Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article by columnist Jared Sandberg in which he discusses the limitations of most employees’ performance reviews. I am proud that our Babcock alums Bill Savage (FT), and Ed Smiley (Charlotte Saturday, on leave) were quoted. (Yes I was quoted too, and am grateful to our Trust Network members who responded with my requests for additional insights.) Here are some noteworthy portions:
Let’s put it diplomatically and take the emotion out of it: The whole performance-review process, now in season, doesn’t exactly exceed expectations.
Whether these annual events are meant to weed out laggards, reward achievers, assist development or act simply as a liability shield against discrimination lawsuits is anybody’s guess. Whatever their purpose, they attempt to give employees an individualized and intimate portrayal of their performance, but can end up saying more about the company than the individual. “But enough about you …”
“One reason they don’t want to tell the truth is it creates responsibility,” says Aneil Mishra, associate professor of management at the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. Managers think: “If you’re not doing your job, I have to figure out a way to make it better. And if you are doing a good job, I have to figure out a way to reward you.”
That’s one of Bill Savage’s beefs. The enterprise risk-management executive says reviews tend to raise more questions than answers. Once he was told by a former manager that he was below the proverbial “bar,” which his manager conceded moved a great deal.
His other least favorite criticism: “nonteam player,” which seems reserved to beat down overachievers who deserved promotions they didn’t get.
“The big problem is not so much the words,” says Mr. Savage, “but the inability of management to provide context on why they’re using those terms.”
Another method of review, the 360-degree feedback, aims to give a fuller picture of someone by corralling anonymous input from peers, subordinates and supervisors. At the manufacturing company that business-segment manager Ed Smiley works for, the 360-degree process has been suspended due to mutual back-scratching. “What you don’t get is true feedback,” says Mr. Smiley.
Thanks to all of you who sent in your examples and insights about your own performance reviews. Please share them below in the comments section so that others can benefit from them.
Aneil
Total Trust 