NFIB

Hate Performance Appraisals?
03/ 28/ 2002

Here's a better way to evaluate employees.

Forget trying to copy big companies' elaborate employee review methods. As a small business owner, you're better positioned to provide feedback in a more natural--and effective--manner, according to consultant Mary Jenkins.

"Traditional performance appraisals don't work," says Jenkins, who along with Tom Coens is the author of Abolishing Performance Appraisals (Berrett Koehler, $27.95). What to do instead of the once-a-year sit-down? Jenkins suggests making a list of your goals (for legal documentation, to give employees feedback) and separate out those functions.

By lumping all these goals together, none gets done well, Coens says. Employees are so focused on their raise amount, they get defensive about any criticism.

Instead, inform employees of their raises and suggest behavior improvements in separate meetings. Handle and record personnel problems throughout the year.

The key is to shift responsibility for feedback and coaching from the small business owner to the employee, Coens says.

That point is echoed in the results of a massive in-depth study of great managers conducted by the Gallup Organization and collected in First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (Simon & Schuster, $25). The authors found that frequent performance meetings are more effective in changing poor behavior, as is making employees responsible for setting their goals, keeping track of their successes and being accountable.

Go online to www.abolishappraisals.com for the quiz "Are Performance Appraisals Working for You?"

---

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2001 issue of MyBusiness Magazine, NFIB's member magazine.

Small Business Sound Off
Does this story hit home?  Share your story with us