By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Sean Ward wrote a post on LinkedIn about annual reviews in which he said, “Annual reviews are often the basis for bonuses and a way for management to ‘rack-and-stack’ members in their teams. But interestingly for those teams who are high performing Annual Reviews are used to officialize what team members have already been told – for official recognition or for official reprimand.
True leadership provides a vision. VISION. Leadership paints a picture, describes a direction, communicates. COMMUNICATES. When Annual Reviews are disliked by team members there is a people problem – A lack of leadership.
I will go out on a limb here and claim team members crave direction. They desire to be given the vision. No one wants to show up at work to clock in and clock out. They want to know they are contributing to a mission and to other human beings. They want to know the effort they expend in life is appreciated and that they are making a difference – large or small.
So why would anyone dislike Annual Reviews? Of course its possible the individual is a poor worker and this may be the reason for dislike. But who’s fault is that? Who hired to poor worker? Is this worker ‘willing and able’? Are they ‘unwilling and unable’? Who is responsible for their performance? The only real reason someone would dislike an Annual Review is that they feel they will hear things for the first time, without the opportunity to correct themselves, before some negative outcome takes place – like withholding a bonus or having a permanent lower ranking.
An annual performance review is not an opportunity for leadership to provide feedback – its an opportunity to give credit or a tool to get folks the help they need to become the best professional they can be.
DON’T BE THAT MANAGER that uses the annual review as an opportunity to deliver news for the first time. Nothing you tell your people in an annual review should be a surprise!
I added: “Lance Secretan, whose work involves helping organizations create inspiring environments, brings the concept of the annual review into a context that on the surface seems humorous but, in fact, makes it painfully clear how flawed the idea is. Imagine sitting down with your wife/husband or partner, maybe even your kids, and saying, “Honey, it’s been a year and time for me to give you a performance review. There are many things you did well HOWEVER, these are a few things you need to improve upon.” How do you think that would go over?
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