02 September 2007

Straightening out Employee Reviews

I've spent several hours complaining about Business Week's coverage of a number of issues. I thought it only fair to try to be balanced in my comments. This week's issue (September 10, 2007) includes an article in the UpFront section that talks about how to improve employee reviews. Courage it says is necessary to overcome reluctance to conduct such a fundamental business interaction. That kind of courage is obviously sorely lacking in our culture today. That's probably why 90% of managers thing they are among the top 10%. Kudos to Business Week this time and for their balanced inclusion of Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz's viewpoint. If our CEOs don't pay closer attention to this concept surely many of us will be leading what amounts to be a ticking time bomb of a company with a quite out of touch employee base.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous4:22 PM

    To me the biggest problem with reviews isn't courage, it's that managers perceive it as a way of correcting things.

    The first mistake is leaving correcting for a review instead of providing ongoing feedback. Most managers don't watch how their team members think and process results, all they worry about is the outcome. The few who do notice, often make notes, collect them, and present them at the review meeting. This makes the review process inherently ineffective because employees resist it even before they step in the door.

    My rule is: say nothing new and never surprise an employee during a review.

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