What types of employee review/evaluation methods and techniques are used?

S

swappyd

#71
Our review system is not the best in the world. The five scores are so wide and ambiguous that it is open to manipulation by the manager who carries it out. Time and time again the HR Dept has asked for a more accurate evaluation of performance, but (I am told) it has been side lined. The dependance on personalities is great and one manager was shown to not be suitable for promotion but three months later got one! If any body has a set of guidlines they can let me have. I want to have a crack at changing the system. Failing that which *** cheek is best to kiss left, right or don't it matter.

If it goes horribly wrong anybody got jobs going????:biglaugh: :biglaugh:
 
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Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#72
Swappyd,

Since you’re not in HR, I applaud you for at least trying to help-out in another area where you see a problem (assuming you’re one of those people to whom praise means something). I started this thread to learn – hoping to find some kind of consensus opinion on what has been proven to work well in other companies. I’ve also done some additional research on the ‘net. What I got is more confused than ever (and that’s VERY confused!). There seems to be more disagreement on this subject than any other subject I've seen in the Cove.

Some people say emphatically you should scrap reviews/performance evaluations (or whatever you want to call them) completely, period, because they always do far more harm than good. Some say do them, but do them well (various definitions of well are out there).

From what I’ve read at various sources, including this thread, as well as what I’ve seen in over 20 years of the work world, there are a few things I personally believe about PE’s – at least this is what I believe now – I may change my mind tomorrow. I don’t pretend that my thoughts/opinions are “profound” – he11 they might be totally wrong. But they are my opinions FWIW:

 I believe most companies and most of their employees are not prepared to “scrap” PE’s completely at this time, for better or for worse. Perhaps with additional leadership, direction, and some high-profile case-studies of companies who have done this successfully, the idea of scrapping them completely will sell a bit better to both employee and employer. I might be one of the converts, but I’m not converted yet, nor are over 95% of companies from what I can tell.

 I believe PE’s aren’t perfect, and never will be. I also believe that, even in companies where “scrapping them completely” has been done “successfully” this scrapping idea is also not the perfect answer, despite the adamant protestations of supporters (many of whom, IMO, seem to talk down to the rest of us as though we’re stupid that we don’t see the (their) light, therefore turning-off potential converts by their manner).

 So, whatever you do PE-wise, it’s imperfect. Like most every other decision you make in business. So what. Do some research (ideas in this thread are good for starters), put in some real study, look at several different options, and pick-and-choose what you think will work best for your culture and company. Maybe “best” for you incorporates ideas from several different philosophies; maybe it means "scrapping" PE's. If you believe in it, and can defend it, and it is as fair as you can make it, the troops will probably support it as much as anything else IF you really do what you say you will do and take it seriously. Heck, you might even take a poll among the troops or create a “team” of people from all levels of the company to work on PE policy to increase their buy-in later. Pick something, try it, see how it works, and if it doesn’t work well enough, change it (PDCA!!!).

JMO as always – anyone who wants to is welcome to shoot at it. And I'm still open to hearing from those who think they have the best system there is - even if they are arrogant in their approach!
;)
 

gpainter

Quite Involved in Discussions
#73
I think performance reviews can have a meaning as long as they are based on factual data that you can evaluate. A performance review that asks the reviewer to make a judgement based on questions answered by the reviewer and reviewee is a waste of time. Things to look at would be attendance (are they on time,have they missed several days with no good excuse (out with a hangover is not one), number of warnings in their file ( verbal, written, layoff), number of suggestions put in suggestion box, number of Safety violations cited for, quality of product produced, etc. Thresholds will need to be set.
 
S

swappyd

#74
I know people might think that I am a hero for tackling such a delicate and yet emotive area...

I feel that this has caused proplems for a number of people (me being one) where the facts as mentioned previous has been addressed (lateness, employment record, etc.) these only account for 20% of the overall score. This is fair enough as there is more to work than turning up on time and not getting yourself killed!

The area where troubles occur is that the other 80% is based on the opinion your manager has of you. Some are good managers who can get the best others have a very poor record of relations with there subordinates.

I had a manager who was very forward thinking he wanted to try and use "peer appraisals" where the opinions of your collegeues (managers and non-managers) are taken into account. It was hoped that even if your manager didn't like you personally but you were effective in your role in the eyes of others. Your appraisal would not show you as a complete W****r!

Secondally it is evident that comments made or disagreements with the scoring are not addressed or are very onesided. This needs sorting..

A step forward in general based one what I've seen and you lot have said is that steps are taken to standardise the scoring before scrapping them is even considered.
 

Kevin Mader

One of THE Original Covers!
Staff member
Admin
#75
Here are my thoughts regarding your observations/comments in the order listed in your post:

1. Mike, you’re right on this. Many companies wonder what to do instead. When a caller asked Dr. Deming what to do instead, he said with a smile, “I don’t know if there is anything better at demoralizing a workforce! The Performance Appraisal just might be the perfect answer!” Of course he was just trying to be funny. His contention was ‘why’ is it even necessary to replace an individual measurement and ranking system? For some reason, business feels compelled to replace ‘this’ with ‘that’. It’s like replacing an addiction with another. He further went on to say that the business (and managers) should be busy measuring the output of the System, not People.

I appreciate that you are open minded and patient and this reflects well in your postings.

2. I hope that nobody here (especially me) has given you or anyone else the feeling that they are stupid because they think or see things differently. Instead, I hope that folks here have presented their thoughts in a way that anyone reading them might pause a moment to reflect on their theory and refine it as necessary (as I often do). Nothing in my mind is permanently fixed, and as with you, I am capable of turning a 180° as necessary. At this time though, my studies have led me to believe that PAs are counter productive and harmful. As for companies that have scrapped the process, I refer you to “Abolishing Performance Appraisals” by Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins who cite several examples.

3. PDCA is good advice and applicable anywhere. Also, it is important to understand as fully as possible what it is one is thinking and doing. We will never have perfect answers, but we can have more “informed opinion” about things and hopefully this leads to better decision making.

Well, I don’t know if I did anything here to modify anyone’s theory on the need for/against performance appraisals but here is a reading list/links (those that have influenced my thinking) I have compiled for those who are interested:

Alfie Kohn:
THE CASE AGAINST STANDARDIZED TESTING:
Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools (2000)
NO CONTEST:
The Case Against Competition (1986/1992)
PUNISHED BY REWARDS:
The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes (1993/1999)
THE SCHOOLS OUR CHILDREN DESERVE:
Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" (1999)
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CLASSROOM . . . and Other Essays (1998)


Peter Scholtes:

The Leader’s Handbook



Tom Coens and Mary Jenkin’s

Abolishing Performance Appraisals



Myron Tribus

Many of his papers can be found at this link (pay attention to those he has written on education): http://deming.ces.clemson.edu/pub/den/deming_tribus.htm



David Langford

A link to his site and many offerings: http://www.langfordlearning.com/



W. Edwards Deming:

Out of the Crisis
The New Economics



Brian Joiner:

Fourth Generation Management


I have read another three or four books by authors who hold an opposite view point, but I can’t recall their names or the title clearly. Here is an attempt at an incomplete list:

Motivation: How to reward employees
Organizational Behavior

If necessary, I’ll post those titles and authors when I get a chance.

Many contributors to this thread from several vantage points: great discussion folks! .

Regards,

Kevin
 

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#76
Kevin,

I wasn't referring to anyone in the Cove in regards to those who I feel have a penchant for talking down to those who don't agree with their viewpoint, I was rather referring to some of the things I had read on the 'net. (There were a few Cove members like this, but they have been thankfully silent of late.)

This is just my opinion, but I'm turned-off, at least initially, by folks in all walks of life who pompously look down their noses at the people they are speaking to/teaching/entertaining etc. as though they are better than the great unwashed they hover above. Snide remarks, smart-a$$ replies to sincere questions, a condecending tone, etc. are just plain rude but nevertheless are not in short supply.

Some of these pompous folks have lots of good viewpoints and are very good at what they do, but it takes me awhile to get over the tone and attitude and filter it out so I can just absorb the good stuff -- provided I can tolerate them long enough to calibrate my filter, and provided there is good stuff there. Maybe I'm hypersensitive, but I'll bet most people can think of some people who fall into this category in politics, news reporting, business, entertainment, sports, medicine, and their own companies and families. People like this can contaminate a company and ruin morale everywhere they go, but are often tolerated because they have the knowledge that is needed. I just get tired of it sometimes. That is what I was referring to. Of course, someone once said we dislike in others that which we don't like about ourselves. Hmmmmmm....
 
S

swappyd

#77
Kevin thanks for the links to the deming and co websites. It has given me a bit of bedtime reading.

The question of are apprasials are go or not, should they be done etc. etc. Is a point we can discuss till the day we all die.

The way that I am looking at it is to measure performance of anything you need to know what factors you measure. We can all deal with measuring the quality of products and services at our respective places of work.

It is a problem if your results differ due to human factors. We strive to reduce or eliminate that. Yet when the performance of people including you is involved we get (me included for I am not without sin) a little "het up". Is it possible to use the same logic we use to other issues to this?

I feel that the only way I can solve this problem is for the company to send me to Florida for a month long fully paid holiday!!:bigwave: :biglaugh:
 

Kevin Mader

One of THE Original Covers!
Staff member
Admin
#78
Mike,

I totally understand your feelings and I share your concerns. As for whether or not you share the same distinction with those that you oppose, I would say that it is very clear to me and other Cove members that you guard against sounding like that. From a Cove perspective, I think I can speak for most of us here in saying that what you raise for discussion comes from the interest in driving the discussion to a new level for the benefit of everyone and is done without harboring any ill will for anyone. A prime example of this is a few short posts ago where Mike T. responded to your thought provoking questions. If you hadn’t asked those questions believing that the flip side (?) were more correct, Mike could not have responded as he did. The series of Q&A that often occur here over a multitude of topics benefits most anyone following the thread when thoughtful discussions occur.

For many years, I prevailed under the Pygmalion Effect. Everything came easy to me and I received plenty of attention. It came at a severe cost. Because I tested high on an IQ test in high school, I ran around like the arrogant snob you mention. Everything became a competition where me getting a better report card, review, promotion, whatever was all that existed. I recall sitting in meetings at USSC listening to folks talk about things I didn’t know only to race home, order a book, read it, so that I could go back to work in a few weeks to show up anyone I could. It was what one had to do to get ahead as the culture there was dog-eat-dog (as it is with most of society I think). I hurt people for no good reason. However, my closest example of hurting people was with my own brother. Being a year older than me, I passed him out in high school while I was still in jr. high. I took ‘tougher’ courses and got better grades. I felt triumphantly smug about the whole thing.

Not until many years later after learning about the Pygmalion Effect (I had to look that up too when I first saw it) did I realize what I had done. I ruined my brother’s high school experience, turned him off from education (why compete if you already are a loser to your younger brother). I will never know the full effects of my own ignorance and arrogance. How about those at USSC that I left in a heap at the conference table? You talk about ruining morale…well, I was an expert and didn’t even know it! How about those vendors where I was slick and quick to find errors in their logic? What did all my efforts amount to there? Perhaps my efforts distorted what could have been. Since this realization, I understand that while I have the knowledge I do, I have accountability for what I say (I think you pointed that out to me when you first started posting here) and do. It is a tough battle I fight with myself at times, not one that I win in every battle. But I am improving. Mike T. uses a Senge quote that illustrates this battle as mastery is a lifelong process. I am like any other recovering addict out there, only my addiction was being pompous. Yuck!!! If I am lucky, maybe my experiences (failures) will help others.

Talk about temptations – news folks get me to the point where I feel like using tactics of old to make a point. Shameless tactics to crush an individual who more than likely, only has the fault of being raised in a society where the majority viewpoint that they hold is real to them and most everyone else. But there is nothing to gain by making enemies of these folks, the potential great communicators of a worthy message. It will take time to get them to see an alternative might have better promise. What is it they call it…Paradigm Shift? As for politicians and many top CEOs, well, I think that they get your/my message. They choose to ignore it and hope that it dies with us. This way, they continue to prosper under the prevailing paradigm that has brought them the success that they enjoy. Keep the public ignorant – the only way you can lose then is if the peasants go to revolution (a distinct possibility).

Swappyd is right – we could discuss this until we die. More importantly, we should discuss this. I believe that the Quality Community has the ability and obligation to bring to light these discussions. No one is without sin anyway. What would please me more is if we as a Quality Community could band together to rally around common causes and themes for the benefit of mankind and beyond. Besides owing it to ourselves, we owe it to one another. Lofty I suppose, but I can’t help but dream big. My commitment to this proposal is that I will always try to give an opinion and back it up with the resources. Only now, my aim is not to be ‘right’ (no more competition), my aim instead is to offer some unsolicited guidance where some of the Cove members (and beyond) will find value. Actually, this is what I expect (and get) from many of you. I fair trade I believe!!!

As for the vacation in Florida, it sounds like a good plan!! Right about now, Mickey Mouse’s theories sound practical to me!!! Enought of me ranting here....:bigwave:

Regards,

Kevin
 
C

Craig H.

#79
Wow, what an interesting thread. May I make an observation?

It seems to me that there may be another side to this that may have not been fully explored. Mike S. and Lucinda did touch on it though: What do we do with the results of a review? What are the implications of continually bad reviews of a single employee?

As Lucinda's well thought out post points out, often schools use reviews to determine what type of training (education) is needed for a particular individual or group. How many performance reviews in the working world have this as a goal?

If an individual has continually bad reviews, either HR did a lousy job of screening them, or their present boss is doing a lousy job developing his people, baring the occasional personality conflict.

FWIW...
 

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#80
Kevin,

Good rant! Glad to see you saw the error (at least I think it is an error - our opinions match on that one!) of the arrogant/pompous way. Everyone gets like that at sometime(s) in their life -- certainly me included - but some are too blind to ever see it even when it is brought to their attention several times. Actually, when confronted with someone like that who did not seem to respond to politeness I have sometimes pulled out my own pompous/arrogant 'tude and went to work on them. If I could "beat" them, after they were humiliated I'd try to go back to show them what I thought was a better way hoping to teach them a lesson when they were in a teachable moment. Won some, lost some. But, I'm sure I've been in the learner chair here, too. As you say, none of us are perfect. I think the vast majority of Cove members understand this -- maybe more so than the population in general, because Q people have to be able to work with a diverse crowd, convince people who eye us warily that we aren't ogres, and earn every opportunity we get.

I'm with you on the concept that it helps to bring these subjects to light, bring and consider data from many sources/viewpoints, and let the debate go on. Hopefully the best method(s)/idea(s) will win out in the end and everyone will be the better for it in the end.
 
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