Sometimes a news or opinion item’s importance grows over time. One such item for me is “Why Your Boss is Wrong About You.” It appeared last week in the New York Times and online at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/opinion/02culbert.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1299589476-9Ar8SlJlzUw4pKYtA5LBbQ. Evaluating employees is more complicated and less fair than people would like to believe. Author Samuel Culbert writes about the problems of relying on the common performance review. He has “examined scores of empirical studies since the early 1980s and have not found convincing evidence that performance reviews are fair, accurate or consistent across managers, or that they improve organizational effectiveness.” It might help for bosses to realize that they are reviewing their own performance as well as that of the employee.
Mr. Culbert suggests collaboration between boss and employee to make real progress. It makes good sense. Read his article for details.