What term refers to an error where recent events are given more importance than past events in employee evaluation?

The term that refers to the tendency to overemphasize recent events while evaluating employee performance is indeed known as recency error. This error occurs when an evaluator places disproportionate weight on an employee's most recent performance or behaviors, rather than considering their entire performance history or consistency over time.

Recency error can lead to skewed evaluations, as it may ignore fluctuations in performance and significant contributions made earlier in the evaluation period. For instance, if an employee performed exceptionally well for most of the year but had a few poor weeks towards the end, a recency error would result in a negative evaluation based primarily on those last few weeks, rather than providing a balanced view of their overall contributions.

Understanding recency error is essential for fair and accurate employee assessments, ensuring that evaluations reflect the full scope of an employee's work and contributions.