What I found out, and then later tested through discussions with other business owners is that the Employee Review process is fraught with mistrust, dishonesty and frustration.
When you start uncovering systems in an organization that are built to create alignment and fairly compensate good employees over bad, the core system is the employee review program.
Fact is, managers dislike the process, there is always confusion around job titles and description, how the company is grading and ranking employees, etc. And employees find it degrading and frustrating.
Also the number one gripe from employees is that most annual reviews are tied to compensation, but the fact is most comments on the annual review are based on the last 30-45 days of work. So if an employee has kicked butt for the 10 months, then got thrown under the bus with a bad client for two months, that employee’s review will more than likely be less impressive than if was given two months prior.
There are other factors that make this process so terrible too. For instance I took a “whole brain” analysis test once and found that I’m off the charts as a conceptual thinker, with some social and analytical but very little structural.
I was thinking, wow, this is cool, I’m off the charts on this thing. The instructor later called me aside and wanted to speak with me about my score. I was only one of four in the past 15 years that received a conceptual score as high as that. I was thinking I’m pretty special. But the conversation went the other way. She basically told me that I need to be aware of how my mind works because someone like me can be extremely frustrating to work with, especially since I was in the leadership role.
I didn’t get it at first, but then she describe a situation around employee reviews. She said, “I can with almost 100% confidence say that one of the most consistent comments you lay on people in reviews is that they need to be more in tune with the direction of the business, understand the big picture better, and be better problem solvers.”
When she said this, I about fell over, because I just given a review of one of my top employees that was exactly my feedback to them.
So, to make my point, not only does the structure and system of employee reviews have flaws, then you add in the human element of someone like me who is a conceptual thinker grading someone else who is more of a structural thinker and we’re like two ships passing in the night.
I was sparked to write about this from a new product that ties employee reviews to company goals called Success Factors. I’m going to test it out.
I will spend more time on this subject as I believe it is the ugly underbelly of all businesses. If you can’t review employees in a way that loves, grows and serves them, it will be difficult to maintain alignment and grow a healthy business.
The problem with employee reward programs is that they are rooted in the same two dimensional catch zones that most companies keep their customer service policies hidden in.
Employees are customers of the business and to achieve proper employee reward policies the same customer experience management and development creativity and honesty that is or should be applied to external customers must be applied.
Studies have shown that the employee or "The Silent Customer" is a critical piece in the fulfillment of customer satisfaction and the development of customer loyalty. The reason the above findings where found is that the policies that govern internal management and the employed infrastructure of business are still rooted in the dark ages of customer management.
Employees like customers have an inherent need to trust and serve, but most business policies punish for doing so. They thwart creativity, innovation and growth. Perhaps it’s time for businesses to come out into the sunshine and make a change.
The fear that employees emulate is the fear that management exercises through micromanagement and fear of empowering those below to make wise and valued choices.
The rewards are based on obedience to outdated policies and strategies not on creative and effective performance and trust.
Posted by: Tim Whelan | February 25, 2006 4:30 AM | Permalink to Comment