As an advisor to executives on how to increase their organization\u2019s performance by being more effective at managing the human side of their business, one of my jobs is to keep up with research, trends, and other issues that can be used to help them achieve success.\u00a0 As a result, I subscribe to and read a number of magazines, journals, reports, articles, newsletters, and other sources of information, both in print and electronic format.\u00a0 Depending on the time of year, some topics seem to recycle on a predictable basis, while others seem to simply ebb and flow, depending on the \u201cflavor of the month.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes those flavors seem to hang on for a very long time, or they keep recycling in new forms.\u00a0 One of those topics is performance appraisals.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday I received three different newsletters in my e-mail inbox, all about performance appraisals.\u00a0 Two were about different approaches to make performance appraisals better.\u00a0 Well, actually the third was about that same thing, too, but while I tend to almost immediately trash most of these e-mails, this one caught my attention.\u00a0 It began with a callout quote from within the article that said \u201cIn an ideal world, managers would manage performance throughout the year, offer timely and consistent feedback, and ensure that both goals and feedback were aligned with and supported organizational goals.\u201d\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Definitely!\u00a0 This is exactly what should be happening.\u00a0 Surely this article would be different!\u00a0 Alas, it was not to be.\u00a0 As I began to read the article it went on to essentially state that organizations and managers didn\u2019t work in an ideal world, despite the fact that ongoing performance management would certainly lead to more engaged employees.\u00a0 So since we were not in an ideal world we should stop trying to \u201cditch\u201d (their words) this \u201carchaic ritual\u201d (my words) of performance appraisals and find a way to make the process work.<\/p>\n
The problem with this approach is that we continue to promote a practice that no one likes to do, is non-motivating for most employees, demotivating for many, and, worse, actually does not provide any impact on the organization\u2019s performance level.\u00a0 After over 10 years of research and over 1000 research documents reviewed on what drives performance in organizations, I have yet to find a single source that shows that annual performance reviews actually impact organizational performance.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it time to stop making excuses for and trying to come up with reasons to keep this archaic approach and help managers move on to a 21st century approach to managing performance?<\/p>\n
That is exactly what the best organizations do.\u00a0 They create their \u201cideal world\u201d by creating real-time objective performance measures that allow employees to track their own performance on a regular, ongoing basis.\u00a0 These individual measures come from the cascading of goals from the organization\u2019s goals and measures, insuring that work is aligned with and accomplishes those things that achieve the organizational goals.\u00a0 They realign managers\u2019 duties to include frequent and ongoing performance coaching of employees, encouraging employees in their performance, and helping employees to uncover problems and identify developmental opportunities. \u00a0These high performance organizations insure that the performance coaching duties, i.e., their leadership role (see Manager vs. Leader<\/a>), is their most important or primary role.\u00a0 And they don\u2019t waste time and resources and create negative emotions on a process that provides no value to the organization, like annual performance appraisals.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the world of the ideal; it is the world of the high performance organization.\u00a0 To not do these things and offer excuses for managers not managing performance throughout the year, not offering timely and consistent feedback, and not ensuring that both goals and feedback are aligned with and supporting organizational goals is not living in the \u201creal world,\u201d but it is living in the world of mediocrity.\u00a0 By definition, most organizations live in mediocrity.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that the best organizations don\u2019t just do things differently; they do different things.\u00a0 So they don\u2019t make excuses and try to come up with better ways to do performance appraisals; the same things, just differently.\u00a0 They find different things that actually manage and improve organizational performance.\u00a0 High performance organizations simply strive for something better, and are not satisfied until they rise above the world of mediocrity and achieve their \u201cideal world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To learn more about how your organization can\u00a0rise above mediocrity, keep an eye out for Gary\u2019s new book \u201cRising Above Mediocrity: The Path to Performance,\u201d which is scheduled to be released later in 2014.\u00a0 Or contact us for more information.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As an advisor to executives on how to increase their organization\u2019s performance by being more effective at managing the human side of their business, one of my jobs is to keep up with research, trends, and other issues that can … Continue reading