“There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does”
Psychologist Dan Pink
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For “Lazy/Busy” Readers (book excepts):
- Quotes from: “Get Rid of Performance Review!: How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing-And Focus On What Really Matters”, by Culbert, Samuel A, & Laurence Rout
- Quotes from: “Punished by Rewards: The Trouble With Gold Starts, Incentive Plans, A’s Praise, and Other Bribes” by Alfie Cohn
System Model: Performance Appraisals VS. Team/Organizational Agility
Legend (How to Read Causal Loop Diagram)
- Variable – system elements that have effect/make influence on other system elements (other variables)
- Causal link – arrows that connect two related variables
- Opposite effect – “O” annotation near an arrow; suggest that effect of one variable on another variable is opposite to what could be expected
- Delayed effect – “||” annotation that disrupts a causal link (arrow); it implies that there is a delayed effect of one variable by another variable
- Extreme effect – one variable has an extreme (beyond normal) effect on another variable; it is represented by a thick arrow
- Constraint – “C” annotation near arrow; implies that there is a constraint on a variable
- Quick- Fix reaction – “QF” annotation near an arrow; action that brings about short-term, lower cost effect
Self – Assessment: Are Your Internal Policies Consistent With Organizational Goals?
- Does your company conduct performance evaluations/appraisals?
- Are performance evaluations/appraisals done on individuals (IPA) or teams (TPA)?
- What does your company stress more: individual or team delivery? What is counted more?
- How intense/time consuming is IPA/TPA management process for HR personnel?
- Is HR personnel of your company well informed of studies and research in the field of performance and motivation?
- Does your company explicitly recognize/promote the concept of the ‘team, as an organizational building block’?
- Does your company expect employees to share knowledge among each other?
- Does your company recognize individual contribution that cannot be measured directly, based on delivery?
- At your company, is becoming a manager (hands-off) perceived, as the main way to secure higher compensation/promotion?
- At your company, can an employee remain, as a hands-on expert, while receiving manager-level compensation?
- Does your company pay bonuses?
- To what extent is your company’s overall financial performance is factored in defining bonuses?
- For IPAs:
- How frequently does an employee get feedback on his/her performance throughout a year?
- How does your company collect feedback on an employee: openly or confidentially?
- Who is in charge of evaluating individual performance (e.g. manager, peers)?
- Is there a process in place for an employee to challenge IPA decision?
- Can an employee challenge a decision at any point in time, or just at a year-end?
- Is an employee required to manage his/her IPA in an internal system of record?
- How well the role of an evaluated employee understood by an evaluator?
- Is forced/stack-ranking (bell-shaped curve) used for a performance evaluation?
- Is compensation increase (base salary) tied to individual performance?
- Are bonuses paid as a lump-sum (once a year) or more frequently (throughout a year)?
- On average, what %-ge of a total compensation represented by a bonus?
- Does your company support the concept of “best employee of the month”?
- For TPAs:
- Does your company have an approach/method for how to reward teams?
- Does your company have an approach/method for how to reward individuals, based on teams’ rewards?
- Are bonuses tied to only individual, only team-based performance or mixed?
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What Drives Human Performance? Did You reflect On This Internally, Within Your Organization?
Extended References: White Papers & Articles:
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- How do we pay people in a LeSS adoption?, by Viktor Grgic
- Why good leaders make you feel safe?, by Simon Sinek
- The Puzzle of Motivation, by Daniel Pink
- The Truth about Performance Reviews and Other Corporate Bullsh*t by Liz Ryan
- Why Your Best Employees Are Leaving For Your Competition, by Chad Halvorson
- You Could Lose Your Best Employees Because of These 7 HR Blunders, by Sujan Patel
- Performance Management for Agile People, by TechWell Contributor
- Rethinking the Review, by Julie Cook Ramirez
- Unjust Deserts?, by Mary Poppendieck
- Performance without Appraisal, by Esther Derby
- Unjust Deserts, by Mary Poppendieck
- Monetary Incentives linked to Appraisals (Systemic Implications Revealed), by Gene Gendel
- Causal Loop Diagrams to Visualize System Dynamics, by Gene Gendel
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