An Evaluation of the Utility of the Performance Diagnostic Checklist - Human Services (PDC-HS): A Comparison of Formal and Informal Assessment Strategies

Abstract

The PDC-HS is a performance assessment tool that assists in the identification of variables contributing to performance problems among human service employees. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of the PDC-HS as a formal assessment strategy. Specifically, the PDC-HS was compared to an informal assessment strategy consisting of a single open-ended interview question and a single structured interview question. Participants included 40 supervisors in varying positions in the human services industry. Descriptive statistics were used to compare participant responses to the open-ended and structured questions to the results indicated by the PDC-HS. Results suggest that the PDC-HS is a useful tool to identify variables associated with performance problems among employees in a variety of human service settings. More specifically, the PDC-HS appears to identify variables that supervisors are not as equipped to identify without using the tool.