4 Reasons why annual performance management systems fail

It's that time of year again, when leaders sigh as they face one more "to do" before year end....It's that dreaded annual form filling employee appraisal process. Sadly, we often see assessing talent as a badly timed chore, instead of a vital strategic imperative... one that answers the central question- do we have the right talent to implement our strategy?

Here are the top 4 reasons why many performance management systems are failing:

1. Bad Data- judging individuals is done in a vacuum, filling in forms or a rating scheme with minimal input from others.
2. Pyramids of Mediocrity- everyone scores the same, just average, how can average be the standard?
3. Kumbaya- often line managers want to be liked and avoid those crucial conversations about people and their performance.
4. What do you mean, we have a mission statement on a plaque? - employees are bombarded with a wordy mission statement but they have no idea how their work output contributes to the success of the company. The direct relationship to performance and results is simply unclear.

We advocate that organizations put the same amount of rigor in their talent management processes as they do for their business planning processes.