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Have you ever felt like a mistake you made long ago unfairly influenced your performance review, or found yourself judging an employee too positively or negatively based on just one trait?
This is the halo/horns effect, a bias that occurs when we allow a single characteristic to skew our entire evaluation of someone’s performance. In the context of performance reviews, these biases can lead to inaccurate feedback, unfair assessments, and distorted perceptions, which ultimately harm team development and individual growth.
To ensure fair and effective performance reviews, it’s crucial to recognize and overcome these biases. This article will discuss the halo/horns effect and provide strategies for giving balanced, accurate feedback.
What is the Halo Effect?
The “halo effect” is a cognitive bias where our overall impression of someone influences how we perceive their specific traits. If a person excels in one area, we tend to assume they excel in others, even without evidence.
For instance, if John is well-liked because he is friendly, his manager might also rate him highly in areas like leadership or productivity, even if his performance in those areas is average.
The term was coined by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920 during studies on how military
