9/18/13...Within scripture is there any support in giving people performance reviews with rankings? I wonder about this, mostly because I am sitting here rating myself on a scale of 1-5 in fifteen different core value and skill competencies. Here is how this process works. I must self-rate myself. Then I must submit this review of myself to my boss. Then my boss rates me on a scale of 1-5. Then we sit down together and agree on the rating. Then I leave feeling a mixed range of emotions, mostly why I am unable to achieve a 5. My boss is relieved because this exercise does not have to occur again for another 6 months at the mid-year review.
Inherently I see nothing wrong with the performance review. In Proverbs, Solomon talks about the wise person who seeks counsel. The performance review is a good format for this. The problem comes in when ranking is part of the process. The whole dynamic changes. The focus becomes on a number versus the content. It is demeaning to me, the person who is rated, and for me as a boss, I agonize in "rating" somebody, as if I am on some judgment pedestal.
Think about this. Most people are married. Most people who are married generally discuss the health of their relationship at some point. Sometimes the discussions are proactive, sometimes they center on issues. Now imagine if I gave my spouse fifteen different focus areas; maybe doing chores, financial responsibility, lovemaking, consideration, etc. Now what if I decide to give a formal feedback session on these focus areas called a performance review. I now will rank my spouse on a scale of 1-5 in each of these areas. This I know. I am not going to feel good about doing this nor is she. Now, what if I was on the receiving end of her doing this to me? This I also know. I am not going to feel good about this either. I probably will become defensive, maybe demoralized and certainly not encouraged.
Maybe this is why Deming advised against ranking people. When ranking someone 1-5, the implicit expectation is a 5, but the problem is no one is ever a 5 in every category. When expectations are placed on people, this robs them of their inherent desire to do a good job, or as Deming puts it, "pride of workmanship."
Indeed, I wonder if ranking belongs in performance reviews.
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