By Cori Maedel

One common theme within many companies with which I have worked is the dreaded annual performance appraisals that everyone loves to hate. I don’t have to tell you savvy HR folk about all the science behind the recency effect, power and influence, and the myriad pros and cons on the subject.

I was once told about a review that had managers label performance as a type of wood. The term “dead wood” and “hard wood” were used. Dead wood meant the employee was at the end of his road with the company. He could stay and keep doing his work but he would never be promoted or receive another pay increase because he was at the top of his pay grade. Hard wood referred to a solid performer who could improve to a more specific type of quality wood. On some level, I have to believe that the person who created this program had good intentions and just didn’t know what they didn’t know.

Good intentions or not, many of the programs we encounter are actually holding companies back rather than propelling them forward. I recently asked a group of 75 people who were “in charge” of HR if they could answer the following questions:

1. Do you know why your current performance program was put in place?
2. How are you measuring the success of the program? What is the ROI?

Not one of the 75 people could answer those questions—ouch. Was that telling me that 75 companies had programs in place that were not serving them?

I often hear people say, “A company is better to have no performance program than the wrong one.” Ah, rest assured fellow HR professionals; I am 100 per cent in favour of having performance programs as long as they make sense.

A solid performance program looks like this:

• Managers don’t dread the process. They see the process as moving the company, themselves and their teams forward. Keep in mind that Rome was not built in a day.
• The answers to the above questions are clear. Those in charge know why they want the program and how to measure its success.
• Do your research. Make sure the program you choose fits within your organization and its culture, otherwise you will be putting a square peg in a round role. Not every program is for every company; be open to adjusting “your” program to meet the company where it is now and not where you think it should be.
• Ensure the program is linked to something greater than itself, like the overall HR infrastructure, the overall organizational goals, the strategy and company culture.
• Consider objective-based programs that can truly drive performance. Objective-based programs are one tool within our HR tool kit that can facilitate organizational clarity and drive performance in one direction.
• Involve the senior team in the design process, specifically the overall philosophy and what the program is intended to achieve. HR is more successful when we work collaboratively. If the senior team doesn’t buy into the program once it’s launched, the program’s success will be in jeopardy.
• A good performance program is designed to support 80 per cent of your achieving workforce and not the 20 per cent that may not be performing at the level you would want. There are other tools that can be used for this.
• Support employees to build on their strengths and manage their weaknesses.

For me, it comes down to organizational clarity on all levels and through all HR material. With this as your solid foundation, performance programs can really drive performance.

Cori Maedel is the Chief Executive Officer of The Jouta Performance Group Inc. Liked what you read? Questions and comments are welcome on the HR blog at www.jouta.com.