The Indi idual Pe o mance o Po uguese public sec o op le el
manage s and conside ed mo i es
1, 2
Ca a ina B andão & Filomena Jo dão
1, 2
1 Facul y o Psychology and Educa ional Sciences, Po o Uni e si y, Po ugal
2 Science and Technology Founda ion, Po ugal
INTRODUCTION
Indi idual Pe o mance (IP) is de ined as he o al popula ion o beha io s ele an o accomplishing he o ganiza ion's
goals. I s s uc u e comp ehends wo dimensions: Task pe o mance and Con ex ual Pe o mance. Task pe o mance
comp ehends beha io s ha di ec ly and indi ec ly con ibu e o he o ganiza ion's echnical co e h ough di ec suppo
(inpu s ans o ma ion) and indi ec suppo (p o iding necessa y ma e ials o se ices). Con ex ual pe o mance
comp ehends beha io s ha “do no suppo he echnical co e i sel as much as hey suppo he o ganiza ional, social and
psychological en i onmen in which he echnical co e mus unc ion” (Bo man & Mo owidlo, 1993:73, 1997).
This wo k ocuses he c i ical equi emen s o he manage s' job in he Po uguese public sec o (PPS). This means ocusing
he beha io s ha dis inguish be ween a good and bad pe o mance, a pa icula ele an app oach conside ing he ac ha
he Po uguese public sec o , a s ongly bu oc a ic o ganiza ional con ex wi h conside able dimension (and economical
cons ain s), is in he p esen momen being submi ed o a majo eo ganiza ion, making manage s beha io s e en mo e
p eponde an .
GOAL OF THE STUDY
Iden i y he ask and con ex ual beha io s ha Po uguese public sec o op le el manage s adop , and hei mo i es o
adop hem.
METHOD
Pa icipan s
10 Po uguese public sec o op le el manage s.
Table 1: Pa icipan s cha ac e iza ion
Ga he ing da a echniques
C i ical inciden echnique applied in he con ex o in e iews
P ocedu e
In e iews we e held a he pa icipan s' wo kplace. All
in e iews (each wi h app oxima e 40 minu es) we e audio
aped, wi h he pa icipan s' au ho iza ion, and han
ansc ibed.
Da a analysis
Con en analysis (QRS N i o7)
*1 o whom in an o ganiza ion ha associa es public and p i a e ules.
RESULTS
57 c i ical inciden s we e ga he ed, 10 being emo ed o ambigui y, o a inal 82.46% usable esponse
a e.
Table 2: Task beha io s iden i ied by op manage s in he Po uguese
Public sec o
“Pe sonal Suppo ” and “Conscien ious Ini ia i e” a e he mos
ele an con ex ual beha io s sub dimensions iden i ied, namely
“Cou esy and suppo ” and “Ini ia i e”. “O ganiza ional Suppo
beha io s” we e he leas iden i ied (see Table 3).
Table 3: Con ex ual beha io s iden i ied by op manage s in he Po uguese
Public sec o
Task and con ex ual beha io s iden i ied
We ound 33 ask pe o mance inciden s and
14 con ex ual pe o mance ones. Resul s
show ha he mos ele an ask beha io s
sub dimension is “ Technical and
managemen beha io s”, specially “Decision
making, p oblem sol ing” beha io s.
Beha io s “Communica ing and main aining
o he s in o med”, “T aining, coaching and
d e e l o p i n g s u b o d i n a e s ” a n d
“Adminis a ion and pape wo k” we en'
iden i ied (See able 2).
Mo i es o adop ( ask and con ex ual) beha io s
iden i ied
Resul s also show ha pa icipan s end o explain hei
beha io p incipally in ega d o hei pe sonal
i n e n i o n s / d e s i e s ( s e e a b l e 4 ) . T h e s e
in en ions/desi es a e p ima ily he enhancemen o
he o ganiza ion (e.g. p o ec ing he o ganiza ion's
image) and he subo dina es (e.g. p o ec ing he
subo dina es image and digni y).
Table 4: Mo i es manage s use o explain hei beha io s
* Each pa icipan could p esen a ious mo i es simul aneously o explain a
single beha io .
Pa icipan s explain hei adop ion o “Decision making,
p oblem sol ing” and “In luencing” ask beha io s wi h
hei in en ion/desi e o accomplish some hing,
pa icula ly enhance hei o ganiza ion (see able 5).
Table 5: Task beha io s mo e equen and associa ed mo i es
In ela ion o con ex ual beha io s, pa icipan s explain
he adop ion o “Cou esy & suppo ”, “Compliance”
and “Ini ia i e” beha io s wi h hei in en ion/desi e o
accomplish some hing (once again), pa icula ly
enhance hei subo dina es, p o ec ing hem a a
pe sonal and p o essional le el (see able 6).
“Ini ia i e” beha io s a e also explained wi h he
manage s' in en ion/desi e o gua an eeing hei
business pa ne s pe o mance.
Table 6: Con ex ual beha io s mo e equen and associa ed
mo i es
DISCUSSION
Si ua ional ac o s seem o explain he iden i ied
beha io s. “Decision making, p oblem sol ing”,
“cou esy and suppo ” owa ds subo dina es and
he “ini ia i e” o doing e e y hing conside ed
necessa y o comple e a eam o o ganiza ional aim
appea as undamen al beha io s in o de o deal
wi h he exis ing Po uguese Public Sec o
economical cons ain s, bu oc a ic p ocedu es and
subo dina es unce ain ies abou hei
p o essional u u e and he u u e o he
o ganiza ional s uc u e. Taking hese cons ain s,
i 's in e es ing o see ha manage s explain hei
beha io s a e mainly d i en by hei in en ion o
enhance he o ganiza ion (e.g. p o ec i s image) and subo dina es (e.g. hei image and digni y).
In his o ganiza ional se ing cha ac e ized by unce ain y and new ules (e.g. Pe o mance app aisal
sys em), he adop ion o con ex ual beha io s is e en mo e ele an , since hey a e pa icula ly
signi ican in o ganiza ional c ises and change, p omo ing an o ganiza ional, social and psychological
con ex ha enhances o ganiza ional s abili y.
This wo k emphasizes he impo ance o he C i ical Inciden Technique in he s udy o he manage s
Indi idual Pe o mance, as i enables he iden i ica ion o good pe o mance beha io s in a
con ex ualized way.
REFERENCES
Bo man, W. C., & Mo owidlo, S. J. (1993).
Expanding he c i e ion domain o include
elemen s o con ex ual pe o mance. In N.
Schi , W. C. Bo man & a. associa es (Eds.),
Pe sonnel selec ion in o ganiza ions (pp. 71-
98). San F ancisco: Jossey-Bass.
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The c i ical inciden
echnique. Psychological bulle in, 51 (4),
327-358.
Conway, J. M. (1999). Dis inguish con ex ual
pe o mance om ask pe o mance o
manage ial jobs. Jou nal o Applied
Psychology, 84 (1), 3-13.
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