Performance Reviews
Looking for something specific? The following topics address a wide range of business needs and challenges.
Is the Broken Performance Review Worth Fixing?
Relying on annual performance reviews to measure and motivate employees generally does not work. This enduring truth and some of the underlying reasons were highlighted in an article from the Spring…
Common Leadership Errors: Being nice and expecting influence
The concept of providing feedback is nothing new. Performance feedback has been studied for well over 40 years and shown to be an effective and low-cost method for improving performance. …
Critical Leadership Actions for Change: Explaining the Why
Change is necessary in order for organizations to evolve successfully. Change can also bring with it a volcano of emotions from those who are affected. Surprise, confusion, and even fear are common…
The End-of-Year Bonus: When Will Companies Wise Up!
According to Fortune, about 75% of employees will be receiving a holiday bonus this year. Now, this is the point in which I am obliged to say, “Why do companies continue to throw good money…
Mistakes Companies Make when End-of-Year Approaches
About this time of year, leaders and managers begin the ritual, asking themselves, “Have I met my goals for the year? Have I used up my budget? Am I prepared to declare my needs and wants for…
13 Things that Scare the Devil Out of Me, Revisited
A few years ago I created my own bewitching list of things that scared me. I have dusted off that list and provided an updated view of my top thirteen frightening things. I’m afraid to…
Why GE’s Talent-Review System’s Secret Ingredient is Still a Secret
Raghu Krishnamoorthy, a vice president at GE, recently wrote an HBR-Online article about GE’s secret ingredient to its purported Talent-Review System. One can assume by reading the comments on…
Does Money Make You Smart?
This post originally appeared on Aubrey’s blog 8-19-09 Let's say that you make business decisions where the impact on the future of the business is not well-thought out. The decisions are…
Fast Company Article on "Stack Ranking"
It’s hard to believe but Stack Ranking has found its way back into corporations as a means for motivating employees. What will it take for leaders to understand that this practice doesn’t work and in…
Rank and Yank: Would a Rose by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?
Jack Welch joined the fray about Microsoft’s abandoning “rank and yank” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled “Jack Welch: ’Rank and Yank’? That’s Not How It’s Done.” Welch now says that rank…
A Better Way for HP to Boost Performance
Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Meg Whitman has rekindled the debate over whether to telecommute with a memo urging employees to show up at the office more often. She wrote that “HP needs all hands…
Rank and Yank and Other Business Nonsense
When will they learn? I wrote my book Oops! 13 management practices that waste time and money in 2009 and the one that has caught the most attention is Performance Appraisal. An article by Will…
My Two Cents About Money As a Motivator, Once Again
Let me start this by saying that I am a fan of Clark Howard, the consumer empowerment guru. However, he just wrote a piece titled, “What makes workers happiest? It’s not money!”. I think…
Even Poor Performers Have Time to Improve Before the Annual Performance Review
It’s inevitable. And, as much as I suggest that the annual review process be ousted, organizations will not let them go. So I will put aside my reasons for why annual reviews are a bad idea and…
A Reversal of Fortunes: Who is Really Appraised By the Performance Appraisal Process?
Now, I know I’ve said this before but, just because something is printed in HBR doesn’t necessarily make it true or valuable. I was reminded recently of an article in HBR that provides tips for how…
The Unseen Obstacle in Reducing Any Deficit, Government or Otherwise
Everybody seems to have a plan for reducing the deficit. President Obama created a National Commission of Fiscal Responsibility. There is the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task…
Pitfalls of Performance Appraisal
No activity in corporate life is more universally despised, by both managers and employees, than performance appraisal. Richard Warner and I discuss the pitfalls and what to do instead.
Raises Are Forever
The modern organization wastes more time and money in the way people are compensated than it wastes in any other area of the business. Salary and hourly pay is pay for showing up, not for performing…
