Performance Without Appraisal

by Esther Derby

As I write this Executive Update, it is the season for annual performance appraisals. Managers and team members gather feedback, catalog accomplishments, and fill in forms. Managers collate, rate, and rank. All this activity culminates in the annual review. Many managers tell me this process consumes enormous time but yields little benefit in terms of improvement or better working relationships. Managers who support teams find the appraisal process particularly troublesome. They struggle to differentiate individual contribution to combined effort, and they worry the message of individual appraisal works against team work and collaborative effort.