Banished Inquisition
Is it time to do away with yearly employee reviews?
No one likes performance appraisals: Employers dread them, while
employees fear them. According to Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins,
co-authors of Abolishing Performance Appraisals: Why They
Backfire and What to Do Instead (Berrett-Koehler),
appraisals are flawed and inaccurate and don't motivate
employees.
"Traditional appraisals have so many negative unintended
things attached to them, like stress and fear, and they often put a
chill on relationships," says Jenkins. However, don't go
too far: Jenkins considers basic appraisal functions like feedback,
coaching and career development important. But Jenkins and Coens
say these functions should be "unbundled and assessed
separately on a continuous, real-time basis."
Jenkins and Coens suggest sacking all annual appraisals.
Instead, try ongoing, two-way feedback among employers, managers
and employees on how well the company is doing as well as dialogue
about individual careers. The authors say compensation should be a
stand-alone issue and suggest gain sharing and performance awards,
where all employees share in the company's success by receiving
extra income based on a ratio of their annual salaries.
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Glenroy Inc. of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-which manufactures
packaging materials for the medical, food and personal care
industries-gave up annual performance appraisals years ago.
"We are more involved in [constant communication] instead of
saving things up for a year and then springing it on them,"
says Jim Daugherty, Glenroy's vice president of finance and
administration. After all, he says, you wouldn't do something
like that in your personal life: "You wouldn't save things
up and then spring them on your family members; this works the same
way."
Ellen Paris is a Washington, DC, writer and former Forbes
magazine staff writer.
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