Managers can make this process even more
unbearable. In fact, we’ve got 10 ways managers spoil performance appraisals:
1.
Seeing the process as
a distraction.
Managers forget that in addition to meeting sales goals or improving financial
performance, they need to actually manage their people regularly. If you’re
doing it right, reviews are an opportunity to realign everyone to the company’s
goals, not a distracting ordeal. If the manager sees reviews as a distraction,
so will everyone else.
2.
Not taking reviews
seriously.
When managers simply go through the motions with performance, employees aren’t
going to be invested in the process. Why should employees try if managers
aren’t even taking the time to accurately assess performance?
3.
Reviewing everyone as
“exceeds expectations.” If everyone is the same, there’s no reason to go above
and beyond. Managers should understand that making everyone exceptional often
means putting high performance and low performance on the same level.
4.
Over-promising and
under-delivering.
Rewards and bonuses rarely happen, and forget about the 3 percent
cost-of-living raise. Managers who really have no control over compensation
rewards shouldn’t promise them. HR rewards managers can provide direction on
what recognition programs are being used when financial rewards are off the
table.
5.
Making performance
management a one-time event. Bad managers starve employees of feedback all
year and then hope that the appraisal process provides enough nourishment to
get employees through the next year. Good managers are continuously aligning
employees to goals and giving feedback along the way.
6.
Using their own
“system” for reviews.
When companies roll out a new performance appraisal process, it’s easier to use
what’s familiar than to learn what’s new. By not using the same process across
the company, managers may be depriving employees of accurate measurement,
rewards opportunities and promotion prospects in other departments.
7. Making an example out of employees. While it’s good to
learn from mistakes, managers shouldn’t deliberately call out employees for
mistakes in front of the department or company. Innovative company cultures
include room for failure, so managers need to find better ways to help teams
learn without throwing an employee under the bus.
8.
Using popularity as
an objective measure.
Gut instinct is frequently used to support decisions, but without objective
measures, performance suddenly becomes more focused on whether a manager likes
the employee. If performance is based on popularity, then no one will ever want
to be the “unpopular guy” focused on getting things done.
9.
Removing anonymity
from 360-reviews.
The reason 360s work is because you get honest feedback. If there’s no
anonymity, people will hunt down whoever said, “Sally’s so process-oriented,
she’s inflexible.” Removing anonymity means people will provide vague and
useless feedback, depriving employees of actionable advice for improvement.
10. Not communicating performance expectations. At the end of the day,
performance appraisals help ensure that everyone knows what they need to be
working on. An employee should be able to walk into the review knowing how he’s
been doing and what’s expected for the next year. If it’s a surprise that he’s
been failing, the manager hasn’t been communicating expectations along the way
or didn’t set them up to begin with.
These are things that can ruin a performance review as well as day-to-day productivity. As the saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out.”
In order to really get the most from their employees, managers should see performance management as an opportunity to enhance productivity and add to the bottom line. Schedule regular check-ins, take the review process seriously, and use the tools that are available. Managers who have teams that excel will have a good review with their supervisor, too.
