One of my clients was second-guessing whether she should transition one of her employees into a totally new role. That person had recently performed well in some of the responsibilities outlined in the new position, but my client feared she was clouded due to recency rather than a long-term fit.
She was wise to be concerned about “recency bias” — a situation where the most recent action outweighs the history before it and becomes the basis for an opinion, whether good or bad. The employee who performs poorly on a task right before evaluation time will be rated more harshly than if the same act had occurred months before. Conversely, if someone excels at their most recent assignment, the halo of praise will influence how they are perceived by the supervisor.
But isn’t an interview just another case of recency bias in action? The candidate who performs well in the interview benefits from a positive impression in their most recent interaction, whereas the reverse is true. Better to realign roles based on the behavior of a current employee, whose history and loyalty you know.
