An Analysis of the Relationship between Authentic Assessments of Contrived Sales and Actual Sales Performance in a Retail Sales Environment

Abstract

It is difficult and expensive to provide evidence that training programs make a positive impact on employee behavior or make a contribution to the profitability of a business. If a relationship could be established between training performance and business performance using authentic assessment of actions taken in contrived situations, it would reduce the difficulty and expense of providing this evidence significantly. This study used rubric scores of sales performance in role-play situations for 79 salespeople, as well as gross sales figures for the same people, who worked in four sales departments in 15 stores divided into two tiers. After establishing inter-rater reliability, multiple raters were used to assess performance. The goal was to see if there was a relationship between the role-play scores and actual gross sales. Multiple regression analysis using dummy variables was used to account for the differences that might exist between departments and store tiers. The study found no relationship between the role-play scores and performance. The conclusion drawn is that, subject to the conditions used in the study, there is no relationship between authentic assessment, in the form of a graded role-play, and real-world sales performance.