Recognise This! – You need strategic employee recognition to balance the traditional review process.
Usually I read about performance management systems (failed and otherwise) once or twice a year – in the Fall and Spring when most companies seem to schedule the annual review cycle. This past 12-18 months, however, the topic has never really dropped out of the news or HR/Management blog discussion.
Why? Because the vast majority are now realising the annual review process as currently deployed is failed – pure and simple. Bnet recently pointed out “10 Ways to Ruin an Employee Evaluation,” including these two:
“Focus primarily on the near-term. Almost all the evaluations I received focussed on my performance over the previous couple of months, even if I had accomplished great things over the course of the entire year.”
“Ignore the previous review. Do you remember everything you said the last time you evaluated a particular employee? Of course you don’t — but the employee does. Use the same examples and the employee feels you’re just going through the motions.”
Annual reviews have their place as formal, process oriented systems that provide a forum for a deep-dive into an employee’s performance over a 12-month period. But this is only half the performance story and must be balanced by and complemented with strategic recognition. Recognition provides the key to social performance management by encouraging less formal, ad-hoc praise and acknowledgement of behaviours, contributions and achievements throughout the year.
My CEO, Eric Mosley, is joining Josh Bersin, the #1 ranked online influencer in talent management, in a webinar on how to marry the two together. Join them for “Measuring Employee Performance 365 Days a Year,” Wednesday, September 28, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. They will share with you:
- How to build a world-class company culture driven by employee recognition
- New social and mobile strategies that fuel team collaboration and productivity
- Insider tips on getting unscripted feedback that will show the true leaders and influences with your organisation
