{"id":115,"date":"2017-02-01T10:52:50","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T10:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/?p=115"},"modified":"2023-08-30T15:18:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T14:18:15","slug":"how-am-i-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/how-am-i-doing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Am I Doing? How Good Managers Conduct Appraisals"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>\u201cThe simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity\u201d<br \/>\nTOM PETERS<\/h6>\n<figure class=\"alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-163\" src=\"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/conducting-appraisals-698.jpg\" alt=\"Conducting appraisals\" width=\"698\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/conducting-appraisals-698.jpg 698w, https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/conducting-appraisals-698-300x172.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Mercer\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s Working\u201d US Survey, 2011, asked 2,400 employees about their work, and of the \u2018non managers\u2019 interviewed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>44% trusted senior managers to communicate honestly<\/li>\n<li>54% said their department is well managed<\/li>\n<li>53% felt that their managers demonstrated concern for their well being<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So one way of looking at this data is to notice that around half the workforce have concerns about how well they are managed, which suggest a \u2018problem\u2019 with current skills levels when it comes to managers communicating with their staff. But that begs the question, \u201cin what areas specifically do managers need to improve the way they connect with their people?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One answer to that question comes from a Corporate Leadership Council study in 2000 (Building the High Performance Workforce.) In the study the CLC assessed 19,000 people: 50% in USA &amp; 25% in both Asia &amp; Europe&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>They found 7 factors directly related to improved business performance\u2026 three of those factors were&#8230;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Performance Management System (having clear performance standards)<\/li>\n<li>Formal Performance Review (balancing praise and criticism)<\/li>\n<li>Informal Performance Feedback (being fair and accurate)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So the skills of giving ad-hoc feedback and conducting formal appraisal interviews are key components of good management and developing a productive workforce.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-long-and-winding-road\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#a-long-and-winding-road\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>A long and winding road<\/h2>\n<p>When people work collectively there is a need for some system or process to make sure that employees are working productively, that their goals are clear and aligned and that morale is maintained. Unsurprisingly then, Performance Management has a long history. Murphy, Kevin and Jeanette N. Cleveland (1995) reported that in the third century AD, the Chinese used performance appraisal systems. They were also common in factories during the 18th century in the UK, during the Industrial Revolution. By the 1960\u2019s, boosted by the use of appraisals in the US army during WW2, over 60% of US organizations were running a performance appraisal system.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"little-and-often\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#little-and-often\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>Little and often<\/h2>\n<p>At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, if a review of how someone is doing is limited to a once a year conversation (when most of the events being discussed are long past) it is likely that the conversation won\u2019t be that productive. The remedy, of course, is simply to talk with people more frequently than that. The \u2018key\u2019 to a good performance management system, and a good annual appraisal meeting is: frequent feedback that emphasises recognition for work well done, a focus on priorities, coupled with coaching for improvement (as opposed to criticism.) (CLC 2000) This is why monthly, \u2018one to one\u2019 meetings are such an important part of good people management e.g. W. J. Boss, Journal of Applied Behavioural Science 1983, found that employee effectiveness increased significantly when managers held monthly, private meetings with employees.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-death-of-the-appraisals\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#the-death-of-the-appraisals\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>The death of the appraisals?<\/h2>\n<p>Many companies (e.g. Accenture, GE, Adobe) have been reported as moving away from their traditional annual systems in favour of more \u2018flexible\u2019 processes. So does this mean the death of the performance review? Not really, the changes (for the most part) simply reflect the best practice of holding regular \u2018one to one\u2019 meetings, which should always have been followed.<\/p>\n<p>GE, for example, have taken their long standing EMS system (Employee Management System), which consisted of a formal, once-a-year review, and are now asking managers to hold regular, informal \u201ctouchpoint\u201d sessions, where they set or update priorities that are based on customer needs. Development is forward looking and ongoing; manager\u2019s coach rather than critique; suggestions can come from anyone in an employee\u2019s network. However a summary conversation between the employee and manager still takes place at the end of the year, and an \u2018overview\u2019 document, which reflects achievements and sets future goals, is still produced. Furthermore, just as they did under the EMS, managers still base compensation, promotion, and development decisions on these inputs (as well as a range of other factors, including business performance, internal and external benchmarks, and budgets.)<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"understanding-the-pitfalls\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#understanding-the-pitfalls\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>Understanding the pitfalls<\/h2>\n<p>Both the Annual Performance Appraisal meeting and monthly \u2018one to<br \/>\nones\u2019, can be a conversation that managers and employees dread. And<br \/>\nfor sure there are plenty of opportunities for people to feel \u2018ill used\u2019<br \/>\nor poorly treated as a result of the annual review process. Disaffection<br \/>\nwith the review process can occur due to (i) the design of the appraisal<br \/>\nscheme itself, (ii) corporate culture and (iii) poor interview technique.<\/p>\n<h3>Design of the appraisal scheme<\/h3>\n<p>Bad scheme design creates a lack of clear goals, insufficient preparation<br \/>\nby the manager, no follows through on agreed actions e.g. not<br \/>\nimplementing development plans. The way that pay awards do (or don\u2019t)<br \/>\nrelate to an overall appraisal rating can also have a distorting affect on<br \/>\nhaving a positive, productive conversation.<\/p>\n<h3>Corporate culture<\/h3>\n<p>In some corporate cultures honest conversations about performance,<br \/>\nor potential opportunities, or how a person can \u2018grow\u2019 are discouraged,<br \/>\nand the emphasis is on \u2018transactional\u2019 conversations focused solely on the<br \/>\nnext task that needs to get done. That this state of affairs exists often<br \/>\nbecomes apparent when a manager decides the time has finally come for<br \/>\na poorly performing employee to go, but a review of their past appraisals<br \/>\nstates that they\u2019ve been a consistently good performer!<\/p>\n<h3>Poor interview technique<\/h3>\n<p>Common issues with the appraisal conversation itself include the<br \/>\nproblems of \u2018cognitive bias\u2019 identified by the psychologist Edward<br \/>\nThorndike in the 1920\u2019s; namely the \u2018horn\u2019 and \u2018halo\u2019 effects. The halo<br \/>\neffect involves people being given a better review than objectively<br \/>\nwarranted because of some positive quality they possess, for example,<br \/>\nattractive people are often also considered to be kind, trustworthy and<br \/>\nintelligent. The horn effect, also called the reverse\u2013halo effect, is when<br \/>\none undesirable trait unfairly affects the rating of other (unconnected)<br \/>\nfactors. So (say) a person\u2019s tardiness also leads them to being rated<br \/>\nlower for (say) teamwork or initiative than they really merit.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"good-system-design\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#good-system-design\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>Good system design<\/h2>\n<p>Dealing with poor \u2018scheme design\u2019 involves applying sound, research based performance management concepts into the systems e.g. from the CLC study&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure employees understand the performance standards<\/li>\n<li>Create performance standards that are perceived as fair and linked to organizational success and strategy<\/li>\n<li>Provide feedback to employees from multiple sources<br \/>\n(e.g. 360-degree reviews )<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"getting-the-culture-right\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#getting-the-culture-right\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>Getting the culture right<\/h2>\n<p>As for how to develop a more \u2018open\u2019, coaching based culture, that supports effective appraisals, John Kotter (Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at Harvard) says it\u2019s achieved by&#8230; \u201cA powerful person at the top, or a large enough group from anywhere in the organization, deciding the old ways are not working, figuring out a change vision, starting acting differently, and enlisting others to act differently. If the new actions produce better results, if the results are communicated and celebrated, and if they are not killed off by the old culture fighting its rear-guard action, new norms will form and new-shared values will grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"managing-the-conversation\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#managing-the-conversation\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>Managing the conversation<\/h2>\n<p>The remedy for poor quality conversations is to employ a robust interview methodology. The simplest approach (in my opinion) is to apply a version of Harvard Professor David McClelland\u2019s Behavioural Event Interview method (1973) as follows&#8230;For each part of the appraisal process we ask the employee&#8230;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>How do you rate yourself for&#8230;(x)&#8230;e.g. the way you managed your team?<\/li>\n<li>Give me a specific example of something you did that supports that rating&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>Here\u2019s what I think&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>Let\u2019s agree what goes on the appraisal form&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The same process is then repeated for each item on the form&#8230;. E.g. as you look back over the past 12 months how do you rate yourself for&#8230; (initiative).<\/p>\n<p>The key is for the manager to go into the meeting with a genuinely open mind and be prepared to shift his\/her opinion in light of what they hear. In this way the employee has the opportunity to take the lead in the conversation, express him or herself fully (point by point) and provide evidence in support of their views, without first being \u2018judged\u2019 by the manager. This creates an open, fact based dialogue, which typically leads to a productive and maybe even enjoyable, appraisal meeting.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"so-what%e2%80%99s-next\"><a class=\"anchor\" href=\"#so-what%e2%80%99s-next\"><i class=\"fa fa-link\"><\/i><\/a>So what\u2019s next?<\/h2>\n<p>Reflect on how you handle your appraisal meetings at present. Do you plan thoroughly? Do you have a set methodology that you apply to manage the face-to-face meeting? What improvements could you make?<\/p>\n<h3>Reading<\/h3>\n<p><em>Competence Based Performance Reviews<\/em>, R. Kessler (2008)<br \/>\n(Career Press)<\/p>\n<h3>On-line<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FoMhTdl7WII\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Watch this 7 minute video clip<\/a> on the questions an employee can ask their manager during an appraisal.<\/p>\n<h3>Courses<\/h3>\n<p>Consider sending your managers on our half-day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/course-performance-management.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cPerformance Management &#8211; Conducting Successful Appraisal Interviews\u201d course<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Coaching<\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re a Senior Executive, maybe a \u2018one to one\u2019 Executive Coaching Session would be a useful option for helping you improve your approach to Performance Management.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.boulden-executivecoaching.net\/coaching-philosophy.php\">View one-to-one session<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And remember&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<h6>\u201cI have yet to find a man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.\u201d<br \/>\nCharles Schwab<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity\u201d TOM PETERS Mercer\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s Working\u201d US &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":469,"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boulden.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}