Performance Reviews

My guess is that if I polled a bunch of HR people, I would find a vast majority of them hate doing periodic performance reviews and hate having to insist that the supervisors in their organizations conduct them. Am I right? Of course I am. My thinking?

I question the wisdom of insisting on a process with so little apparent value!

Anyone who has been in HR for some time also knows that most supervisors in their organizations hate doing them. It’s a chore that the company says needs to be done. But they either put it off until the last minute or they set easy targets for their people to meet, or they give most of their team an average score.

The easiest ones for them to do are the superstars and the ones standing in the doorway on a banana peel waiting for someone to give them a shove.

The ones that they hate doing are the ones who they need to have on their team to get the work done. The soldiers who show up every day and never create a problem. The supervisor’s dilemma is how to keep this group motivated. They can’t always give them more money. They can’t always promise them a promotion for the good work they do.

I know, someone “upstairs” says the performance reviews need to be done, so the supervisors do them. In my experience, this process is a waste of time and accomplishes little.

I have read more than a thousand of them over the past 40 years. Most are generic junk. A bunch of words copied from the last review or feel good words so they don’t have to deal with a confrontation with the employee.
In more than a few situations those feel good reviews have given a plaintiff’s attorney a lot of reasons to smile.

Supervisor – “The guy was a poor performer. I had to let him go.”

Attorney in the discovery process – “The record shows you gave him several average or above average reviews!”

See where that conversation is going? Oh, ya. Get the check book out, employer.

More on this next time. Some ideas for you to think about.

Management Rights? Or not?June 2010

I wonder how many people in management today even know what the term “Management rights” means. I have talked with a large number of people in human resources and senior management in general over the last seven years and find few who really know what the term means.

It seems the typical thought among them is “If we don’t have a policy to cover it, we can’t do it.” That’s puzzling to me. Maybe it’s the thought of union organizing potential, possible violation of some state or federal law, or a lawsuit by an employee.

All too often I find human resource people counseling their CEO’s that in order to do something, they must first create a policy to cover it, then have the policy vetted by legal and only then post it.
So why does this thinking seem so prevalent? Lack of experienced human resource people? Paranoia of being sued? Afraid of offending their employees?

“Management rights” means that unless you have given the right away by policy or there is a law covering the situation, you as the management of your company, have the right to run your business as you see fit.
Here is a typical management rights clause included in a company/union contract. This one is from a union contract dated 1971.

“It is understood and agreed that all the customary and usual rights, powers, functions and authority of management including the management of the plant and the direction of the workforce, the right to hire, discharge, discipline, promote, demote, transfer, relieve employees from their duties for lack of work or other legitimate reasons, to maintain order and efficiency, to decide plant locations, number and locations of departments, type and quantity of tools and equipment to be used, products to be manufactured, schedule of production, and control of materials shall be vested exclusively in the Company.”
The above rights, powers, and authority of management are not all inclusive, but indicate the type of matters or rights which belong to and are inherent to management. Any of the rights, powers or authority the Company had prior to the signing of this Agreement, including those in respect to rates of pay, hours of employment or conditions of work are retained by the Company, except those specifically abridged or modified by this Agreement or any supplementary agreement arrived at through the process of collective bargaining.”

What this says is “Unless we have given it away in the bargaining process or a law covers a particular situation, the management of this company retains the right to run the company as we see fit.”

What does this mean for non-union organizations? Note the sentence which says in part …… the type of matters or rights which belong to and are inherent to management.
That’s the part that needs to be understood by CEO’s and human resource people. In effect, unless you have given something away by policy, or the law has taken it away, you decide how you want to run your business.
If you see a problem in your organization, you do not have to check to see if you have a policy to cover it or create one before you can act. You just handle the situation. Some employees may say that you can’t do something because there isn’t a policy in place. They are wrong.

In one company I came into, they had one employee who was a disruptive influence. I took care of the situation. When I asked why the supervisors had let this guy get away with that behavior for over two years, their answer was surprising. They said the guy never broke any rules so they couldn’t discipline him!

Do you think that way? If so, you need to change your mind set. If you see something that needs to be corrected, fixed or otherwise taken care of, take care of it!

Another example. One employee used the company email system to promote his personal agendas, including his religious preferences. When we told him to stop, he claimed he had a right to do so. That he was just stating his personal opinion. And other employees used emails to say personal things.

We told him we didn’t care what his personal beliefs were. Was there a specific policy in place that covered this situation? No, but that did not matter. We have an inherent right to run the business and his use of the company communications system to broadcast his private beliefs was not acceptable.

The bottom line ………. Unless you have given away the right to manage parts of your business, take the action necessary to correct a problem.

Let’s talk about your new role as a leader. When you assumed that new role, you were pretty excited about it. Your significant other, family and friends congratulated you on the promotion. So your natural assumption is that everyone else would be happy about it too, right?

Here’s a reality check for you. The fact is there will be some who won’t be happy about your promotion or your coming into the company to take a leadership role. A member of your new team may have wanted the job or thought that their best buddy should have gotten it. A supervisor in another department may think their protégé deserved it more. An engineer may have wanted it because she felt she needed to have HR experience listed on her credentials. For whatever reason, there will be those who think someone else should have landed the job.

The majority will not say much about your promotion. You will get a few “congratulations” or “welcomes,” but most will have a wait and see attitude. Most will give you time to settle in.

If you are promoted, a few will give you the “I see you have joined the bosses” or a sarcastic “good luck” routine. Those who are not happy about your promotion are not likely to tell you directly, but their actions, comments and body language will let you know.

A point needs to be made very clear here.

Whether the new kid on the block or just promoted, You do not have to defend your new role. You do not have to apologize to anyone. It’s natural for you to feel uneasy about your new status. Don’t worry about it. Obviously, someone believes you are the right person for the job.

Now, what do you do when you hear or perceive resentment by others? Nothing. That’s right, nothing. The problem is theirs, not yours. Unless they make some kind of public issue about it, let it go. It will soon go away.

If it’s a member of your team, most of the rest of the team will see it as sour grapes and ignore the person. So don’t make an issue out of the grousing until you have given it some time to go away. It’s one of those times to “take the high road” and do nothing.

Remember this. A true leader does not react to every slight or dig that comes along.

If the grumbling continues then you will have to do something. For example, if that resentment begins to affect your team’s performance then the source of the grousing needs to be confronted privately, in a professional manner.

Ask if she has a problem about your new role that she would like to talk about. Typically, she will react with surprise, not realizing you know about the comments. You will be assured that there is no problem. In most cases, your problem will then quickly go away.

Another common mistake made by new leaders is to try and please the whole team. Someone asks for time off. Someone else wants a favor. You feel that to get in their good graces you have to say “yes” to everything.

I’m being blunt here, but pleasing everyone just ain’t gonna happen. It’s not possible.

Pleasing everyone is not your job. Your job is to get the work done. You need to do it in the most courteous and professional manner you can, but you still have to get the job done. To do that, you are going to occasionally irritate people. It means saying “no” to people, probably more often that you would like.
Just be careful that your “no” is the right decision, and you are not just showing that you have the power to say it. If they ask “why?” have a reason, not just because you said so. They will be more receptive of your decisions if they understand the reasoning behind them. If not, they may quit coming to you altogether.

Another thought for you here. Got a nasty job for your team to do? Don’t apologize to them for what they have to do. A weak supervisor will try to blame others such as blaming the job on the higher-ups or the company. You are diminished in their eyes for comments of that type.

There will be times when you are going to require things that are not going to sit well with your team.
Get used to it. If you do, they will too.

More later on being the new kid on the block!