When Mark first suggested eliminating performance evaluations, I was appalled. How would our aspiring professionals get the feedback that they so desperately needed? Then I started to think back. And being a pack rat, I looked back at my old performance evaluations. And realized that I had been writing rebuttals to performance evaluations since the very beginning of my professional career.
The problem with performance evaluations is that they have tried to become too many things to too many people. On the plus side – they provide necessary feedback, career guidance, and evidence of “caring,” i.e., coaching and mentoring. On the minus side – they provide documentation to support subsequent dismissal, evidence of necessary counseling for poor work performance, and support for unbiased promotion and pay decisions. No single document could possibly do that many things!
Coens and Jenkins’ book “Abolishing Performance Appraisals” was an eye-opener. And the recent suggestion for “catalytic coaching” by Paul Rauseo of George S. May International Co. provided further support. The problem with performance evaluations as they currently exist is that they create an “us – the evaluator” versus “them – the evaluatee” which is a lose-lose proposition. We need a team approach in which both parties work together towards a common goal – improving the professional’s skills and knowledge and helping the professional accomplish his/her career goals.
I now agree with Mark and am working to replace our performance evaluations with something better – something that works.
