Business Starts to Flunk Performance Appraisals
Just read Kathleen Begley’s above titled article in the Daily Local News, a Chester County, PA Newspaper. In it she talks about the movement afoot to do away with performance appraisals. There are many that believe the experiment has been a dismal failure.
As an alternative, Dr. Samuel Cuthbert, a professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA is a proponent of the “puppy theory.” “When the puppy pees on the carpet, you say something right then and there. You certainly don’t tell the puppy six months later, “Remember that time you peed on the carpet?” That just doesn’t make any sense.”
Joe and Wanda?
Joe Kerr: Man up Mary! If you can’t take a little constructive criticism you won’t make it on my team.
Wanda B. Goode: This is a tough one. I’d argue that one of the major reasons that performance appraisals are such a disaster is that they are not administered properly. They are quickly thrown together by managers that have little knowledge of the employee let alone the job responsibilities. In many cases the managers have never been trained in how to give a proper review. Their only reference is the poor example set by their managers. It is a miserable chore that they attempt to get through as quickly as possible.
The performance appraisal should be just a part of an overall feedback and development system. Problem is that all the other stuff, like the “puppy theory” is ignored. The only thing that gets done is the performance appraisal because it is the only step that is mandatory. Why? Because it is easily measured.
Should we work to get more people to implement the process properly, or should we just throw in the towel? I can definitely see the argument for the latter. Regardless of the timing, managers don’t like to give feedback because it makes them uncomfortable. Employees don’t like to get feedback because it makes them uncomfortable. That’s a lot of discomfort. On the flip side, I’d like to ponder a few more alternatives prior to giving up. Charles Jacobs offers up a solution in his book, Management Rewired. Do you have any that you’d like to share?
Here are a few related posts.
Performance Appraisals: Do You Need a New Approach?
Performance Appraisals: Another 10 Years?
Performance Appraisals Aren’t Working
Stumble it!
Comments
Comment from Administrator
Time: January 21, 2010, 10:37 pm
Thanks for the comment David. Do you have any suggestions for how to encourage more informal evaluations? Would they be required? If so how would you prevent them from becoming more formal or serving as just a box to check off?
One thing I’ve found is that the relationship between the reviewer and the reviewee is critical. If the reviewee does not believe that the reviewer is genuinely trying to help and has the ability to do so, no feedback is welcome.
Comment from John Hunter
Time: January 31, 2010, 7:14 pm
I used to think the problem was essentially that performance appraisals were just poorly done. But I have been convinced they are just a bad idea. Yes it is possible to use them effectively but it is unlikely you will. As Deming said: ” the sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for; motivate people to do their best, for their own good. The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise.” http://curiouscat.com/deming/performanceappraisal.cfm
Comment from Administrator
Time: January 31, 2010, 10:11 pm
I’m starting to lean that way too John. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Comment from davidburkus
Time: January 21, 2010, 5:24 pm
I’m with Wanda. If continuous feedback is ignored, an end of the year performance evaluation is useless. Maybe the solution is more (informal) performance evaluations…with the end of the year one serving to merely summarize for HR.