Evaluation, the Third and most Misused Spoke in the "Wheel of Management".
This is the third article in the series entitled "The Wheel of
Management." In the series I have talked about the spectrum
of management tasks and shown how they interrelate. In this
article I intend to deal with evaluation because it is
so often absent from small company processes, and when it is
not absent it is most often misused.
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Evaluation, the Third and most Misused Spoke in the "Wheel of Management".
This is the third article in the series entitled "The Wheel of
Management." In the series I have talked about the spectrum of
management tasks and shown how they interrelate. In this article I intend to deal with
evaluation because it is so often absent from small company
processes, and when it is not absent it is most often misused. This
article discusses formal "performance evaluation"
Let me give an example of what I mean by "misused". I had a
conversation the other day with a fairly senior departmental manager
in a medium sized corporation. In the conversation this manager
said, "I can't understand why I only got a 3% increase, after all I
got a 95% evaluation." In this comment is evidence of the two
biggest mistakes organizations make in evaluation methodology,
firstly no one is that good, and the evaluation process is tied to
pay increases.
To better understand why I say these are the two biggest mistakes,
let us examine the structure of a great evaluation program, and
establish what the program is trying to achieve. First and foremost
the evaluation must be measured against the performance parameters
defined in the job description so the parameters vary by job.
Secondly the objective is to define a program for improvement, and
let us face it even superman has some room for that. Taking these
points into account you can see that telling an employee that they
are a 95%-er leaves very little room for the evaluator to say, 'This
is what I want to see you do better at!"
When I set up an evaluation program for a client we try to create
evaluation parameters that will result in evaluation scores
averaging 65%. (I usually remark that the average should be somewhat
lower but the psychology of the supervisors performing the
evaluation is such that they always tend to err on the high side.)
When you are working from this base it is easy to get the
conversation around to areas of performance that need work. I also
ensure that the timing of the program is such that it is clearly not
confused with pay increases.
Now here is the kicker. It is no good to just say, "These areas need
work" without also saying, "And this is what we are going to do
together to achieve that improvement." When the employees realize
that the process is genuinely there to help them be better
performers for their own benefit as well as the company, that is
when your evaluation program starts to be a real incentive.
In closing, be aware that there will be employees that will have some
difficulty with evaluations, particularly the first time round, and
all supervisors need to be counseled to not be confrontational. Any
employee that does not eventually realize that a process that is
designed to make them better employees is in their benefit, perhaps
are not the kind of employees you need. And a final note, formal
evaluation processes should not replace ongoing coaching and
encouragement. A helpful comment which is made without rancor or
humiliation is still the most effective tool
for improving performance and morale.
The Author
After 25 years consulting to small and medium sized companies,
Mike Anderson, principal of Train Me To Be a CEO
realized that the most important part of his work was training the CEO,
and the reason he was such a good consultant was that he did that very
well.
Trained as an engineer, he became a CEO of
a midsize corporation at the age of 35. After a spell at Harvard
Business School he entered the world of consulting.
3. Ongoing mentorship. Begins with a minimum two
day one on one, but continues with monthly or quarterly follow up
sessions. (Smart and probably Best!) .
References
A New England Contractor
"Mike Anderson has been working diligently
with the upper management team at (our firm). Mike is extremely
knowledgeable and has an exceptional way of dealing with many different
personalities. He has worked very closely with the Sales Team to
impress upon them the importance of using a consistent method of
estimating. He was instrumental in restructuring our accounting
procedures."
