Frame-Of-Reference Training

One of Several Rater Training Programs

Several distinct rater training programs have been developed over the years, all with the goals of reducing rating errors and increasing rater accuracy. Rater error training has the explicit goal of decreasing common rater errors or biases (e.g., leniency or severity, halo, first impression, central tendency) by informing raters of these errors and how to avoid them. Rater variability training is similar in intent, with an emphasis on ensuring that the variability in ratings assigned corresponds to the variability in actual performance levels.

The early 1980s saw a shift away from training raters to avoid the types of errors just described to training based on a more proactive and direct emphasis on accuracy. This shift was partly the result of findings that suggested that training raters merely to avoid rating errors sometimes led to decreases in accuracy. Earlier forms of these training programs had included rater accuracy training and behavioral observation training, wherein much of the emphasis was on improving raters' detection, perception, observation, and recall (i.e., memory) of specific performance behaviors. These types of training programs encouraged the recording of behaviors to facilitate later recall and rating judgments. Another direct predecessor of FOR training was performance dimension training, which relied primarily on defining the important elements of performance for the raters. However, FOR training goes beyond this approach to provide an indepth understanding of the organization's theory of performance, developed through interactive discussion, practice, and feedback.

Components of FOR Training

The main objective of FOR training is to provide raters with the knowledge and skills necessary to accurately rate performance according to an agreed-upon frame of reference. Through an interactive process, FOR training is designed to eliminate idiosyncratic standards held by raters and to replace them with a common frame of reference to be used in rating.

The FOR training process consists of four components. First, the trainees (i.e., performance raters) are familiarized with the target theory of performance through an informational presentation. This theory of performance, defined by the organization and therefore unique to the organization and to a particular job, includes the important dimensions (e.g., quality of work, taking initiative) that constitute the performance domain and their definitions. The rating scale to be used—a behaviorally anchored rating scale, or BARS—is usually presented at this time.

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