Here are seven new articles on performance management, most of them dealing
with employee ranking and its implications.
>In this issue:
* More Firms Rank Employees: Workers at Bottom of Scale Left Vulnerable to
Layoffs
* Performance Reviews: Perilous Curves Ahead
* Forced Ranking Stirs Fierce Debate
* Ford Considers Changing Evaluations as AARP Sides with Employees in Suit
* Ford Ends Grading Quotas
* Rank and Fire Attrition Isn't Working, So Best-to-Worst Grading is
Gaining
* Readers Tell of Success, Failure of Performance Rating
Abstracts of each article follow below. The complete text of the articles
(and 121 others) can be found at
http://www.zigonperf.com/resources/pmnews.html under "New Articles in This
Issue".
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>More Firms Rank Employees: Workers at Bottom of Scale Left Vulnerable to
Layoffs
An increasing number of companies are using a technique for evaluating
employees that involves ranking people from best to worst, leaving those
at the bottom of the scale vulnerable to layoffs or termination. Arizona
Republic, May 2001
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>Performance Reviews: Perilous Curves Ahead
Grading employees via forced rankings is a valuable management tool, say
many companies. A slew of employees beg to differ. Fortune Magazine, May
2001
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>Forced Ranking Stirs Fierce Debate
Benefits of identifying best worker often offset by low morale,
discrimination claims. Ford employee Keith Gifford has kept records,
including this letter from Henry Ford II, to be used in his case against
Ford in a class-action suit alleging the company's employee ranking system
is discriminatory. Detroit News, April 2001
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>Ford Considers Changing Evaluations as AARP Sides with Employees in Suit
Ford Motor Co. management is considering changes to a white-collar
performance evaluation system in the face of mounting legal pressure and
sagging morale, according to people familiar with the situation. Wall
Street Journal, July 200
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>Ford Ends Grading Quotas
Automaker to stop mandating number of bad reviews. Ford CEO Jacques
Nasser's push to change the automaker's corporate culture has sparked
employee dissent and lawsuits. The Detroit News, July 2001
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>Rank and Fire Attrition Isn't Working, So Best-to-Worst Grading is Gaining
Whether they're fair or not, bell curve-like rating systems-- which many
employees now call rank and yank--have spread in recent years to some 20%
of U.S. companies, and the trend is growing. Time Magazine, June 2001
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>Readers Tell of Success, Failure of Performance Rating
Readers respond to column on performance-rating systems with a spate of
their own ratings offering insights on why rating systems often fail to
accurately identify excellence, how they sometimes demoralize employees,
and also how they can be effective. Wall Street Journal, May 2001
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>Dilbert Cartoons on Perfomance Management
DIlbert pokes fun at performance reviews. Look for the "NEW" icon on this
page:
http://www.zigonperf.com/resources/humor.html
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-- Jack
>---------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Zigon mailto:jack@zigonperf.com
President http://www.zigonperf.com
Zigon Performance Group Voice: 610-891-9599
604 Crum Creek Road Fax: 610-891-9055
Media, PA 19063-1646 USA Orders: 800-244-2892
>> Performance measurement for hard-to-measure work and teams
> New CDROM Products http://www.zigonperf.com/store/cdrom.html
--"Jack Zigon" <jack@zigonperf.com>
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