The role of prescribed and nonprescribed behaviors in estimating the dollar value of performance

Abstract

Methods for assessing the standard deviation of dollar-valued work performance ( SD y ) do not address the issue of whether or not performance of nonprescribed behaviors should be included in the estimation of SD y . We used a policy-capturing approach to see whether supervisors considered nonprescribed behaviors when making dollar judgments about work performance. Seventeen supervisors attached dollar values to 50 profiles of hypothetical computer programmers. Each profile consisted of performance ratings on 10 dimensions of prescribed behavior and 3 dimensions of nonprescribed behavior. Results indicated that most of the supervisors do take nonprescribed behaviors into account when making dollar judgments of work performance. Estimates of SD y derived from the policy-capturing method correlated .45 ( p < .05) with estimates of SD y made by subjects, using the global estimation method (Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, & Muldrow, 1979). Implications are discussed for both SD y estimation and treatment of nonprescribed work behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)