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What's Wrong With Annual Performance Reviews?By Matt Stephens The annual performance appraisal, even a good one, is a surefire way to demoralize your staff. There has to be a better way... (luckily, there is!)
In December, who remembers what they were doing way back in January, a whole year ago? If your memory of what you did is a little fuzzy, would you expect your pointy-haired boss to remember? If you worked 'til midnight on several occasions during January to hit a deadline, you'd expect that to be reflected in your annual bonus - or at least mentioned in the annual performance review. A year is a long time; so it seems strange that the vast majority of companies just give annual performance reviews. Employees also become disgruntled over time. They often don't like to speak out, but are more likely to voice their disquiet during an appraisal. If their boss is being "frank and open" about the employee's performance, then of course he's going to strike back with his own thoughts. "I was unable to hit those deadlines because the management forced them on me, and when I said the deadline was unattainable, I was mocked!" The Solution Instead of a big annual performance review, have lots of little ones. Creating a routine of reviewing performance for each month quickly starts to pay off. The employee who thinks he's doing well but is really treading on managements' toes finds out before it's too late. The line manager who thought an employee was happy quickly finds out that the employee is actually far from it. Monthly reviews should also be kept relatively informal. A regular "heart-to-heart" with employees promotes a culture of openness and communication. Next, I take a look at a closely related problem, the annual performance rating (that single-digit number that sums up an entire year of your life)...
Message Forum Message Index:
The Messages: From top to bottom in 12 monthsHeartfelt agreement - 12 months is far too long. At the annual review shortly before my team released the long-awaited software product, I received the largest pay rise of my career. By the following year I had become "an obstacle to progress" and was made redundant 6 months later. I now have a new career - but appraisals are still annual and still pretty worthless. My advice? If your boss has no time for you, take care. You could be heading for a fall. Chris Jakeman cjakeman@bigfoot.com Peterborough, UK Thu Jul 22 22:28:38 BST 2004 More are better, but... I agree that more performance appraisals are better during the year. But if your company won't change, you should keep a log on significant events that occured during the year that relate to your job. So if you went to training on May 1st, keep it in a log. That way during your appraisal you can back up your rating with specific examples of why you deserve a certain score. Regards, David David www.promantek.com Colorado, USA Fri Jul 15 00:28:44 BST 2005 There is another way! Every year I used to tell myself "you know what time it is". Shortly afterwards I would go and find a nice piece of fresh wall and start thumping my head against it! At some point my boss would wander over to offer me words of encouragement like is there any development you would like (clearly not interested). For years I went through this annual ritual slowly resigning myself to continue to develop my flatter and flatter forehead. One day though, as a manager myself I was in the unfortunate position of conducting an annual appraisal that went completely tits up and made me look a complete baffoon and reduced my otherwise loyal employee to tears. My usual preparations (wholly acceptable for all my other staff) clearly were not enough for the individual in question. So I vowed to determine a better way and I'm pleased to say that 3years on I finally found it, or rather, helped create it. I have automated the appraisal and development process into a neat little software package that is basic and inexpensive. Why? Because I was sick and tired of looking at expensive fancy systems that did far more that I had time for and had a price tag that would eat into a large chunk of a small third world country's debt! So with a couple of friends I set about developing this system and lo and behold its fantastic (if I do say so myself). Its perfect for small business and scaleable for large business. The system is called ePMS and you can find out more about it from my website www.spiritconsulting.co.uk There is another way! Regards Andy Hughes Director Spirit Consulting Group Andy Hughes andrew.hughes@spiritconsulting.co.uk Burton Upon Trent, UK Fri Jun 23 20:19:58 BST 2006
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