Abolishing Performance Appraisals

Abolishing Performance Appraisals

by Tom Coens, Mary Jenkins
Released October 2002
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781605093956

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Book description


Performance appraisals are used in the overwhelming majority of workplaces. Yet, most organizations that use appraisal-and a similar percentage of givers and receivers of appraisal-are dissatisfied with the process. Many are beginning to deeply question whether appraisal is necessary and consistent with the work culture espoused by progressive organizations. Abolishing Performance Appraisals provides an insightful, well documented look at the flaws of appraisal-including its destructive, unintended effects-and offers practical guidance to organizations that want to move on to more progressive approaches to coaching, feedback, development, and compensation.

While many books prescribe cures for appraisal, this is the first to focus exclusively on eliminating appraisal altogether and creating alternative, non-appraisal approaches based upon progressive and healthier assumptions about people. The authors expose and dispel the widely accepted myths and false assumptions that underlie common management strategies surrounding the five key functions of appraisal-coaching, feedback, development, compensation, and legal documentation. They then offer step-by-step practical guidance on implementing alternative non-appraisal strategies that deliver the objectives of each function. And they suggest ways to give supervisors and managers the freedom to choose for themselves the most effective ways of working with people.

Filled with real-life examples, resources, tools, and detailed practical advice, Abolishing Performance Appraisals is an entirely fresh and radically different view of performance appraisal and its functions that will help people start over and discover new and more effective approaches.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. What People Are Saying About Abolishing Performance Appraisals
  5. Foreword
  6. Preface
  7. Preface to the Paperback Edition
  8. Acknowledgments
    1. Special Acknowledgments from Tom Coens
    2. Special Acknowledgments from Mary Jenkins
  9. Introduction Letting Go of a Hopeless Ritual
    1. The Legacy of Appraisal
    2. What This Book is Not About
    3. Then What is This Book About?
    4. Getting to the “Instead”
    5. A Road Map
  10. Part One Why Appraisals Backfire: The Fatal Flaws
    1. 1 Good Intentions That Never Deliver
      1. What Do We Mean By Performance Appraisal?
      2. The Intentions and Purposes of Appraisal
      3. Do Appraisals Work?
      4. Why Do We Hang Onto a Process That Doesn’t Work?
      5. Why Appraisal Fails—Its Underlying Assumptions
      6. Generally Applicable Assumptions of Appraisal
      7. Conclusion
      8. Review of Chapter Assumptions
    2. 2 The REAL Goal: Improving the Performance of the Organization
      1. A Tool for Mechanistic Organizations
      2. Management-By-Objective (MBO)
      3. High Hopes End In Frustration
      4. Emergence of the New Models of Thinking
      5. The Clash of Appraisal and the New Thinking
      6. Assumptions Around Improvement
      7. Conclusion
      8. Review of Chapter Assumptions
    3. 3 Appraisal As a Rating Tool: Fair or Foul?
      1. Appraisal As a Measuring Tool
      2. The Track Record of Appraisal As a Rating Device
      3. Our Assumptions About Rating People
      4. Political Problems
      5. Crediting Performance to Individuals or the System
      6. Conclusion
      7. Review of Chapter Assumptions
  11. Part Two What to Do Instead: Five Functions of Appraisal
    1. 4 Coaching Employees In the New Workplace
      1. What Do We Mean By Coaching?
      2. The Changing Role of Supervisors
      3. Guidance and Direction
      4. Accountability or Control?
      5. Rating and Ranking As a Source of Guidance and Direction
      6. One-Size-Fits-All Approaches to Guidance and Direction
      7. Goal Setting—A Good Strategy for Improvement?
      8. What to Do Instead—New Perspectives On Coaching
      9. Conclusion
      10. Review of Chapter Assumptions
    2. 5 Feedback That Makes a Difference
      1. Starting With a Story
      2. Conditions for Effective Feedback
      3. Feedback Assumptions Within Appraisal
      4. Unhealthy Feedback Assumptions
      5. Noise Effect of Feedback
      6. Case Study Wheaton Franciscan Services
      7. Drawbacks of Feedback As an Improvement Strategy
      8. Mandated Feedback—Alternatives With Too Many Drawbacks
      9. Feedback Without Appraisal—What to Do Instead
      10. Case Study General Motors–Powertrain Division
      11. Conclusion
      12. Review of Chapter Assumptions
    3. 6 How Do We Pay People Without Appraisals?
      1. The Complexities of Money, Motivation, and Work
      2. Incentive Pay—Does It Get People to Do Their Best?
      3. De-Motivation and Motivation
      4. Our Expectation to Be Paid According to Our Contribution
      5. Designing Pay Structures With Different Objectives
      6. Pay Without Appraisal
      7. Non-Merit Pay Approaches
      8. What About Abolishing Appraisal With Merit Pay?
      9. A Little Advice About Changing Pay Practices
      10. What to Do Instead—Motivation
      11. Conclusion
      12. Review of Chapter Assumptions
    4. 7 Staffing, Promotions, and Development
      1. Creating a Common Language
      2. The Myth of the Objective Selection
      3. The Drawbacks of Appraisals In Selection Decisions
      4. The Impact of EEO Laws
      5. Promotions Without Appraisal
      6. Appraisal and Employee Growth and Development
      7. Alternative Approaches to Development and Growth
      8. Career Management and Mandated Development
      9. Appraisal and Career Track Advancement
      10. ■Appraisal In Making Layoffs and Downsizing Decisions
      11. Conclusion
      12. Review of Chapter Assumptions
    5. 8 Dispelling the Legal Myths and Dealing With Poor Performers
      1. Are Appraisals Legally Required?
      2. Must You Do Appraisals for Legal Protection?
      3. Getting the Documentation You Need Without Appraisal
      4. Appraisal As a Counseling Tool for Poor Performers
      5. Dealing With Problem Employees
      6. Conclusion
      7. Review of Chapter Assumptions
  12. Part Three How to Get There: The Transition to Alternatives
    1. 9 Disconnecting Appraisal and Designing Alternatives
      1. Overview of the Design Process
      2. Quick Overview of Initial Steps
      3. Step 1: Assess the Need for Change
      4. Step 2: Get a Charter from Top Management
      5. Step 3: Form a Design Team
      6. Step 4: Look At the Past—A Critical Step
      7. Step 5: Revisit and Clarify the Overall Objective
      8. Step 6: Build from a New Set of Assumptions
      9. Step 7: Begin the Process of Design
    2. 10 Creating Consensus and Confidence for Change
      1. Overview of Remaining Steps
      2. Step 8: Devise a Communication and Educational Strategy
      3. Step 9: Gather Feedback from Stakeholders
      4. Step 10: Refine the Design
      5. Step 11: Get Another Blessing
      6. Step 12: Complete the Design and Devise an Implementation Strategy
      7. Case Study Electronic Data Corporation (EDS)— Working Within Corporate Mandates
      8. Step 13: Plan a Pilot
      9. Case Study the Perils of Going for the Whole Enchilada
      10. Step 14: Unveil the Final Design
      11. Step 15: Educate and Train On the Alternative Systems
      12. Step 16: Implement and Continuously Improve
      13. The Remaining Functions of Appraisal
      14. Conclusion Free At Last!
      15. What to Do Instead of Appraisal—A Summary
  13. What the Sages Say On Performance Appraisal and Related Issues
    1. Kelly Allan
    2. Dr. Michael Beer
    3. Philip Crosby
    4. Dr. W. Edwards Deming
    5. Dr. William Glasser
    6. David H. Maister
    7. Douglas McGregor
    8. Peter Scholtes
    9. Margaret Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers
  14. Further Reading and Resources
    1. On Alternative Approaches Generally
    2. Appraisals and Their Effects On the Organization and People
    3. Communication —Alternative Models
    4. Designing New HR Systems
    5. Employee Development Tools and Resources
    6. Feedback
    7. Legal Documentation
    8. Organizational Change
    9. Motivation
    10. Systems Theory and Emerging Organizational Models
  15. Notes
  16. About the Authors
  17. Index

Product information

  • Title: Abolishing Performance Appraisals
  • Author(s): Tom Coens, Mary Jenkins
  • Release date: October 2002
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781605093956