psychological context that serves as the catalyst for task activities and processes
- Contextual performance is importantly different from task performance in at least three ways: (1) task activities vary considerably across jobs whereas contextual activities tend to be more similar across jobs; (2) task activities are more likely than contextual activities to be role-prescribed; (3) antecedents of task performance are more likely to involve cognitive ability, whereas antecedents of contextual performance are more likely to involve personality variables
- If we include as criteria contextual performance factors, then personality predictors will be more successful in personnel selection research
Borman and Motowidlo Taxonomy of Contextual Performance
- Persisting with enthusiasm and extra effort necessary to complete own task activities successfully.
- Perseverance and conscientiousness; extra effort on the job
- Volunteering to carry out task activities that are not formally part of own job.
- Suggesting organizational improvements; initiative and taking on extra responsibility; making constructive suggestions, developing oneself
- Helping and cooperating with others
- Assisting/helping coworkers; assisting/helping customers; organizational courtesy; sportsmanship; altruism; helping coworkers
- Following organizational rules and procedures
- Following orders and regulations and respect for authority; complying with organizational values and policies; conscientiousness; meeting deadlines; civic virtue
- Endorsing, supporting, and defending organizational objectives
- Organizational loyalty; concern for unit objectives; staying with an organization during hard times and representing the organization favorably to outsiders; protecting the organization
Impact of Ratee Contextual Performance on Overall Performance Ratings
- It is well-established that global overall performance ratings are influenced substantially by ratee performance; task and contextual performance is weighted about the same by supervisors making ratings
Evidence that Personality Predicts Contextual Performance
- When the contextual components of overall performance can be measured separately, personality predictor validities will be higher than when the criterion is overall performance
- Additional reason HPI scales may correlate more highly with contextual-like criteria is the similarity in their bandwidths. The HPI basic scales probably target a criterion domain more narrow than overall performance; from both a predictor-criterion conceptual mapping perspective and a bandwidth similarity perspective, typical personality scales should relate more highly with contextual factors than overall performance
Conclusions
- The contextual performance domain is important-it seems conceptually and empirically distinct from task performance, distinction will increase in importance as:
- Global competition continues to raise needed effort levels of employees
- As team-based organizations become more popular
- As downsizing continues to make employee adaptability and willingness to exhibit more effort more of a necessity
- Customer service is increasingly emphasize
- Research shows that experienced supervisors consider contextual performance on the part of subordinates when making overall performance ratings
- When contextual performance dimensions are included as criteria, personality predictors are more likely to be successful correlates
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