Some People Excel At Performance Evaluations And Some Don’t – Which One Are You?

“Oh no!  It’s that time of year.  The people in human resources want my employee performance reviews within the next 30 days – and I’ve already wasted the month of July by avoiding the task, after all, I went for a week’s vacation, my staff took time off too, and let’s not forget the week where the air conditioning system went bonkers.”

Have you heard a similar refrain or even said it yourself when faced with the annual performance review?  Well, take heart.  There are quite a few professionals who share your viewpoint – and have some solid suggestions to remedy the fear factor.

In our knowledge-based workforce we do need to adapt these traditional review mechanisms to today’s knowledge-based realities, and there are some very solid suggestions listed in the articles summarized below.  Take the time to read these, and talk to us about some of your thoughts and concerns.

Painless Performance Evaluations – In this short post the author gives a review for a book by Marnie Green of the same title and supports Ms. Green’s step by step approach to performance reviews.  Sounds like one of those books you need on the shelf – or on your Kindle device! Note, Cindy also has a book about the same topic.  Cindy Ventrice, MakeTheirDay.com.

Constructive Approach To Delivering Negative Feedback That Cultivates Improvement & Loyalty –In this post the author suggests an alternative but effective approach towards evaluation, what you might term the “interim” evaluation.  Great points.  Akago Kitsune, Tuition Paid, Lessons Learned.

Delivering An Effective Performance Review – The author presents a solid review of a traditional performance review process along with some very good examples of best practices as well as 2 great case studies.  Rebecca Knight HBR Blog Network.

The Myth Of Performance Metrics – The author presents compelling information to balance the use of metrics (the quantitative) with the need for the qualitative measurement functions.  It’s a good summary of the nuances of performance measurement.  Dick Grote, DickGrote.com.

Performance Appraisals – Let’s Just Admit It’s Broke! – The title may say a negative, but give the article a thorough read.  She does a great job pointing out 5 reasons to quit (not).  So who are we really working for?  Denise Cooper, leadershipwhisper.

Performance Reviews—They’re Pointless – Liz provides the last in the line of critiques (for this summation post anyway) to ditch performance reviews, but does indicate there is light at the end of the tunnel for the 2% who benefit.  Read her suggestions.  They match up to some of the other suggestions in this summation.  Liz Ryan, Bloomberg’s Management Blog.

90 Day Performance Evaluation – Let’s face it, if you’ve made it this far into this post on performance evaluation you need a break. Well, here it is – this author takes an absolutely serious look at evaluating the performance of a very close relation.  Enjoy.  Patrick Lemieux, BDN Blogs.

4 Sanity Saving Performance Evaluation Tips – We’ve all heard and read about SMART goals, well, the Kennion Group introduces us to SMAART goals.  They’ve also shared 3 other great review tips.  The Kennion Group Blog.

Eight Steps to Creating a Great Employee Performance Plan – Here’s my contribution to the mix. I’ll agree with others over the challenges to effective reviews, yet they are worth the effort to help motivate and manage better. Warren Rutherford, The Executive Suite Blog.

Crowdsource Your Performance Reviews – In this post the author posits the benefits of social crowdsourcing activity towards employee performance evaluations and appraisals.  It’s a strong first step to encourage professionals to identify ways to use crowdsourcing effectively and objectively within an organizational context. Eric Mosley, HBR Blog Network.

Are the days of the annual performance review numbered? – The author interviews Daniel Debow about his social performance management software program, Rypple.  Debow discusses the issues which Rypple addresses and explains its benefits through the use of social platforms. Think feedback and coaching. Heather Clancy, SmartPlanet.com.

Related: Managing To Get The Very Best From Your People

Thanks for working through these posts.  We realize it’s a tall order on a trouble-some management and staff topic.  Now that you’ve reviewed the posts, give us some feedback – how will you take what you’ve learned and begin to adapt it to your work setting?

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