Are Appraisal's finished?

Picture this, it is the final quarter of the year and a manager's mind turns towards annual ritual that is the year end appraisal. Now I don't know about you but many employees and their managers dread this event. Research I undertook in 2012/3 found that of the 30+ companies I spoke to, respondents indicated that they felt that the appraisal systems utilized in their company was disproportionately expensive to administer, overly complex and a bureaucratic box ticking exercise that often failed to deliver value.

Although it was never intended this way, too many employees found that performance feedback from their manager wasn't always forthcoming during the year and it wasn't unusual for performance issues to be raised at the year end and the conversation would deteriorate into an 'argument' over a numeric performance rating, rather than a constructive discussion on past and future performance. Interestingly this was more prevalent in larger companies, with complex performance management systems, in comparison with smaller companies with a less formal. As one respondent said, "We don't really have a performance management system, I simply review individual and team objectives with my team each week and we work on areas which need extra support or assistance."

But since then have organizations taken the opportunity to rethink the way organizations assess and manage performance?

The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) highlighted that midway last year services firm Accenture decided to scrap the annual appraisal for it's employees, joining companies such as Microsoft and Gap in moving towards a more informal methodology for feeding back on performance achievement. In addition companies such as Google, Facebook and Netflix have scrapped appraisals entirely. 

However, those companies doing away with formal appraisals aren’t abandoning performance management entirely. A culture of more regular, informal feedback was often the approach being used. By managers pointing out problems as they arise, employees have the opportunity to address issues proactively to make an immediate difference to the business. In our workshop Managing the Unmanageable www.managingtheunmanageable.ca we focus on developing and supporting managers to do just this in a supportive way.

However simply getting rid of appraisal reviews won't solve the problem, as CIPD, CEO, Peter Cheese says: “If you’ve got managers who think their job is telling people what to do, and beating staff up all the time, then just stripping out the formal procedures won’t work. You’ve got to build the organization’s dynamics to create a more trusting environment.”

What's your experience of annual appraisals?

"Touch my Justin Bieber poster again and I'll sue!"

Workplace conflict can often start in a fairly innocuous manner but the consequences can be serious as highlighted by 40% of respondents to a recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, "Tracing Workplace Conflict".  

An employee in one organization was dismissed after Facebook "banter" got out of hand and he "liked" a comment about an unpopular manager being beaten over the head with a chair.

Barbed comments between two chefs about vegetable preparation ended in a fist fight and a hospital visit for the two protagonists.

Another business came to standstill for three days over a dispute over stolen milk from the refrigerator. The company ended up buying six new refrigerators, one for each department. 

These examples illustrate the importance of dealing proactively with conflict and not allowing the situation to fester. The impact on productivity, motivation, morale and the culture of the organization can't be underestimated. 

A certain amount of conflict in an organization is inevitable, and the most common ..... a clash of personality or working style. You are after all putting a group of people together who may have conflicting personal objectives and are not necessarily selected for their teamworking skills. Just ask the manager of a sales team I recently worked with, the concept of collaboration was not one that came readily to this team.

Often communication or a lack of it is the flashpoint for conflict - language and the body language that accompanies it is often at the root of many misunderstandings. This is exacerbated with the increasing absence of face to face contact in the workplace, you can't judge from the other person's reaction whether you're on the right track or not from a voice message, text or e-mail.

Line managers nervousness in dealing with conflict is also a contributory factor to escalating problems. From my experience in 25 years of working with a range of organizations, managers are often promoted for their technical expertise and not necessarily their people skills. They are placed in positions of authority, without the necessary skills or confidence to deal effectively with these situations and as a result they don't.

So how do we deal effectively with conflict in the workplace?

Well timing is everything. Taking a proactive approach to adress issues early on will pay dividends but requires line managers to be skilled and confident to take action. We may find that mediation and conflict resolution become a core skill for all managers as they take up post, so that they can deal with matters informally and effectively.

This is often preferable to formalizing the process too early by bringing in the HR "big guns", which can lead to an increase in grievances where every problem leads to a formal complaint and investigation. Did I mention the time and financial cost the formal process can take?

A third option is to utlize a mediation service, either internal or external, that can lead to a positive outcome. However, this approach needs to take place without prejudice and from a position of balanced power i.e. mediation won't be effective if the approach is " ... if this doesn't work I resort to legal action".

Here's my six simple steps to dealing proactively and effectively with conflict in the workplace:

1. Discuss the situation in a respectful manner
2. Be specific as to the problem
3. Discuss how the conflict impacts on you, the team or the project
4. Ask for the other parties perspective on what's causing the conflict
5. Ask for a proposed solution
6. Agree on the action to be taken

Click here for further information on how I can help managers become proficient at tackling those difficult situations at work.

The Results - That’s the most unbelievable excuse I’ve ever heard!

Thanks to all those participants who sent in examples of unbelievable excuses staff members had given them when looking to take time off work or explain their absence. We've cast our net wider this time and have examples from Canada, USA and the United Kingdom.

Obviously the majority of people have totally genuine reasons for needing time away from work, however I'll let you decide how you feel about the examples of excuses we received.

As usual I've had great fun reading all of the entries and I've published my top 5 here:

5. My mom forgot to wake me up and I knew I'd be late so I didn't come in!

4. My doctor's office is only open between 12 & 1 so I'll need the whole day off to go for my appointment!

3. My dog ate my bus ticket and I didn't have any money for my fare, so couldn't come to work!

2. I didn't have a clean shirt so couldn't come to work!

And my personal favourite ...

1. I went swimming yesterday evening and got water in my ears l so I can't come in today!

So there it is the most unbelievable excuses for taking time off work, if you have one to share please send it in.

That’s the most unbelievable excuse I’ve ever heard!

It’s competition time.

Back in April we searched for Alberta’s Worst Boss and received some unbelievable stories. So after giving Alberta’s Bosses a hard time we thought we’d turn our attention to the staff. 

We’d like you to send us your stories of the most unbelievable excuses you’ve ever heard from a co-worker taking time off from work. It’s Stampede time so I’m sure you’ve heard some great ones.

As before please send your entries to me at office@bluegem.ca, to be in with a chance of winning some great prizes. Entries by July 31.

Managing the Unmanageable part 3

In part 3 of this article I've set out below are some useful phrases you can use when dealing having challenging conversations at work.

To show that you are listening

•  I appreciate your input
•  I understand what you mean 
•  I was not aware that you saw the situation that way
• Thanks for letting me have your views on this matter

Validate the employees concerns

• Much of what you say has validity, so let’s clarify some of the points 
•  I agree with many of the points you raise. Let’s discuss ways to address them

Avoid saying

• You’re wrong
• That is ridiculous
•  I think you have it good
• Then try working somewhere else

Maintain control

•  Instead of arguing the point, let’s look at steps to move forward
• So what do you think the solution is 
•  At this point, you need to be clear about a solution, not only the problem

Forward looking phrases

• Every situation has downsides, I agree. Now tell me what you think we can do about it
• Let’s look at the goals we can reach at this point
• We’ll address each of those issues when they come up

Give the employee the power

• Why don’t you think up 3 or 4 ideas, e-mail them to me and we can talk again next week
•  If you want to discuss this further, think up some ways to address the problem and let me have them

This is just a selection of useful phrases, if you can think of others send me your ideas.