Posted on December 18, 2016

Question:  Why do so many talented employees, across so many companies in so many industries, experience so many issues with their performance appraisal process?  Asked another way:  Why do the vast majority of performance appraisal processes – designed and administered, no doubt, by intelligent, experienced people with the best of intentions – not work as intended especially for top performers?

Answer:  Because they overlook one critical factor.  We are human.  And whether conscious of this or not, many who administer and/or monitor performance appraisal processes – either at the Corporate or local level – are interested in maintaining authority and control.  Especially over their strongest contributors.  Possibly as a way to manage raises associated with ‘Outstanding’ performance ratings and, just possibly, as a way to prevent top people from outperforming their manager.

Controversial, we know.  But likely true, nevertheless.

Like any hypothesis, let’s evaluate its potential validity.

Here are some of the flaws inherent in many performance appraisal processes, most of which are within the control of local managers:

• The highest score, usually ‘Outstanding’, is rarely defined clearly at the outset of the rating period or at its end  (And, no, ‘walk on water’ does not constitute a clear definition.)

• Few employees who are considered top performers by their supervisor receive an ‘Outstanding’ rating  (Just ask the many who responded to last week’s TMM, one whose rating was downgraded because she, according to her manager, ‘looked bored’ while excelling in her job.)

• Reviews are typically given only once a year, thus providing little or no opportunity to improve performance during the appraisal period, and

• A normal bell-shaped curve is required in many organizations forcing an artificial distribution of performance ratings.  While this may be to protect the compensation budget, which typically exerts a significant pressure to limit the use of ‘Outstanding’, it may also be because many organizations simply don’t believe it possible that one team or department can have a disproportionately high number of top performers.  (Good luck convincing HR that your entire department is terrific!)

When considering the flaws listed above, how likely is it that our hypothesis is valid?  That performance reviews are designed and used to maintain authority and control – and not to assess performance accurately, especially of those at the top end.

While a potentially disturbing hypothesis, how better to explain why supervisors aren’t trying aggressively to surround themselves with great people, much less recognizing and rewarding outstanding performers?  How better to explain why the system itself is designed, whether intentionally or not, to maintain the ever-elusive quality of ‘Outstanding’ and, in the process, to limit its use?  How better to explain why there isn’t more active coaching and mentoring to help many achieve the highest performance rating?  It’s not about the skills of the supervisor.  It’s that the supervisor is human.  And many humans, especially those in positions of authority, seem more interested in maintaining their status than in teaching, inspiring and improving the performance of others.  Possibly because they are not interested in or motivated to have their people outperform them.

If true, a new approach to performance appraisal is needed.  One that is based on the foibles and limitations of us humans.  One that begins with the radical notion that an organization needs the majority of its people to perform at superior levels.  And one that will help any organization thrive by encouraging its employees to aspire to greatness and by showing them how to get there.  We know it’s possible, because we’ve seen it with our own eyes.  Really.  More about this after the holidays, as our two minutes were up a couple of paragraphs ago.

We will return on Monday, January 9. In the meantime, we wish you and your loved ones a happy Hanukkah, a merry Christmas, a good Boxing Day, a happy Kwanzaa and a very happy and healthy New Year.  May 2017 be our best year yet.