Screwing Performance Review
Month after the end of the quarter is usually time of performance reviews. It’s often quite stressful and difficult for people to attend those meetings. But they’re difficult for managers too. As confrontation is inevitable stress comes in, especially before those reviews which are expected to be tough. However there are managers who use several techniques which make performance reviews easier. At least for them. Here are top 5 of them if you’d like to follow.
1. Don’t make reviews. Don’t make them at all. It’s a waste of time anyway. Have you ever seen a review meeting which motivated an employee? Imagine how much important work you could do during all this time.
2. Don’t prepare yourself. Oh, if you really have to make those darn meetings at least don’t waste the time to prepare yourself. Sure, you could go and justify every single opinion you state but, be honest, what for? At the end of the day it will be your opinion which counts, not your subordinate’s.
3. Don’t change your mind. Never. You know, when you agree with your subordinate that you should change the result of his review it shows that you’re weak. You don’t want to be seen weak, right? Don’t let someone trick you. It’s you who have better reasons, but you just um... forgot them at the moment.
4. Talk. A lot. Your opinion matters. You are the one who evaluate someone's performance. You’ve written that darn review. It’s all about you. Don’t believe anyone who says something different.
5. Don’t ask. It isn’t important how she sees her career or what he wants to do during next quarter. Their problems are theirs, not yours. They lack perspective so their ideas of improvements won’t be good either. When someone answers even if not asked, don’t listen. It’s nothing interesting anyway.
Although I wouldn’t like to be in your people’s shoes if you chose to follow that path it would definitely make the meetings easier.
I think there’s no easy way here. No one said the management is an easy job.
5 comments:
One way of making performance reviews is to treat every day like a performance review day.
That way your team know where they stand each day and problems are corrected quickly.
It also breaks the effort into smaller more manageable chunks.
It does require taking an active interest in what your team are doing, and how they are doing it. taht must be where the work comes in.
Where I worked last the performance reviews were an annual ritual that I dreaded. The Performance Planning and Review (PP&R) process was not optional, my boss's significant annual bonus was held hostage to his completing it on time, and the process seemed primarily used to make sure that the Mickey Mouse stupid stuff that meant nothing to the core business of my job was done.
My solution to performance reviews -- I retired as soon as I could, after I had used up all of my 2007 vacation and 25 days after my 55th birthday.
My boss still had to do my new PP&R. Needless to say, there wasn't much stress on my part!
Craig,
I fully agree with you that feedback made on a daily basis with no procrastination is the best method of doing performance reviews. It is most valuable that way.
However managers have to feel the need and see the profits which reviews bring for them. In other way it's still something what has to be done to get the bonus (as Mike said). Then no matter how often manager would give feedback, it won't work well.
Performance reviews??? Most idiot managers write the review about the last 3 months of they year, rather than taking into account the full year of performance. My boss has me write my own. Then when he gives me my review he acts as if he wrote it. When I'm in my performance review I simply nod alot and make comments like "I agree with that assessment" particularly since I'm the one who wrote the assessment.
Turtle King
http://turtlesatwork.blogspot.com
i'm not yet a full time employee of such work area but you make great points especially point number 2. i saw your post from the problogger project. maybe you'd like to check mine out as well, it's about how to be darren rowse.
http://robinsongo.com/2007/05/08/top-5-tips-to-be-the-next-darren-rowse/
Post a Comment