On 8 Apr 98 at 10:28, Ben Compton wrote:
> Rick,
>
> Honestly I appreciate the fact that you've tried hard to understand my
> position. In many ways I feel like I've been banging my head against the
> wall.
Ben, thanks for the clear exposition. I don't agree with much of it but
enjoyed reading it.
When this thread started a number of months ago, I kinda felt the same
way, tried to state my opinions (which are opposite yours regarding
rankings), and then gave up, and left the list. In the interim I've
written several articles on the subject, one of which is to be published
in Supervisor Today. Then I came back recently to see the thread had been
going on for all that time, and sounded exactly the same.
I suspect it's a limit on the medium we are communicating with, but I
understand the frustration, since I share it, even if on the other side of
the fence on the issue.
I'm not going to rehash the differences in Ben's and my perceptions on
these issues. My background is in learning and psychology, and I can't
recall anything in years of study that would support many of Ben's
positions on incompetence.
...snipped...
> Which leads me to the position that employee ranking is good (and I'd say
> even necessary for the long-term success of a busienss). By ranking
> employees (even if the ranking is slightly skewed by subjective criteria
> and interpretations of data) people in an organization know where they are
> at, their relative value to the organization. . .what they do about it is
> another issue. The primary responsibility to change their position rests
> with the individual. Management can provide feedback, but ultimate
> responsibility sits on the individual.
One thing I try to convey to people in many areas is that we must work
with the world we HAVE. That means that prescribing who should be
responsible for what is ok provided we understand that a good many people
aren't going to "behave" according to our prescription.
If I'm an employer, let's say my concern is staying in business, and being
productive. My problem is not WHO is responsible for development, or
competency or those kinds of things, but HOW I can get that to happen. If
I don't get the how, I don't exist anymore.
I've read a bunch of research and literature on downsizing, layoffs, and
the notion of the throwaway employee, and the majority of companies that
take this approach later report that they don't get the payback they
want...some say it actually gets worse (sorry, don't have references for
this).
> To increase their value they may need to work harder, think differently,
> cooperate better, or it may be a combination of a number of things. To
> make the necessary adjustments requires introspection, which can be a
> painful and frightening experience. . .especially for those not used to
> doing it.
I agree...but look at it from the employer's view. Let's say I don't care
who does what...all I care about is getting productivity. If I can do
something to improve productivity, it would be not in my interest to avoid
doing it, even if I think it isn't my responsibility. Perhaps I could
train more, or provide more learning.
By firing the worst ranked performers I hit the other part of the
CATCH-22. I have an investment in them. They aren't machines I can
interchange, because it is almost never possible to hire new people and
get full productivity from them. Some have suggested a YEAR before an
employer gets that full productivity in many areas. Estimates are that it
costs somewhere around the equivalent of a FULL year's salary to recruit,
hire and orient new people.
So, even if we start from the point of self-interest, we find that from
the employer's view it is self-interest to keep employees who are somewhat
below average...it's simply good business if we can bring them up to a
higher level of productivity.
At some, point, admitedly one has to throw in the towel.
If people are interested in our two articles on performance rating and
performance ranking they can be accessed in our newsletters from
http://www.escape.ca/~rbacal/psm.htm . I just don't have the heart to bang
my head against the wall on performance management, because I don't find
this list fertile ground for it (darned if I know wy).
Sorry for the long post.
Robert Bacal, Inst.For Cooperative Communication, rbacal@escape.ca
Visit our Resource Centre for articles on mgmt.,training,communication, and defusing hostility
at http://www.escape.ca/~rbacal (204) 888-9290
--"Robert Bacal" <rbacal@escape.ca>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>