Executive Coaching on Performance Appraisals - 5 Actions For Leaders

As an executive, you are doing due diligence in your organization development plans when you provide consistent feedback to your employees. Furthermore, the "coaching moments" arise when your associates fall outside of acceptable performance norms. Odds are that if you've done the performance review process correctly, your associates typically reside more frequently "outside" of the norms than "inside" them. If that's the case, then are performance appraisals a worthwhile venture when it comes to assisting you and your company in accomplishing your coaching organization development goals?

According to perhaps the greatest quality expert of all time, W. Edwards Deming believed that performance appraisal systems and formats were flawed and inaccurate! These flaws and inaccuracies were due primarily to false assumptions and too much subjectivity on the part of the reviewer. Deming used to say that these performance appraisals were just one of the seven deadly sins of management!
What were Deming's reasons for viewing performance appraisals as flawed? Among them were:

• Appraisals stimulate short-term performance and deflect attention from long-term planning.
• Reviews often leave those receiving the review bitter, desolate, feeling inferior and unfit for work, often times afraid to offer a differing opinion than the group for fear of being labeled a dissenter.
• Appraisals undercut teamwork because they inherently grow rivalry, politics and fear. The individual is being reviewed, not the team, and therefore attempts to put their "best foot forward" aren't attempted.
• Reviews focus on the end result, or product, and not the individual's leadership abilities along the way.
• The measures used to evaluate performance are often not meaningful, because both leader and subordinate are often times forced to "check a box" to satisfy the review process.
• Reviews discourage quality... Quantity is stressed over quality!

So just what should the leader do based on Deming's distaste for performance appraisals? The following five action steps should be implemented for better results:

1. Eye on the Prize - Focus on the long-term goals of the individual/team/department/organization. Focusing on short-term throughput can lead to long-term problems if the proper focus isn't taken. Think "long term" for greater success.
2. Don't Take It Personally - Keep personalities out of performance reviews. The metrics which a leader should measure an individual's performance should not include their personality defects. We've all got a defect of personality, as the leader are you willing to look yourself in the mirror and have your defects discussed?
3. There's No "I" In Team - Make certain that performance is evaluated regarding ones team efforts, in addition to their own individual efforts. Also important to note is ensuring that their compensation plan also takes team efforts into consideration.
4. Smell The Roses Along The Way - Performance appraisals are often done annually, with the file going in the drawer and dusted off around day 364 almost in the next year. Unfortunately, if you want better results you'll need to review the appraisal more frequently. Establish quarterly (monthly?) review plans with your team for maximum effectiveness.
5. Get Perspective - Often times the leader is too close to the situation to effectively monitor/measure. Seek an external party to perform the evaluation to ensure that what you're measuring is correct, and that you are on the right course.

Love them or hate them, executive coaching regarding performance appraisals are here to stay! When done properly, executives can count on their team to outperform their established goals. These five actions should lead you towards future success... make that you and your team!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3612194