ln order to be useful, any criterion measure also must be sensitive-that is, capable of discriminating
between effective and ineffective employees. Suppose, for example, that quantity of
goods produced is used as a criterion measure in a manufacturing operation. Such a criterion
frequently is used inappropriately when, because of machine pacing, everyone doing a given job
produces about the same number of goods. Under these circumstances, there is little justification
for using quantity of goods produced as a performance criterion, since the most effective workers
do not differ appreciably from the least effective workers. Perhaps the amount of scrap or the
number of errors made by workers would be a more sensitive indicator of real differences in job
performance. Thus, the use of a particular criterion measure is warranted only if it serves to
reveal discriminable differences in job performance.