The Metiss Group's Blog

Annual performance appraisals are an ineffective means of accelerating performance.  However, most organizations have an annual performance appraisal process and refuse to consider alternatives; another one of those “we’ve always done it this way” talent processes.  One of the first documented performance appraisal processes was from the 3rd century Chinese Wei dynasty.  They used a nine rank system by which officers were categorized based on their abilities.  The eighteen hundred year old format looks remarkably like many performance appraisal forms we see today.

In addition to the traditional reasons for abandoning annual performance appraisals (waste of time, ineffective, inflated scores), there are several recently developed arguments:

• Neuroscience advances have shown annual performance appraisals actually cause diminished brain functioning;
• The new generation of workers expect immediate feedback;
• Widespread team and matrix leadership methods are a poor fit for the annual performance appraisal process.

Fortunately, companies are moving away from annual performance appraisals.  From 2011 to 2012, the number of HR managers reporting abandoning annual performance appraisals tripled.  Many of those organizations are moving to informal quarterly performance reviews using a single summary sheet focused on a handful of forward-looking goals, past achievements, and have no numbers or ratings.

Empowered leaders abandon annual performance appraisals in favor of quarterly performance reviews and have more successful talent acceleration.

Navy SEAL combat veteran Brent Gleeson is the co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Internet Marketing Inc. His leadership approach is inspired by the unrivaled Navy SEAL training and the Navy SEAL Creed.  Here are the seven habits (likely an extension of, but not a replacement for, Core Values) Navy SEALs have for success:

1. Be loyal. Loyalty is about leading by example, providing your team unconditional support, and never throwing a team member under the bus.
2. Put others before yourself. Get up every day and ask yourself what you will do to add value to your team, such as simply offering your assistance with a project.
3. Be reflective. Reflecting on your mistakes ensures you never repeat them.
4. Be obsessively organized. Some of us innately have this ability, often to a fault, and some have to work at it a bit more.
5. Assume you don’t know enough. Any effective team member understands that training is never complete. 
6. Be detail-oriented. Attention to detail could avoid catastrophic results. 
7. Never get comfortable. Always push yourself outside of your comfort zone.

It’s unlikely these would all apply to every team, but effective leaders define the habits required for success in their organization.

Empowered leaders take time to define the important habits for their organization and their teams experience more success.

The United States Navel Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) is an elite team of Navy SEALs that hunted and killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011. Navy SEALs represent the best of the Navy and DEVGRU represents the best of the SEALs.  To graduate to DEVGRU the SEALs must pass a nine-month long grueling training and testing program called Green Team. Only the best of the best survive Green Team and are challenged constantly by the Navy’s best leaders.

Mark Owen author of “No Easy Day: The First Hand Account Of The Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden,” recounts his Green Team experience where he and other team members were asked regularly to make an anonymous list of the five best and worst performers in the class. The instructors compared these lists to their own lists when evaluating talent and deciding who would be promoted or removed.  The instructors know to create high-performing teams capable of accomplishing difficult feats; all aspects of the team members’ performance must be considered including how they are viewed by their teammates.

Though leaders may not be developing a team capable of hunting and killing al Qaeda fighters, receiving feedback from team members about each other can help them make better development decisions.  The common approach in business to getting this feedback is from 360-degree tools.  A well-designed 360-degree questionnaire, one that does NOT use Likert scale questions, is a great way for leaders to learn more about their direct reports and for them to create personal development plans.

Leaders who empower their direct reports with 360-degree tools will experience much success.

Of the 23 personal talent skills we measure, the mean ranking for personal accountability is second to last at 22nd.  Perhaps our society has simply accepted the weak behavior trait and essentially enabled it.  Leaders do not need to accept it and can actually encourage and develop their direct reports’ personal accountability.

To instill greater personal accountability:

1. Establish clear expectations and milestones with each direct report with their input.
2. Be certain to follow-up at the designated milestones for discussions about being on-track toward the ultimate goal.
3. If the direct report is falling off track, do not simply move the deadline without serious consideration of the behavior being reinforced.
4. Refrain from asking how someone can be helped (that simply allows the direct report to delegate up).  Instead ask, “What obstacles do you need removed or what additional resources do you need to get yourself back on track?”

With this empowering approach, leaders are communicating their confidence in direct reports who are capable of getting themselves back on track.  Allowing them to come up with plausible solutions encourages them to experience success.

Leaders who empower direct reports by holding them accountable for their commitments see more personal accountability and increase the opportunities for success.

In a recent interview two candidates were asked to describe a time they made a mistake; here are their responses:

Candidate #1 – “I thoroughly prepare and plan for situations.  I then meticulously and consciously execute the plans to eliminate mistakes; I rarely fail.  Measure twice, cut once is always my mantra.”

Candidate #2: – “Though I never enter a situation intending to fail, I do make mistakes.  For instance, last month I missed my sales goal because I overestimated how strong my relationship with a key buyer was.  I learned I needed to not take the orders for granted and to work hard at post-sale activities even when I think the sale is a done deal.”

Which candidate would make the best hire – one who over prepares and rarely makes mistakes or the one who is willing to make mistakes but learns from them?

Not only is it important to hire people who are willing to make mistakes, it’s important to foster an environment where making mistakes is embraced.  Jeff Stibel, a neuroscientist and Vice Chairman at Dun & Bradstreet, went as far as to create a “failure wall” when he was Chairman and CEO at Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. where everyone in the company was encouraged to post their mistakes.  The wall, initiated with Stibel’s own failures, quickly filled up with many failures and the organization grew rapidly as employees embraced new and creative approaches knowing that failure was okay.

Leaders who empower their organization to make mistakes experience more long-term success.