ABSTRACT
Folger, Konovsky, and Cropanzano have argued that the conceptualization of test construction and performance appraisal as similar processes of psychological measurement led to what they termed as the test metaphor for performance measurement. The test metaphor takes a rational approach to performance appraisal, based on the assumptions that the nature of work and job arrangements permits valid and reliable measurement of work behaviors and outcomes, raters can and will accurately rate performance, and a rational, true, or ultimate criterion exists for the job in question. Although the test metaphor has some value when the primary purpose of performance measurement is to provide a criterion for test validation or program evaluation, its usefulness quickly erodes when the purpose becomes either administrative or developmental in nature. The concept of performance appraisals as outcome data served to limit our thinking and focus our attention away from equal, if not more important concerns regarding the entire performance review process.
