Chapter 11: Managing Individual Differences & Behavior
The Recency Effect: Can You Use It to Get a Better Performance Review?
If you work for a firm that does employee performance reviews only once a year, as is common in India, maybe you should take your vacation during the first six months and work your hardest during the second six months–those preceding your annual appraisal. “The recency effect has a lot to do with the amount of the bonus you make”, says one Indian manager. “It’s often what you have done or achieved in the last three to six months that drives your bonus.” In 2012, Adobe Systems, maker of Photoshop and other software, which has 10,000 employees, 2,000 of them in India, announced it was giving up the once-a-year performance review, in part because of the recency effect.
TASK:
What decisions(s) would you admit to making in which you were influenced by the recency effect? (Work or non-work examples are fine to analyze) 2 pages double spaced
