By Adam Turteltaub
adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org
While it’s too early to start planning a funeral, there are signs that the annual performance evaluation may be dying. SAP is the latest company reported to be giving them the heave ho. In so doing the global firm joins GE, IBM, Gap and no doubt many others.
I’ve gone through the annual evaluation process for virtually all of my professional life. I’ve been evaluated and done the evaluating. It is never an easy process, and sometimes it’s downright horrible. I’ve known few, if any, workers who enjoy the process or get much out of it. I doubt many managers do either.
The challenge for anyone in HR or compliance is that those evaluations provide a very good record in preventing and responding to cases of wrongful termination. Without them a valuable paper trail is lost.
So, what do we do? Kasey Ingram, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at ISK International reports that, “We don’t do annual reviews. So compliance wrote a counseling policy to address issues and an awards policy to reward excellence.”
The results? “Managers have been happy with these policies because it allows them to address exceptional behavior and focus their attention where it is needed while avoiding the immense bureaucracy that often occurs through an annual review process. And the employees, for the most part, have found the policies to be transparent and fair.”
What does your company do? Or, what should organizations do in a world free from a formal annual evaluation program?
“Dance for joy” is not an acceptable answer. Other ideas are welcome, though. Please share them with our readers below.