Why traditional performance management doesn’t work!
Disruptive HR
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It’s costly and takes a huge amount of time and over 80% of us don’t believe it helps with our performance or find it motivating . And yet we still do it. Every single year. The annual performance review. In HR we have been told for years that if you want managers to take care of performance, then they have to:
Yet despite us telling managers that this will lead to higher performance and despite us trying numerous wheezes to get them to do it well; like automating it, putting it all on one page or providing a guided distribution of ratings that they have to comply with – we are still left with the awful truth that traditional performance reviews don’t work. They simply don’t drive better performance or higher motivation.
So why doesn’t traditional performance management work? Here, in our view, are the top four reasons:
Annual objectives can’t keep pace with the disrupted world we live in
The idea that a target we set in January will be still relevant by December is risky at best. In addition, the idea that every person’s objectives can be neatly aligned with the senior team’s is just not rational. Objectives that do work tend to be team based and refreshed by the team on a regular basis.
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Feedback that is only given in a huge lump once a year is pretty pointless
We wouldn’t do this with our kids would we? Imagine if our child was doing something that deserved our approval or censure … would we make a note of it and raise it with them three months later? Of course not! Feedback that works is given at the time when the behaviour is fresh in the person’s mind. The way we give feedback too is not conducive to changing someone’s performance. We sit people down and give them feedback in an incredibly parental way – which of course immediately puts someone on the defensive. Think about an appraisal that you have had in your life. Think about all of the appraisals you’ve had ….. and the amount of discomfort you felt. This is because your brain is sensing threats – lots of them. You can’t help it. It’s a totally natural response. The Neuro-leadership Institute has shown that the words “I’m going to give you some feedback” has the exact same effect on the brain as a reaction to walking down a dark alley at midnight and hearing someone running up behind you – or the threat of physical pain. This means that all of our brain resources are rushing to avoid or resist the threat. Conversely, the part of our brain that encourages engagement, openness, curiosity and problem solving – all the reactions you want from an employee in an appraisal –? shuts down. The best forms of feedback are through frequent check-ins and ideally owned and driven by the employee themselves.
Performance ratings are ‘bad data‘
Our ability to rate another human being consistently and objectively is fundamentally flawed – not because we are bad managers – but because we are human. It’s worth checking out the work of Marcus Buckingham on this – he’s got a great 12-minute video on why performance ratings are not reliable data. For example, our ratings tend to be based on what we can remember from the last few weeks – so called ‘recency syndrome’ – rather than a whole year.
Traditional performance management doesn’t improve performance!
But more than anything, the problem with ratings is that they don’t drive better performance! If the conversation is going to result in a grade, we want to show ourselves at our best, to cover up any failings that might downgrade us. But if we want performance improvement, then we need the employee to be open and curious and driving a conversation about how they can improve and what they’ve learned from things that haven’t quite worked. Ratings and grades just get in the way of better performance.
Annual objectives, once a year feedback and a rating. These traditional performance management tools belong to another era. They are based around the fact that we don’t trust managers to manage. ?And it’s time for something different; employee-owned discussions, frequent check-ins and absolutely no ratings!
If you’d like to find out how to change your approach to performance management – and to HR generally – why not come to The Disruptive HR One Day Programme? Click here for more details. All delegates receive a year’s free membership of The Disruptive HR Club .
Great insight. At Bidfood we are launching weekly check-ins for JIT feedback against objective results and overcome decency syndrome which would happen with longer periods. These check ins allow for the 2 way communication flow also with a non desk based workforce where the usual email updates wouldn’t suffice
HR Director | Strategic HR Leadership | HR Business Operations Leader | Talent & Culture
1 年Replace traditional performance management with functional and individual goal orientated approach. Employees are not competing against their fellow employees but w with themselves with the help of management to achieve their desired career aspirations.
Human Resources / Talent Management / Talent Acquisition / Training and Development Executive
1 年Ever notice that most criticism about performance management cites that employees don't like it as the justification not to do it. It would be similar to getting rid of vegetable's at the dinner table because your children say they are gross. After 10+ years of business culture fad eliminating ratings almost every major company has returned to them, including Microsoft. Why? Because they work. They aren't perfect, but employees need feedback to perform and performance ratings provide clear feedback. Fewer bigger goals that are updated with the needs of the business, quarterly performance check-ins, forced ratings distribution, and paying top performers significantly more than everyone else all drive performance. Gartner and others continue to prove this out with real research and businesses have responded in kind, returning to what really works.
Organisation Development Manager at JLR
1 年Zoe Clements Heather Bowley (Assoc CIPD) ????