Why Are Performance Reviews So Hard
Mark Rapier CMAS, ALC
Trusted Guide | Author | Lifelong Learner | Corporate Diplomat | Certified M&A Specialist | Certified Life Coach
Today's second topic is "What Acting Can Teach Us About Public Speaking."
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The Fifty Percent Minimum (Medium) discusses different school grading methods.? The article's subheading is "Should students receive credit if they didn't do the work?" There are strong parallels to performance reviews.? Just as grades intend to measure a student's progress toward a stated learning objective, performance reviews are designed to gauge individual contribution to organizational outcomes fairly.
The main challenge is how companies use the results for multiple purposes.? These uses are not always aligned.? Here are some examples.
Job Performance – Performance evaluation programs focus on the quality of performance in the current job.? Often, the challenge is aligning an individual's work to achieve department/team objectives.
Pay and Bonus Allocations – Performance is one factor in determining compensation. ?Other considerations include position in the range, local cost of living, and market rates. ?These can create situations in which a person with lower performance ratings may get a higher percentage increase, creating mixed messages for the entire team.
Stacked Ranking – The limited view of forced ranking removes the ability to consider special circumstances or high potential.? When used to force attrition, it creates a toxic competitive situation within the team.? The individual's objectives become to be better than the person next to you rather than the team's performance.
Paper Trails – When it is necessary to terminate a person, reviews provide documentation to prevent claims against the company.? This changes the dynamic of the review meeting because the tone shifts from "Here is where you need to improve" to "Here is where you are failing."
The manager's job is to ensure the process is followed consistently and equitably.?
The leader's job is to inspire everyone to elevate themselves and those around them.
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What Acting Can Teach Us About Public Speaking
In his article How Actors Remember Their Lines (MIT Press) , John Semon shares how actors learn their lines.? At a conference several years ago, I had the opportunity to talk with an actor who described preparing for new roles as a process.? She starts by understanding the story and the character's role in it.? Then, she examined the character's evolution throughout the story to get scene-by-scene context.? She learns the script in the context of each scene.? Then, she focuses on speaking the dialog.? As she rehearsed the dialog, she added the appropriate physical movements.? With repetition, it became ingrained.
A similar process works for preparing a presentation: Know the story. ?Understand where the audience will be as you move through each act. ?Then, you can work on the words, planning for vocal changes and emphasis. ?Depending on the venue, you can then plan for movement and gestures.
This is all geared toward making the necessary points, articulating a call to action, and influencing the audience to follow the call.
A while back, I reviewed A Modest Book About How to Make an Adequate Speech by John-Paul Flintoff.? This book explores how to prepare for public speaking.
What I'm Up To
I volunteered at the National Medal of Honor Museum's bus, which was located at Globe Life Field for the Big 12 Baseball Tournament.? The museum opens on March 25, 2025 – National Medal of Honor Day.
The museum is dedicated to sharing the stories and values of these incredible heroes and inspiring America to build upon their legacies. ?I encourage you to visit the website and read the recipient's stories .? These are stories of ordinary people who persevere in extraordinary circumstances.
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Feuds are disagreements that become personal and bitter.? They almost always prove to be pointless.
Attitude is the key to a long life.
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The grades you get do not matter after you have been out of college for a year or two.? What matters is that you learned.? Use that knowledge to solve problems, work hard, and be a good person.
It is important to focus on experiences rather than things.? Whatever you choose to buy, be sure you can afford it.? The failure to save is the ultimate trap.
I am a firm believer in space exploration.? It gives us new perspectives on the universe and our place in it.? It also accelerates technological development that can be leveraged for many other purposes.? This article highlights several new initiatives.
Straight Out of Sci-Fi: NASA Advances Six Pioneering Space Technologies for Tomorrow (SciTech Daily)
People are often promoted without the proper support to take on new responsibilities.?
As awareness of any problem increases, people begin working on solutions.? Those can take years to develop and bring to market.? We need to reduce carbon emissions.? In the 1960s and 70s, the hard-to-solve issues were clean air and water.? Progress has been made through a combination of legislation and corporate initiatives, and the economy has thrived in the last 50 years.? I believe the same will be true for carbon emissions.? Here is an interesting example.
A while ago, I shared a post I Do Not Fear the Rise of the Machines; I am Afraid of a Descent into Idiocracy. ? Adobe has been advertising its AI assistant, which in many ways encourages this descent.? This article talks about what is happening in Photoshop.? Use AI, but do not let it do your thinking.
Quotes
"If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."
- Tallulah Bankhead
"One of the great gifts of sports is learning how to fail in public."
- James Clear
"Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen."
- Benjamin Franklin
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You can order The Leader With A Thousand Faces on the Recommended Reading Page of my website.
My goal is to make this newsletter as interesting and valuable as possible. ?Please share your thoughts and suggestions for improvement. ?If there are specific topics in leadership you would like me to focus on in future issues, please send them my way.
It's hard to have conversations about performance sometimes. But these conversations need to happen. In fact, 46% of all employees want MORE performance feedback and 70% of employees who only receive feedback twice per year or less say they want more feedback. By having frequent 1-on-1s with managers, employees are likely to be more engaged and less likely to be looking for jobs or leave the organization.
Railroad Operations and Human Resources leader. Data-driven process improvement. Adult learning expertise. I create scalable solutions for people and systems. I thrive where efficiency meets innovation.
5 个月Great newsletter! Can you link to the book review of A modest Book About How to Make An Adequate Speech?