A History of Performance Appraisals, Letting Go - REVELN

A History of Performance Appraisal & Letting Go

Deborah NystromREVELN.com

Performance Appraisal, 3rd Century

“The Imperial Rater

of Nine Grade seldom rates men

according totheir merits,

but always according to his

likes and dislikes. ~ Chinese philosopher

Sin Yu, 3rd century”

Performance & Society, 19th Century

“Of course quality is important, but is it not the quality of an individual's originality that is most important?”

~ Robert Owen

1771-1858Robert Owen from the Samuels Collection, Duke University

Robert OwenPerspective Implemented a "silent

monitor," a small cube of wood above each work station used to grade each day's behavior and effort

Seen as a manufacturing and educational reformer, as well as a labor movement leader

Influential in the modern human relations school of management and systems thinking, as well as the worldwide consumers’ cooperative movement

Counterpoint Built as a solution to

contemporary evils, his community in New Lanark, Scotland, was viewed by some as masked capitalism with a conscience

Through Americans embraced him in spite of his differing religious views, ultimately his New Harmony, Indiana planned community did not succeed

Deb Nystrom, REVELN.com

Selections from the Infographic by WorkSimple.com

Roots of the Performance Contract“Each employee should receive every day clear-

cut, definite instructions to just what he is to do and how he is to do it, and these instructions

should be exactly carried out, whether they are

right or wrong.”

~ Frederick W. Taylor

1856 – 1915

Federick W. Taylor

Perspective

Credited for inventing the management profession and industrial efficiency

Searched for "one best way" around poor methods rather than worker problems

Spoke with passion about labor-management cooperation

Counterpoint

His command and control methods (monitor and assess for efficiency) continue to influence mechanistic aspects of performance management today

Taylor’s concept of “thinkers” and “doers” for the division of work did not support the labor and management partnerships he favored, creating battles over jobs that continues today


Humans as Capital => Human Relations


Community & ”Reciprocal Relationships”

“Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not

absorbed.”

~ Mary Parker Follett

1868-1933

Mary Parker Follett

Perspective

Admonished over-managing employees,or “bossism,” now known as micromanaging

Pioneered the idea of the "authority of expertise"

Offered insights into the nature of leadership, conflict and the spiritual possibilities of corporate life still relevant today

Succeeded as a management consultant in spite of great obstacles

Counterpoint

Has been seen as overly optimistic about overcoming the limitations of management power

Her human relations contributions were advanced, and greatly limited by her gender and time period


Ratings, Performance Measurement


Teams and Systems Thinking

“94% of problems in business are systems driven and only 6% are people driven.”

~ W. Edwards Deming 1900 – 1993


W. Edwards DemingPerspective

Listed "evaluation of performance, merit rating and annual review" as one of the“seven deadly diseases affecting management”

Credited as major leader of the quality movement internationally

His teachings were primary drivers of the 2000 book, Abolishing Appraisals advocating team and whole system performance approaches

Counterpoint

Had a utopian tendency to deny conflict and the role of management power in developing cooperative social systems

Did not speak to worker involvement existing with Japan's rigid, powerful management hierarchy, similar to Taylor's scientific management

‘70 &

80’s

Behavior

s

Goals

Timelines

Results

“Performance Management” Process


Compensation & Rewards

“I am arguing against…confusing compensation with reward, the latter

being unnecessary and counterproductive.”

~ Alfie Kohn, Social scientist and

author of Punished by Rewards

15Photo by 401(K), Flickr cc

Behaviorists & Management Power

“Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.”

~ Peter Drucker 1909 – 2005

Peter F. DruckerPerspectiveExposed workplace human

relations artificiality and paternalism, refocusing on "what the job demands" through his collaborative "Management by Objectives" (MBOs) process.

Served as a reknown social critic of corporations and a practical teacher of management, informed by his in-depth studies at General Motors

Shared management teaching for six decades including concepts of empowerment and the knowledge worker

CounterpointHis long-running

performance tool, MBOs, was widely adopted and criticized

Became disillusioned with the power & greed of the management “caste” later in life (his philanthropic support of non-profits as management pioneers was toward a vision of morally legitimate post-business society)

Digital performance review forms clarify persistent problems

Digital Data & Performance


Talent & Performance Changes“I predict that by the end of this decade, the performance appraisal system as we know it will no longer exist.

Beat the competition to the punch. Change yours now.”

~ Aubrey Daniels,July 2013

Performance Management & Behavior Specialist

19

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” ~ Hermann Hesse

Photo by Mr. T in DC , Flickr cc

What’s Next?End Individual Performance Appraisal If there is little benefit,

and it’s legally not required, why continue?

Reinforcement, rewards, behaviorism, doesn’t work, is counterproductive

Most serious scholars have rejected behaviorism

Use gain & profit sharing and team / person-based compensation approaches

Increase Focus on Teams Provide easy access to data, team

results, at all levels, to inspire Establish shared accountability to

managers AND to all team members Encourage agility, creativity,

innovation, and adaptation to market forces

Grow a giving - receiving, learning culture

Share authority among team members, with an achievement focus

Use positive peer pressure, rather than individual, manager-led performance appraisals

Increase fun, frequent, informal communication at w orkRef: Beta Codex Performance Management, White Paper 10 Deb Nystrom, REVELN.com

Achievement

“Whatever there be of progress in life comes not through adaptation but through daring.”

~ Henry Miller1891 – 1980

Photo by dirkjanranzijn, Flickr cc

History infographic clips by WorkSimple.com http://getworksimple.com/blog/2011/11/04/the-history-of-

performance-reviews

Book references includeFalse Prophets: The Gurus Who Created Modern Management And Why Their Ideas Are Bad For Business Today, by James Hoopes (2003)

Slide 1 emperor photo by hslo, Flickr cc, other photos

from WikiCommons, Flickr Creative Commons, Duke University and other public domain websites

References & Credits

Visit Deb at www.REVELN.com

A History of Performance Appraisals, Letting Go - REVELN

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