What term describes the tendency to focus overly on an employee's recent actions?

The term that describes the tendency to focus overly on an employee's recent actions is recency. This concept is derived from psychological principles regarding memory and perception, where individuals are often influenced by the most recent information they have encountered. In a supervisory context, this means that a manager might evaluate an employee's overall performance based heavily on their latest behavior, rather than on their entire history of work performance.

For example, if an employee has performed exceptionally well over several months but has a few mistakes in the last week, a supervisor might unfairly weigh those recent errors more heavily than the employee's consistent prior success. This can lead to skewed evaluations and potentially affect decisions regarding promotions or disciplinary actions. Recognizing the impact of recency helps supervisors strive for a more balanced and fair evaluation of employee performance over a longer period.