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What have you done for me lately?

Article Excerpt
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Annual employee appraisals can be a time of great anxiety and little payback. Instead, the review process should present a leadership opportunity to create objectives and review progress with employees on a regular basis. The process can be optimized with the application of a few simple techniques.

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Clickety-click. Clickety-click. Clickety-click.

Mr. Withers depresses the cap of his pen with annoying abandon as he studies the paper in his hand. Bob, one of his many employees, waits patiently. They are immersed in Bob's annual employee appraisal, a ritual they would both rather avoid. Each silently curses his own poor recordkeeping as he struggles to remember specifics from the past year. The discussion becomes awkward as they dance uncomfortably through the strengths and weaknesses portion of the ceremony. Withers must be: careful not to offend and Bob must not display anything that might be construed as a negative reaction to this "constructive criticism."

Next comes the obligatory salary discussion. No surprise here. Everyone gets the same, whether their performance reflects a year of stellar achievements or lackluster mediocrity. Withers will stand, tell Bob he's done a great job. Bob will reciprocate by offering thanks for the opportunities. The two will shake hands and set aside the custom until the same time next year.

Sound familiar? Haven't we all been on one side or the other of the annual performance review table? A staple of modern business management, the review process has been practiced for years. Is it still a valuable tool that yields quantifiable results or has it become a rote procedure performed because it's always been done that way? Is it a vital part of the management toolbox or an irrelevant formality whose time has come and gone?

What's the objective?

When it's all said and done, one of management's prime responsibilities must be the achievement of company...

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