{"id":811,"date":"2019-08-13T21:55:24","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T21:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/?post_type=chapter&p=811"},"modified":"2024-04-25T01:33:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T01:33:39","slug":"putting-it-together-performance-management-and-appraisal","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/chapter\/putting-it-together-performance-management-and-appraisal\/","title":{"raw":"Putting It Together: Performance Management and Appraisal","rendered":"Putting It Together: Performance Management and Appraisal"},"content":{"raw":"In a Harvard Business Review article titled \u201cThe Future of Performance Reviews,\u201d authors Peter Cappelli and Anna Tavis cite estimates that \u201cmore than one-third of U.S. companies are .\u00a0.\u00a0. abandoning the traditional appraisal process\u2014and all that followed from it.\u201d[footnote]Cappelli, Peter and Anna Travis. \"The Performance Management Revolution<\/a>.\" Harvard Business Review. October 2016. Accessed August 20, 2019.[\/footnote] Instead, organizations across industries and geographies have embraced the practice of \u201cfrequent, informal check-ins between managers and employees.\u201d The list of converts includes technology companies, professional services firms and even GE, developers of the notorious 20\/70\/10 \u201crank and yank\u201d appraisal system. For the future view, researcher and people analytics expert Josh Bersin estimates that 70% of multinational companies are \u201cmoving toward this model.\u201d\r\n\r\n\"AWhat\u2019s driving this change is a recognition that traditional appraisal systems are a significant expense that doesn\u2019t add value. The HBR article quotes a Deloitte manager who \u201creferred to the review process as \u2018an investment of 1.8 million hours across the firm that didn\u2019t fit our business needs anymore.\u2019\u201d A Washington Post business writer provided a more dramatic explanation, referring to the process as a \u201c\u2018rite of corporate kabuki\u2019\u201d [translation: a form of traditional Japanese drama with highly stylized song, mime, and dance[footnote]\"Kabuki<\/a>.\" Lexico. Accessed August 20, 2019.[\/footnote]] that restricts creativity, generates mountains of paperwork, and serves no real purpose.\u201d Dollars and drama aside, the primary factor driving this shift is a realization that traditional end-of-year performance appraisal processes tend to be focused on rewarding or punishing past performance and miss the opportunity for improving performance\u2014and developing talent\u2014in real time. In contrast to a rearview mirror view, \u201cregular conversations about performance and development change the focus to building the workforce your organization needs to be competitive both today and years from now.\u201d\r\n\r\nConceptualization of the \u201cAgile Manifesto\u201d in 2001 was a pivotal moment in software\u2014and, subsequently, human resource management\u2014history.[footnote]\"Manifesto for Agile Software.<\/a>\" Agile Manifesto. Accessed August 20, 2019.[\/footnote] For perspective, the authors noted that while they value planning, they value responding to change more. Although their intent was to improve software development and not employee performance, the values and principles the \u201cagilites\u201d identified reframed the definition of performance and were adopted by companies like Adobe who were already using agile concepts for software development. To illustrate, Adobe was already \u201cbreaking down complex projects into \u2018sprints,\u2019 that were immediately followed by debriefing sessions.\u201d Cappelli and Travis note that \u201cAdobe explicitly brought this notion of constant assessment and feedback into performance management, with frequent check-ins replacing annual appraisals.\u201d[footnote]Cappelli, Peter and Anna Travis. \"The Performance Management Revolution.\"[\/footnote]\r\n\r\n\"DecorativeTo summarize, Cappelli and Tavis identify three business imperatives driving decisions to abandon traditional appraisal processes:\r\n