SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 160,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each Tuesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: What is your perception of the year-end performance-review process?
- It’s OK. It enables some development, but other parts aren’t meaningful: 38%
- It’s weak. It’s mostly a “check the box” exercise that doesn’t change performance: 35%
- It’s terrible. It’s a complete waste of time, and nothing meaningful comes of it: 23%
- It’s fantastic. Ours is meaningful and truly helps people grow: 3%
The process is broken. Clearly, when almost 60% of you say the performance-management process is weak or terrible, we have a huge problem. I say “we” because as leaders, WE own the process — no one else. I recently wrote about how we, as leaders, need to take control of the process and make it meaningful. We have to take ownership of the process, get outside our silos, provide more regular feedback and realize we don’t get paid to be liked — we get paid to lead. Don’t be lazy and be a slave to a broken process. Step up, lead and fix it.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of ThoughtLeaders and author of “One Piece of Paper.”
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I'm troubled by the results, but not at all surprised. As a former Talent Development Manager and Sr. HR Business Partner for an operational business unit at a large company, I worked with front-line supervisors and mid-level managers who felt their sole purpose was executing on performance goals and beating their metrics. They may have been getting the job done, but they were also missing out on opportunities to grow and develop their people. The trouble with annual performance appraisals is that we tend to see them as "an event" and not a part of a process that begins with setting clear expectations, providing ongoing positive and corrective feedback, and building trust through regular one-on-one conversations. What's said in the year-end review should never come as a surprise. As the "exclamation point" on this process, the annual review should be a summary of all the discussions you've already had through the year, instead of the meeting we all dread.