Remember your boss dreads you reading about this. Which is precisely why you should ;0) We continue with our “Dirty Thirty” Problems With Employee Performance Reviews.

HR Futility Exercise

How many employer HR’s perform any substantive analysis over time of what value the performance review actually adds versus what it costs?

Everything’s Equal?

A lot of employee performance forms rate different assessment parts as carrying equal weight. For example, a convenience store clerk’s customer service performance rating should be given more weight than a third shift factory production line worker.

Therefore, the rating should be in direct proportion to the essential functions of the particular job.

Recycled Performance Reviews

Because of the cumbersome and time consuming nature of many performance appraisal processes and forms, managers routinely regurgitate or recycle last quarters or last year’s performance review. This allows managers to just reproduce the same evaluation forms already filled in on key rating areas. All this accomplishes is a waste of time for both the employee and employer.

Evaluator Monopoly

Rarely does the employee have input or a choice of who evaluates her. There are a few employers offering this type of employee engagement. But, with the exception of 360 feedback performance appraisals “who the employee sees is who the employee gets”. You can learn about 360 feedback job evaluations here;

http://bit.ly/ia0ng

See YA, Don’t Want To Be YA

When performance appraisals are executed poorly or the process itself is flawed some employees will leave for “better pastures”. Quality employees who don’t receive the recognition and rewards for excellent performance can and will wave bye bye.

Who Are You??

I’ve had personal experience with this one. A new manager comes into the organization and is stupid enough to evaluate someone they don’t know and had no interaction with. In my particular situation the manager knew next to nothing about IT (information technology) yet was given the position! He then two months into trying to learn his OWN job assumed he was competent to evaluate myself and others that were degreed IT professionals with many years of experience. Oh by the way, this individual was “turned loose” by management with little or no performance review training.

Good Ole Boys and Girls

Here’s the scenario, your best pal is now your supervisor. Then comes the performance review and you get a great review when you know your performance should’ve rated lower. However, several of your co-workers who your “best pal” manager doesn’t really know or like as well get so-so reviews for superior work. That’s a great recipe for low morale, low productivity, distrust for the process, negative feelings and last but certainly not least, possible discrimination lawsuits.

Supervisors On A String

Believe it or not there are some managers and supervisors who are truly dedicated to conducting fair and honest employment reviews. But from my research and experience these are a “dying breed”. The ever increasing pressure from top corporate management for the “bottom line”, outsourcing, illegal immigration job absorption and a general attack on the rights of employees contributes to this trend. Many workplaces have a culture that use employee performance reviews as one of many “pretext” weapons for taking adverse action. In these environments managers are willing puppets or it that marionettes?

Supervisor Sovereignty

One reason managers and supervisors conduct job evaluations with such a range of inconsistency is because they’re typically not held accountable for conducting an accurate performance appraisal. If the manager makes mistakes on the evaluation form or conducts the review process poorly there’s generally no negative consequences. Upper management may complain the job evaluation was performed late but that’s about it. This in effect provides the supervisor with a “shield of immunity”.

What Have You Done To Me Lately

Managers and evaluative processes that are incompetent will routinely focus on recent performance events rather than the entire performance appraisal period. This can lead to distorted and uneven evaluations that almost always end in poor ratings for the employee.

Well we’ve gotten to the end of this installment. I look forward to sharing with you again next time ;0)

Stay tuned for;

The “Dirty Thirty” Problems With Employee Performance Reviews! Part 3