In playing catch-up with replies to the many outstanding messages
concerning this (to me) remarkable thread, I've neglected to offer the
following.
It is not that one sees the harm in any performance appraisal apparatus as
impacting one a small minority, but rather that ALL are negatively
impacted. This is due to what I would call a dysfunctional process,
wherein the innate psychology of all involved is that of accepting the
process as "de facto" proof of its own worth.
Rol asks of others outside his company as to their feedback; it should
come as no surprise that, to those who use "standard" appraisals, those
who use them have much the same answers as does Rol himself. What else
would you have expected?
Use of such apparatus is akin to looking over one's shoulder to see how
you are going to do, where the focus is completely off the mark. It would
benefit all concerned to focus on what is ahead, not behind. Retention and
reliance on psychological addicting schemes as PA's gives one the good
feeling of knowing what is happening without benefit of medication. It is
an illness which affects every single person who comes in contact with it.
It is psychologically disfunctional to give any company or organization
more credit than it is worth by virtue of its use of such mechanisms.
Among the dangers of rating and ranking lie the potential for "branding"
which comes with them. One should recall the Pygmalion and Halo effects,
both of which are part and parcel of past and present actions by
management. This is true in public, private, industry and education. So,
there is more to this "genie" than merely the little harm he does to the
few, much more. This genie brings fear to the workplace and fear is no
able motivator.
--Sincerely,
John Constantine Rainbird Management Consulting PO Box 23554 Santa Fe, NM 87502-3554 Rainbird@Trail.Com http:\\www.trail.com\~rainbird
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