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Title: Abolishing Performance Appraisals: Why They Backfire and What to Do Instead by Tom Coens, Mary Jenkins, Peter Block ISBN: 1576750760 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Pub Pub. Date: 15 January, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.9
Rating: 5
Summary: Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Comment: What a wonderful gift Coens and Jenkins have given to us! As a Human Resource Director at a large, Midwest manufacturing facility, I see first hand the impact of performance appraisals on both the company and the individual. I have never felt comfortable with the appraisal process, but always feel responsible for assuring its proper implementation. Despite my best efforts, the process never works as it is intended. Numbers continue to get in the way of meaningful conversation, ratings are rarely accurate, people continue to feel bitter and betrayed, and managers, in general, are uneasy with the process. This book has done several things for me. First, it validates my discomfort with performance apraisals. Secondly, it explains why I feel the way I do and thirdly, it lays the foundation for the "new thinking" that's required for an organization to develop sound alternatives to performance appraisal. The authors draw effectively from the myriad of research by respected change agents such as Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Alfie Kohn, Peter Scholtes, Philp Crosby, Douglas McGregor and others. From the opening dedication ("To all the supervisors and managers who care about people and who have tried their best to make performance appraisals work") to the book's closing call to action by T.S. Eliot, ("...to make an end is to make a beginning") this book spoke to me. Coens and Jenkins have created a lasting and important contribution to the serious debate about the effectiveness of performance appraisals.
Rating: 4
Summary: Thought Provoking Alternative
Comment: Abolishing Performance Appraisals makes a powerful case for removing this well intended yet ineffective ritual organizations have been requiring for decades. Indeed, Coens and Jenkins provide solid reason why appraisals have to go, to be replaced with quality feedback mechanisms including coaching and support structures that enable employees to maximize their own potential. No one reading this book would challenge its basic argument. My primary concern was in the prescription. They recommend you recruit a group of stakeholders as your design team, to explore the problem in your own organization, and to arrive at alternatives that align with your organization's mission. Considering that Coens and Jenkins affirm W. Edward Deming's claim that 94% of performance outcomes are attributable to the system, they are less robust in offering concrete guidelines on what "the system" should look like. This book is excellent in describing the history of the problem and highly persuasive in its message. It accomplishes that goal. If the reader is interested in exploring a system that is a clear alternative, that is simple in scope and provides a strong transition from the current mess, I recommend you pick up Catalytic Coaching - The End of the Performance Review by Gary Markle. Equally thought provoking on the issue, but a stronger set of steps on how to approach the problem.
Rating: 5
Summary: Finally! Performance for the 21st Century!
Comment: If you've ever received a traditional performance appraisal (PA), every word of this book will ring true! The sad part is, in a country as technically advanced as the US, this same process has been used in corporations since World War II. Can you name another technology still in use from that era?
As a Performance Management consultant I've reengineered appraisal systems based on employee and management needs, so the book's title put me off initially. Performance mesurement and feedback is critical in a high performing organization. But the authors' approach is right on target. Organizations should NOT stop measuring, but measure and feed back accurately within an adult-to-adult context. The data on how humans behave puts traditional PA systems to shame. What a waste of resources!
Performance Management systems can be reengineered at little direct cost and return REAL individual, group and organizational performance improvement. I've found that nearly all PA systems are compensation rather than performance focused, and actually keep employees from the accountability the organization seeks. What's worse, these systems are often the only source for employee feedback!
Coens and Jenkins capture and dispel all the well-meaning assumptions of traditional Performance Appraisals, while also providing solid PERFORMANCE-BASED alternatives. For example, and with no apologies to the lawyers, individual performance documentation is only needed when there is a serious performance problem, and that is quite rare. Positive performance data is available in other, more productive ways. Why burden the entire organization, demotivate employees, and waste valuable resources when treating adults as adults can actually improve BOTTOM LINE PERFORMNACE?
The book is not for everyone, but managers who have always felt sick about using their company's PA process will be delighted to know that they were right all along. People know how to do this, and company bureaucracy just gets in the way.
No business has extra people or money. I've effectively used these same principles for years. Thank you, Tom and Mary, for documenting a process for 21st century Performance Management.
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Title: Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes in Leadership by Richard Farson, Michael Crichton ISBN: 0684830442 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: March, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Catalytic Coaching : The End of the Performance Review by Garold L. Markle ISBN: 1567203086 Publisher: Quorum Books Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $73.95 |
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Title: The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting On What Matters by Peter Block ISBN: 1576751686 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Pub Pub. Date: 15 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Age of Paradox by Charles Handy ISBN: 0875846432 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: September, 1995 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman ISBN: 1890009318 Publisher: Executive Excellence Pub. Date: December, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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