In another article, I wrote, "Many managers dread having to do the annual performance review of their subordinates. And with good reason. They have had people get mad at them during performance reviews and stay sour for some time. They can usually remember at least one time when they resented the review they received. They remember that it hurt their motivation and sense of loyalty."
An excellent book addresses this problem, What to do about Performance Appraisal by Marion S. Kellogg, published by AMA. Kellogg was a top person at GE and described how badly things went wrong during performance reviews. Kellogg in despair advocated that the annual performance review be disbanded in favor of frequent informal reviews.
This suggestion is obviously correct for good managers. You should give your direct reports frequent feedback. Then they understand what you want and what they are doing well or not so well. Giving this clarity and feedback is the crucial task of supervising.
You can't really provide clarity and good feedback on a once a year basis. It needs to be frequent. Feedback needs to be given right after the event you are commenting on. If it is important, don't email the feedback, give it face to face or if necessary, over the phone. Too much communication is getting ineffective because it is emailed.
Now I learned years ago as an HR administrator that many managers would never give a performance review of any sort unless their organization demanded it. They ended up being forced to give reviews at least once a year. Often the results were negative on the subordinate's morale. So how do you move these people toward Kellogg's goal of frequent feedback?
You need to solve that problem to be an outstanding leader. How to get your managers to give frequent feedback? HR cannot do it for you. The mandated annual review is not enough. I suggest you lead by example. Model the behavior you seek.
Give your direct reports frequent feedback. During those conversations, ask them if they are doing what you are doing? Are they giving their direct reports clear goals and frequent feedback on progress? If they see that you believe this is important, they are more likely to do it.
An excellent book addresses this problem, What to do about Performance Appraisal by Marion S. Kellogg, published by AMA. Kellogg was a top person at GE and described how badly things went wrong during performance reviews. Kellogg in despair advocated that the annual performance review be disbanded in favor of frequent informal reviews.
This suggestion is obviously correct for good managers. You should give your direct reports frequent feedback. Then they understand what you want and what they are doing well or not so well. Giving this clarity and feedback is the crucial task of supervising.
You can't really provide clarity and good feedback on a once a year basis. It needs to be frequent. Feedback needs to be given right after the event you are commenting on. If it is important, don't email the feedback, give it face to face or if necessary, over the phone. Too much communication is getting ineffective because it is emailed.
Now I learned years ago as an HR administrator that many managers would never give a performance review of any sort unless their organization demanded it. They ended up being forced to give reviews at least once a year. Often the results were negative on the subordinate's morale. So how do you move these people toward Kellogg's goal of frequent feedback?
You need to solve that problem to be an outstanding leader. How to get your managers to give frequent feedback? HR cannot do it for you. The mandated annual review is not enough. I suggest you lead by example. Model the behavior you seek.
Give your direct reports frequent feedback. During those conversations, ask them if they are doing what you are doing? Are they giving their direct reports clear goals and frequent feedback on progress? If they see that you believe this is important, they are more likely to do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment