The Drucker Lectures: Essential Lessons on Management, Society and Economy

14Knowledge Lecture III1989

For what we pay people today, we’d better demand some responsibility from them. It’s morally corrupting to pay what we pay and then treat them as little boys or girls. The responsibility for their performance is on them—individually and where there is teamwork. We need to go in and say, “What should this organization hold you accountable for over the next 18 months?” Get out of the trap of the annual appraisal that coincides with your budget cycle. It’s a good idea to keep them separate. The question is, “What should this organization hold you or this research group of yours or this floor in the department store, this selling floor—what should this organization hold you accountable for by way of contribution and results?” ...