Here's a quick survey. What's worse - doing your taxes or going through a performance review process, whether as a supervisor or employee? I would love to know which one you would pick.
Wondering how I came to connect these two? Well, there are actually a number of similarities between them. Both seem to cast a cloud on the first quarter of the New Year. Both have their own set of compliance officers - IRS and Human Resources. And, both have rather innocuous rules that when pressed for explanation, the compliance officers will usually provide one of three responses - "because I said so", "that's how it's done" or "it's a mystery". Taxes and performance reviews are both necessary aspects of life in the business world, but that doesn't mean they don't each have frustrating features.
I have been known to say that the best performance review process is a blank piece of paper and a darned good supervisor. The review process in many organizations has taken on a life of its own. I believe we have over-complicated, misaligned and damaged good supervisor/employee relationships. Why? Well, let's start with the number systems used in performance evaluations: 1 to 5, 1 to 3 and other fractional ratings, the bell curve, and the 9-Block System - my all time favorite evaluation tool for misuse. Some years ago I was working for a company that was acquired by a larger organization. The larger company's label for the lowest performers in the 9-Block system was 'outlaw'. Wow! In this same company, divisions would hang on to outlaws until annual review time, ensuring they therefore have employees to fill those low ranking slots. I am certain this is not exactly a prime example for management integrity, responsibility and accountability.
Am I recommending that we toss out performance reviews all together? No, of course I am not. I am saying, however, that it is important to set aside time in a more formal way, to have an exchange of what's working well and what's not. In my opinion, the purpose of a periodic review (performance evaluation or whatever name you use) is to gain the best possible contributions to the company from your employees. Ideally, 25% of your one-on-one evaluation should be a review of the past year. The other 75% should be spent reviewing the critical objectives for the coming year and the accomplishments required of the employee, now and in the coming months, to meet those objectives. When the employee completes the meeting with their manager, they should:
Wondering how I came to connect these two? Well, there are actually a number of similarities between them. Both seem to cast a cloud on the first quarter of the New Year. Both have their own set of compliance officers - IRS and Human Resources. And, both have rather innocuous rules that when pressed for explanation, the compliance officers will usually provide one of three responses - "because I said so", "that's how it's done" or "it's a mystery". Taxes and performance reviews are both necessary aspects of life in the business world, but that doesn't mean they don't each have frustrating features.
I have been known to say that the best performance review process is a blank piece of paper and a darned good supervisor. The review process in many organizations has taken on a life of its own. I believe we have over-complicated, misaligned and damaged good supervisor/employee relationships. Why? Well, let's start with the number systems used in performance evaluations: 1 to 5, 1 to 3 and other fractional ratings, the bell curve, and the 9-Block System - my all time favorite evaluation tool for misuse. Some years ago I was working for a company that was acquired by a larger organization. The larger company's label for the lowest performers in the 9-Block system was 'outlaw'. Wow! In this same company, divisions would hang on to outlaws until annual review time, ensuring they therefore have employees to fill those low ranking slots. I am certain this is not exactly a prime example for management integrity, responsibility and accountability.
Am I recommending that we toss out performance reviews all together? No, of course I am not. I am saying, however, that it is important to set aside time in a more formal way, to have an exchange of what's working well and what's not. In my opinion, the purpose of a periodic review (performance evaluation or whatever name you use) is to gain the best possible contributions to the company from your employees. Ideally, 25% of your one-on-one evaluation should be a review of the past year. The other 75% should be spent reviewing the critical objectives for the coming year and the accomplishments required of the employee, now and in the coming months, to meet those objectives. When the employee completes the meeting with their manager, they should:
- Know the most critical things I need to improve
- Know what the company/department/team objectives are and why
- Know what I need to do to ensure we achieve those objectives
- Believe leadership knows what it's doing and I am excited to be on staff - let's go!
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