Behavior Observation Scale for Performance Evaluations

Behavioral observation scales focus on evaluating employee actions rather than outcomes, providing a reliable tool for performance assessments. These scales emphasize observable behaviors linked to organizational values, helping managers assess employees in roles without easily measurable results.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. What is the purpose of a behavior observation scale?

2. What is a behavioral observation?

3. What does a behavioral observation scale look like?

4. How and when to use a scale for behavioral observation?

5. Illustration of a behavioral observation scale

6. Limitations and benefits of BOS

7. Guidelines for developing a behavioral observation tool

8. Now it’s your turn

What is the purpose of a behavior observation scale?

Due to its reliability and user-friendliness, the behavioral observation scale has become a popular tool for performance evaluations. The emphasis here is on actions rather than outcomes, which sets it apart from performance reviews that are centered on those results. Just what is a behavioral observation scale (BOS), what are its benefits and drawbacks, and how does one go about making one? Let’s get to it.

What is a behavioral observation?

While it may be difficult to decipher someone’s inner thoughts, their behavior is usually easy to see. The use of behavioral observation in performance evaluations has the potential to provide accurate data on an employee’s actions.

Behavioral observation is based on the idea that managers or other observers can gauge the regularity of an employee’s actions, which originates from the field of psychology. These are more concerned with actions than outcomes, and they are often associated with the company’s principles.

Disagreement may arise about this system. There is a higher level of subjectivity when, for example, psychological methods and a systematic monitoring of behavior by an external witness are used.

The manager may not always have a clear picture of how frequently employees help each other out or how they treat people on a regular basis when those employees work remotely. This system may cause disconnects.

As an example, the salesperson with the highest number of units sold would have the highest rating if our evaluation criteria were results alone. The most successful salesperson might not always be the one who scores highest on a behavioral observation scale; rather, it could be the one who consistently displays exemplary conduct.

Theoretically, you should link actions to results; for example, you might think that customers are more inclined to buy from businesses that offer follow-up services. However, there are other cases when that does not hold true.

What does a behavioral observation scale look like?

In order to gauge if an employee is meeting your expectations, you can use a behavioral observation scale. This is not a yes/no question, but rather a scale for evaluating staff performance. Using a five-point scale, a manager could, for instance, indicate the frequency with which an employee displays each behavior by selecting one of the following options.

Almost never
Sometimes
Often
Nearly every time

Keep in mind that most behaviors do not fit the “never” or “always” categories. In order to get an overall performance score, the scale adds together the ratings for several required actions.

One way to compare actions is to think about how desirable they are. It is possible for businesses to have company-wide scales. For instance, when evaluating employees, it’s important to consider the organization’s values and the specific actions that support them.

But you’ll also want behaviors that are unique to each job. “Demonstrates customer service by welcoming each customer” would be on the BOS of a front-line retail employee but not of an accountant working for the same organization (since the accountant never meets the clients.)

In the 1970s, Gary Latham and Ken Wexley created BOS as a tool for evaluating employee performance.

Although it differs from the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS), this form of evaluation is otherwise very similar. You can specify actions for each performance level with a BARS. It can be more precise, but only after extensive customization to the specific needs of the task at hand.

Consider the following example of a front-line retail employee:

Meets and greets each customer, displaying excellent customer service skills

Almost never
Sometimes
Often
Nearly every time

This is how it would appear with a rating system that is based on actual behavior.

Meets and greets each customer, displaying excellent customer service skills

Right before they check out
Shortly after stepping foot in the employee’s workspace
Right when you walk into the employee’s workspace
Without delay and with enthusiasm
Without delay, cheerfully, and sincerely offering assistance

Clearly outlining the employee’s responsibilities in this way necessitates extensive knowledge of the role. Depending on the task at hand, you may even need to make varying scales when working in retail. The sales associate working the children’s shoe department frequently has 10 or more customers at once, while the individual working the high-end jewelry counter may only have one, thus they should provide superior customer care.

The visual rating scale is another popular form of performance evaluation; it involves listing and ranking a set of desired characteristics and/or behaviors for a certain position on a numerical scale (e.g., 1–5, or 1–10).

How and when to use a scale for behavioral observation?

Companies frequently lament the loss of face-to-face communication as a means of performance evaluation in light of the growing number of remote workers. People who aren’t working there aren’t usually visible, after all. While it’s true that making workers wear cameras around the clock isn’t the way to go, it doesn’t rule out the possibility of using a BOS measurement tool for performance reviews.

For some tasks, it’s more effective than for others. For tasks that do not have obvious, quantifiable outcomes, a BOS is frequently a more appropriate evaluation tool than a results-only scale. When you have competent human resources, how do you calculate how many lawsuits your business avoided? It’s not easy to tell. However, you can find high achievers by looking at BOS.

Using BOS as a proxy for an employee’s overall performance might not be the wisest move in industries where output is more readily apparent, such as customer service. It is still useful for usage in conjunction with outcome monitoring. You may utilize BOS to track an employee’s complaint resolution rate, observe their adherence to company principles, and offer suggestions for improvement.

Illustration of a behavioral observation scale

Supervisors assess workers on a daily basis using questions like these rather than based on metrics like the number of sales they closed:

Please rate the following statements about the employee from 1 (very seldom) to 5 (nearly always):

Informs clients of any changes made to the product
Informs coworkers of potential sales opportunities
Facilitates team members’ ability to contact prospective customers
Honors diversity and inclusion by being cordial to all coworkers.
Ensures timely and accurate completion of sales records
Contributes by giving timely responses to inquiries from within the company

Rather than looking at the outcomes, this behavior-oriented approach emphasizes the actions themselves. Quantitative measures, rather than descriptive ones, would dominate a results-oriented appraisal of employees.

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) is an option to think about if you’d want a less subjective approach. This is what you would see as an example:

Informs clients of any changes made to the product

Notifies clients at least once every three months.
Gets in touch with every single client if there’s an important product update
Maintains communication with clients and keeps them up-to-date on product developments to foster relationships.
Makes educated guesses about what clients may need in the future, updates them frequently, and assists with their existing problems.
Directs interactions with clients in a way that satisfies their requirements without requiring them to make direct inquiries. Grasps both the current and future demands of clients with ease.

Informs coworkers of potential sales opportunities

Communicates with leads through written means at least once each month.
Notifies colleagues of leads in their respective regions quickly after receiving the lead.
Collaborates with colleagues to pursue possible leads
Ensures that no leads are lost by assisting colleagues in developing handoff plans.
Collaborates with colleagues to identify, distribute, and cultivate leads in a way that benefits all parties.

Using the BARS method allows for a more precise comparison of colleagues, but it is important to modify the questions based on the specific job requirements. Building a BARS, however, is an expensive and time-consuming process, as we’ve already mentioned.

Limitations and benefits of BOS

Using a BOS has its benefits and drawbacks, just like any other way of evaluating performance.

Advantages

Apt for evaluating workers whose duties do not lend themselves to a simple productivity-based evaluation; quantitative measures of performance could be challenging to pin down for certain occupations.
Developed more quickly than BARS, saving time
Able to compare the output of various workers
As a method for gauging leadership (i.e., how their employees act), you can compare departmental values.

Limitations

With bigger teams, it’s hard to monitor individual performance.
Needs a manager who is both proactive and careful.
It may be vague
Due to its subjective nature, it may produce unjust outcomes.

Guidelines for developing a behavioral observation tool

Human resources can work with management to develop a BOS for each position or an overall assessment of the business. A company-wide BOS should center on the core principles of the business. The process for creating a BOS based on values is as follows.

Pinpoint the principles that guide your business.
Inquire about the practical application of this value. (This is the most challenging part. You can state, “Our core principle is integrity,” but how exactly do you want your staff to embody this value? What does it mean to you?)
Assign distinct behaviors to each value.

It may be as easy as pie if you know what you’re worth! However, things can get trickier when dealing with a job-based BOS. The steps are as follows:

Rank the most important duties of a position. These are practical things an employee can perform, not abstract concepts like values or sentiments.
Incorporate actions that are relevant to the primary responsibilities of the work position. These actions should be noticeable to others and have an effect on how well the worker does their job. Since it’s more difficult to quantify “friendliness” than “greetings,” you might write “Greets customers when they come in the store” instead of “Friendliness among your front-line personnel,” even though you may respect that quality.
Ensure that all expected behaviors align with the values of the organization. At times, this could be challenging. If your firm rewards individuals who hoard knowledge, it will be at odds with the value that your company places on communication.
A solid BOS (or BARS) will have both department-wide values and a component that is specific to the job. Managers can then collect aggregated performance data for the business and conduct fair employee evaluations.

Use the BOS method in conjunction with other evaluation tools rather than as a stand-alone performance evaluation instrument.

Now it’s your turn

Customizing your behavioral observation scale to specific tasks or families of professions is essential for making it a reliable performance evaluation tool. You can be certain that it will be an accurate reflection of your employees’ performance and a tool to assist them improve.

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

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