The Recruiting News |
Visit our Jobs In HR Section. Annual Job Review Is 'Total Baloney,' Expert Says (July 19, 2010) Employee performance reviews should be eliminated, according to UCLA business professor Samuel Culbert. "First, they're dishonest and fraudulent. And second, they're just plain bad management," he says The problem with the practice, Culbert tells NPR's Renee Montagne, is that periodic reviews create circumstances that help neither the employee nor the company to improve. As Culbert and his co-author, Larry Rout, write in their book, Get Rid of the Performance Review! annual reviews do not promote candid discussions about problems in the workplace — and their potential solutions. Instead, Culbert says, when workers undergo a review, "They're going to talk about all their successes — it becomes total baloney." And management participates in the charade, as well, he says: "The boss already has heard [from] his boss what they want to pay the guy, or the woman. So they come up with a review that's all backwards." The process can frustrate employees, who may have a lot at stake — from a raise or promotion to the general arc of their career. And at the least, they want their contributions and talents to be recognized. Rather than using performance reviews, Culbert suggests that management "just tell the employee what he or she needs to do to become more effective." Culbert's book sprang from an article he wrote for The Wall Street Journal in 2008, which sparked a large response from readers. Asked if performance reviews might be tweaked instead of eliminated outright — for instance, a manager might use statistics to measure an employee's effectiveness — Culbert says that one-dimensional measurements can bring a new set of problems. "Once you set up the metrics, that's the only focus for the employee," Culbert says. "The problem with performance reviews is that the metric that counts most for the employee is the boss's opinion. So the employee starts doing what he or she thinks is going to score in the boss's mind, and not even talk about what he or she believes is necessary for the company to get the results that really matter." For anyone who would like to gauge where they stand on the annual review issue, Culbert and Rout have posted a test on their site, with the slightly biased title of How Much Do You Hate Performance Reviews? Read more at NPR Colleen Gildea colleen@interbiznet.com Permalink . -. Todays Bugler . -. Send To a Friend . -. Readership Feedback Digg Delicious Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon
For more great articles - search our archives: HR Jobs: Jobs In Human Resources Management Section. Enjoy the Bugler and review the latest Recruiting Blogs. Contacting Us: interbiznet Mill Valley, CA 94941 415.377.2255 colleen@interbiznet.com Copyright © 2013 interbiznet. All rights reserved. Materials written by John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved. The Electronic Recruiting News Sign-up to receive this newsletter in email each day. The interbiznet Bugler Sign up and receive a concise, daily briefing on recruiting industry news. ERN | Bugler | Blogs | Candidates | Advertise | HR Jobs | |
FEATURES: FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTERS: - BUGLER (Sign-up) Industry News - ERNIE (Sign-up) Industry Article RECENT ARTICLES: ERN
ARCHIVES |