Seven Stupid Things Human

Resource Departments Do To
Screw Up Performance Appraisals
 Lets begin ….. But
acknowledgments first
 This article is based on the book:
Performance Management - Why Doesn't
It Work, and the McGraw-Hill book entitled
Performance Management released in
October, 1998.
 Where is the problem?
 Managers don't do dumb things just to fill up
their time. A lot of the time we find that when
managers are doing performance appraisals
badly, they are getting a lot of "help“ from their
human resource (HR) or personnel department.
 Central HR departments can create a situation
that virtually destroys any value from the
performance appraisal process.
 Stupid Thing #1

Focusing on and stressing the

paperwork and forms.
 Where’s the stupidity ?
 When the emphasis on the forms and paperwork
overshadows the real purpose of doing
appraisals, then huge amounts of resources are
wasted.
 When HR departments focus on getting the
forms done, that's exactly what they get. Forms
done. If that's all this is about, hire a monkey to
do it. Any fool (no insult to the monkey) can tick
off boxes on a form and send it on.
 Stupid Thing #2:

Believing that a ‘ratings” based form of

appraisal will serve as protection
against lawsuits by employees.
 Where’s the stupidity?
 If you are caught speeding, do you think the
court is going to accept as evidence a
policeman's statement that "On a scale of 1-5
the driver was a 4?" I don't think so. But HR
departments believe that THEIR form is going to
withstand legal scrutiny. It's not. It's too
subjective and too vague. This desire for false
security is one reason HR folks feel they need to
pressure managers to get the forms done - at
least until their first lawsuit.
 Stupid Thing #3
Assuming that Using an
automated system improves
the process
 Where is the stupidity?
 What it does is it takes a lousy paper process, and then
makes it a lousy computerized process, so now we go much
faster pretending we are doing something useful.

 Performance appraisal is an interpersonal communication

process. Even between two people, it's often not done well.
Automating the process is a waste of money and time, and
HR departments that go that route are doing charitable work
for the vendors of the software.

 It's bad enough we mechanize a human process using paper

forms. Now we can take it one step further. Heck, now
managers never have to speak to staff. This is progress?
Stupid Thing #4: Under training
or mis-training or not training
managers in the process
 Where is the stupidity ?
 HR folks design some new forms, and a new way of doing
performance appraisals. They print out some basic
instructions, print out some forms, and distribute them to
managers. The assumption is managers will know the
purpose goes much further than "getting the forms done".
That's not going to happen. If the HR folks yell and
scream, they probably WILL get the forms back, but not
much more.
 Managers need extensive training, not only regarding the
nuts and bolts of the appraisal process, but about the
why's and interpersonal parts of it. Without that, one gets
an empty paper chase (while people pretend it is a useful
way to expend energy).
 Where is the stupidity ?
 Why train?
 First, because the only way it works is when
employee and manager work together, in partnership.
Both manager and employee need to hold the same
understanding about why they are doing appraisal,
how it will be done, and what is expected.
 Very few organizations offer anything but a superficial
orientation to the appraisal process. That's because
they see it as something done TO employees. It isn't,
except of course when the HR department treats it as
something done to employees. Then managers will
probably do it that way.
 Stupid Thing #5:

Thinking pressuring managers to

get the forms in is productive.
 Where is the stupidity?
 Managers see it as a waste of time.
 Unfortunately, a good many HR
departments believe it's just a question of
ordering, yelling, coercing or begging
managers to get them done.
 If managers felt they were useful, they
would do them. The key to getting them
done is to make them useful.
Stupid Thing #6: One size fits
all fantasy
 Where is the stupidity ?
 Imagine the difficulty for HR staff if every manager used
a different form, or different method. How would you
keep track? How would you file them?
 But if you think about it, does it make sense? Can we
evaluate a teacher the same way as a advertising
manager?
 But still, HR departments expect managers to use a
single tool for everyone, often a rating form. This kind of
inflexibility addresses a filing problem. Is that why we do
appraisals? To make it easier for the HR department?
No, we do it to improve performance.
 Stupid Thing #7

Playing the appraisal cop.

 Where is the stupidity?
 Unfortunately, HR and personnel departments get stuck with the
responsibility of getting appraisals done by managers. It is a strong
indicator that the system being used is or has failed. How come?

 In a properly functioning system, each manager is assessed on a

number of things, one of which will be their fulfillment of the
performance management and appraisal function. The responsibility
lies with management.

 No appraisal system is going to work until each manager's boss

makes it clear that getting it done is going to be a factor in the
manager's own appraisal.
HR departments shouldn't be appraisal cops If anyone is to do that,
it should be the manager's boss. Anything less is going to be a
waste of time and effort.