Performance Review Alternatives…A Conversation About What?

As existing talent management vendors scramble to find viable alternatives to replace their dying products; organizations are considering their options, not everyone agrees the answer is changing to some performance-related experiment too early.

Ernst & Young recognizes the need for change but they are not going to just follow along with Accenture’s and Deloitte’s approach to the problem.  Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry also warns individuals that the eliminating of the annual performance review could actually make your job worse.   This is a complex topic that is now fueled by competition, ideology, politics and many other drivers.

A consistent solution being considered is “better/quality conversations” more frequently.  I am not going to disagree that timely and quality conversations are effective and important, but a conversation about what?

Is the motivation right now to just find any replacement for the existing broken process or to implement an approach that will actually improve an individual’s and organization’s performance?  This is not just about the individual’s and manager’s interactions.

Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has for years drawn material from the subject of performance reviews by showing the numerous situations employees and managers find themselves in at some stage of their career.  The solution should not be just about managers and employees; it should also be about the right outcomes, how everyone has contributed and can improve regardless of their title or position in the organization.

Transparency is core to the next generation of performance management. Transparency must not only exist around the individual but also around the management and organization as a whole.

In business, individuals and organization need to be united around the common outcomes they did and will achieve.   This requires conversations with peers, contractors, partners, customers and leadership, not just with managers.  The viable solution is not about just having regular conversations; it is also about making the conversations meaningful and aligned to the outcomes that will ultimately drive an individual’s and an organization’s performance.