Probably one of the least liked HR processes of all organizations is the dreaded performance review. However, it does not have to be that way. Performance reviews should be beneficial not only to the organization but to the employee.
Key components to a successful process include:
Built-in commitment to your MVV
Shared goals and objectives throughout the organization
Employee ownership of career and job performance
Simplistic but meaningful processes
Solid guidelines and commitment from senior leadership.
Commitment to your MVV
If you want your Team to fulfill your Company’s Mission reach your Vision and operate within your Values, you must build these into the Performance Review process. When you do, it shows the organization that leadership believes in the MVV so much that they have included it in the measurement of employment performance. Ensure your goals and objectives are aligned with your Missionand Vision; if they are not, you must question why they are in place. Most organizations that we support appreciate us walking them through a simple Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis to help develop goals for the organization. In the area of Values, always build your values and other important values into the behavior section of the Performance review form; we will discuss behaviors in more detail later in this chapter.
Shared goals and objectives
In high performing organizations, including those that I have worked for, have all had Performance Review processes that were aligned to shared goals and objectives through the organization. Typically the scenario worked like this: The CEO would develop four to six goals and objectives that would then be approved or renegotiated by the board of directors. Those goals would then cascade through the organization all the way down to, for example, the third-shift sanitation employee at the plant in Arkansas. The employees would then align what they needed to accomplish within their scope of authority against the goals of the person(s) above them.
The review process primarily focuses on annual goals, and very little on the mundane aspects of day to day work that is reflective of what the job description dictates. The daily work should be accomplished, and, if not, the employee should be managed through disciplinary procedures.
Employee ownership
I have had the experience of employees approaching me earlier in my career at the end of the performance review cycle. Oftentimes, their approach was because they never had met with their managers even one time during the course of the performance cycle.
Make no mistake: they are at fault as much as their inept management.
Employees must take ownership of their careers, their development and their performance. Those who do not simply will not survive in this economy. Part of ensuring that they take ownership, and helping them to understand it, is ensuring that the process is clearly defined, i.e., that the employee is obliged to prepare performance form materials, and be proactive in scheduling a performance review meeting with their manager if the manager is not. If the manager still fails to meet with them, the employee has an obligation to go to HR or, absent HR, the manager’s superior. Doing nothing should never be an option.
Simplistic but meaningful processes
Twelve-page forms and manuals that exceed sixty pages will just not work. Ensure your process includes easily understood documentation, and a review form that does not exceed a good resume length, that is, two pages. Keep the form limited to four to six operational goals and three to five behavior-based goals.
Never have a process that is void of behavioral objectives.
I have had the misfortune to work with several teams that insisted upon only production-related goals. They killed each other in the process to achieve them, and, when challenged, they would always say that they were not being measured on niceness, but solely on how many widgets they made! Balance your performance scorecard, and you will have better results.
Solid guidelines and commitment from senior leadership
When we describe “solid” guidelines, we mean guidelines that are not created in a vacuum, by one person high on a mountaintop. Guidelines should be developed by a cross-functional group of employees from a variety of areas within the company. This brings a rich blend of thoughts and experiences to the table.
Regrettably, most of the HR people that I have worked with during my career are just not capable of coming up with such solid guidelines without assistance.
It is a sad statement to make regarding my profession, but I gave up defending much of the deficiencies I discovered years ago.
Senior Leadership must buy into the process and support it. If they don’t, it is doomed to certain failure.
Years ago, I worked for a company in which, no matter how hard the CEO worked on convincing the president of a particular division to manage the performance review process, this president would balk. The division president’s lack of commitment transcended the organization. The process became a joke, and no one nurtured it. I look back at the company now and wonder if things could have turned out differently. They have closed half of their plants, and shed several thousand employees. It might be a stretch to link this to lack of leadership in embracing a performance review process, but I do believe that, if Innovation was a top goal for the years heading into the downturn, that company could conceivably have created new products to sustain employment for those who were laid off. Sad, but this is often the case. Managers: stay committed!
What has been your experience with performance review systems? Do you like them? Hate them? We would like to know. Please leave us a few comments to broaden our knowledge. Thank you.
Wondering what is all behind the process of developing a High Performance Organization? Wonder no more. Check out our Infographic for those who learn by seeing.
Your organization faces novel challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus has created turmoil for you and your most important resource, your employees. We want to help you. Now is the time to reset the old ways, decide how to restart, and move forward.
The first step is to reflect on why you exist as organization, what you stand for, and how you can best work with your employees to ensure mutual prosperity while advancing the ministries you support, the communities in which you live, and the families of the employees who make up your organization. Ensuring a workplace that promotes Christian values contributes to all of that.
This month celebrates the 8-year publication anniversary of the book How To Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations. In it, author, speaker and noted HR consultant Mark A. Griffin illustrates how leaders can build values-led organizations and maintain Christian workplace ethics designed to help weather difficult economic times.
Mark doesn’t just explain why establishing Christian values in the workplace is important—he shows you how to make it happen. Using a model he developed through years of organizational development experiences, Mark demonstrates how to weave your organization’s mission, vision and values into all of your HR practices. This ensures your Christ-centered culture is integrated into your organization and maintained, now and in the future.
Take advantage of this special anniversary discount to benefit from Mark’s guidance on how you might best build successful, lasting “Kingdom-minded” organizations in today’s politically correct business world. Mark will inspire you to be bold and brave in your faith, and ensure that Christ is in your workplace.
Special for the month of May 2020
1/2 off Retail Price
Kindle $4.49
Softcover $8.99
About the Author
Mark A. Griffin is the founder and chief consultant of In HIS Name HR LLC, a human resources outsourcing and career coaching firm created to help companies pilot the complex issues of managing HR.
As a human resource professional with 20-plus years of experience in both private and public companies (e.g., Quaker Oats, Kodak, Merck), Mark is passionate about building high-performance workplaces that utilize best practices and lead with strong values.
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Mark earned his MBA while interning for Congressmen Kanjorski as a military liaison during the first Gulf War. Mark has completed several executive education programs at the University of Michigan and is a certified practitioner of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI®. He has also coached leaders on “Business as Mission” onsite in Eastern Europe, India, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Most employees loath them; many managers avoid them. High Performance Organizations have them, and they do what they’re designed to do—evaluate precisely the performance of each employee.
Feel like you don’t need them? Here are 10 great reasons that should change your mind.
Aligning performance to goals and objectives
Most organization employees I meet with say they have no idea what the yearly top two or three goals are for their organization. A great performance program sets these goals as their starting point. Ninety-nine percent of employees in this country want to do well at work, but we lack leaders who know how to align their desire to achieve to the organizational goals.
Providing a basis for promotion/transfer/termination
Many organizations are not transparent concerning how to be promoted. A performance review process more readily identifies those employees who deserve promotion and those who require lateral shift (transfer) or need to enter into a remedial program. This system also aids career planning.
Enhancing employees’ effectiveness
Most people really do want to be better at their jobs! Helping employees to identify their strengths and weaknesses and informing them of the organization’s expectations concerning their performance helps them to better understand the role they play and increases work efficiency. Feedback reinforces good performance and discourages poor performance.
Aiding in designing training and development programs
Instead of creating “programs of the month,” you can use performance review data to more accurately ascertain training needs and identify skills that need to be developed in order to tailor-make the most effective training and development programs.
Building teams
Counseling employees corrects misconceptions, which might result in work alienation. Performance management also helps employees to internalize the norms and values of the organization. (I have met leaders who have not talked to their employees about their performance since 2012!)
Removing discontent
Performance management puts all employees on the same measuring tape. Identifying and removing factors responsible for worker discontent motivates them to perform better at work. Performance management helps to create a positive and healthy work environment in the organization.
Developing interpersonal relationships
Relations between superiors and subordinates can be improved through the realization that there exists a mutual dependence that leads to better performance and success. By facilitating employees to perform introspection, self-evaluation and goal setting, their behavior can be modified. Better interpersonal relationships lead to team building.
Aiding wage administration
Performance management can help to develop fair and more equitable base lines for reward allocation, wage fixation, raises, incentives, etc.
Exercising control
A performance review process provides a means to exercise control of projects focused on, and helps keep employees aligned to the agreed upon annual goals and objectives.
Improving communication
Performance management serves as a mechanism for improved communication between superiors and subordinates. Often times managers shy away from counseling employees. When the right system is in place, especially is it is employee driven, it forces discussions on a regular basis.
In closing, my experiences lead me to support employee driven programs. Programs that rely on managers and leaders have a higher propensity for failure. Simple yet meaningful programs that include goals, objectives, behaviors, an employee development component and stretch assignments meet what most employees’ desire.
How important are employee performance reviews in your organization? Leave your comments below!
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In His Name HR helps organizations build high performance Human Resources programs. Visit them at In HIS Name HR or e-mail them here.
Mark A. Griffin is the founder and chief consultant of In His Name HR LLC. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
This month we are celebrating our 4 year publication anniversary. In How To Build “ Kingdom-Minded” Organizations, author, speaker and accomplished HR consultant Mark A. Griffin gives Christian leaders encouragement in building values-led organizations during these difficult economic times.
Most importunately Mark shows you how to make it happen. Using a model he developed through years of organizational development experiences, Mark demonstrates how to integrate your Mission, Vision and Values into all of your HR practices. This ensures your Christ centered culture is integrated into your organization and maintained into the future.
With over 20 years of Human Resources experience at both fortune (Kodak, Quaker Oats Company, and Merck Pharmaceutical) as well as small and mid-sized companies, Mark has seen it all. Enjoy reading Mark’s thoughts on how you might best build “Kingdom Minded” Organizations in today’s “politically correct” business world.
Let Mark inspire you to be bold and brave in your faith, by ensuring Christ is in your workplace.
About The Author
Mark A. Griffin is the founder and chief consultant of In HIS Name HR LLC, a human resources outsourcing and career coaching firm created to help companies pilot the complex issues of managing HR.
As a human resources professional with 20-plus years of experience in both public (Quaker Oats Company, Kodak Inc., Merck Inc.) and private companies (Woolrich, Conestoga Wood Specialties, Valco Companies Inc.), Mark is passionate about building high performance workplaces through utilizing best practices while leading companies with strong values.
While serving in the United States Air Force, Mark received his Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources Administration from Saint Leo University. He earned his MBA from Bloomsburg University while interning for Congressmen Kanjorski as a Military Liaison during the first Gulf War. Mark has completed several executive education programs at the University of Michigan and is a certified practitioner of the Myers Briggs Type Instrument MBTI®.
Mark and his wife, Gail, have two adult children, and will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary June 2016. They attend LCBC Church. Mark has traveled the world coaching leaders on “Business as Mission” in Eastern Europe, India, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Speaker and accomplished HR consultant, Mark A. Griffin gives Christian leaders encouragement in building values-led organizations during these difficult economic times.
Contact: Mark A. Griffin, In HIS Name HR LLC, 717-572-2183, MGriffin@InHISNameHR.com
Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?
Have you ever watched one of your best employees produce excellent results and then ruin it all with their arrogance? Have you ever witnessed a senior executive deliver a passionate speech that rocked your world but, at the end, credit themselves and not their teams? If you have, you will know how bad they look and how unfortunate it is that their hard work and dedication was just overshadowed by their arrogance and self-love.
Give credit to the Team, not yourself
The workplace can be challenging in the sense that we are to perform, and that performance is typically measured and reviewed. But that measurement and level of deliverance is between you and your superior, not between you and the entire company!
No one likes a braggart, so if you keep your performance results to performance discussions, and if you are managing your teams to do the same, you are building a “Kingdom Minded” Organization
Help our community of readers
How do you give credit to your employees? Are there some simplistic tools you have used in the past? Let us know. We love to learn new ideas.
Need HR Help? Check out our newly launched HR Mastery Toolkit. Free iPad for a limited time only!
I was blessed to spend the early part of my career as a staffing manager for light industrial jobs. One of the most valuable lessons I learned was not to judge people’s work ethic or abilities solely on their aptitude in filling out a job application or writing a resume. Some of the hardest working, most loyal and dedicated employees had the most difficult time writing an explanation of their previous job experience.
Resume writing and everything else that goes along with the job search is stressful. Most people are not taught how to track their performance and work product to build a comprehensive professional profile. Admittedly, my own resume was a hot mess until I reached out to a professional friend to give it a much needed makeover! Struggle in this area is commonplace. One would think this would make recruiters and hiring managers less critical of applications and resumes.
However, when I made the switch to more traditional HR, I found the exact opposite to be the custom. Candidates were being discarded for minor errors and/or choosing unsophisticated descriptors.
John 7:24 (NLT) – “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly”. In screening and reviewing resumes to find suitable candidates for open positions, look for 3 things:
Experience. Does the person’s work history establish practice in the same or similar type of role? Has the person ever worked in the same or similar industry? Did the person perform the same or similar tasks in a past position? (Romans 2:6 [NLT] – “He will judge everyone according to what they have done”)
Education. Has the person taken courses that would prepare him/her for this position? What kind of coursework has he/she completed that would teach the problem-solving skills necessary for success at this job? (Proverbs 18:15 [NKJ] – “The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge”)
Enthusiasm. Does the tone of the resume display a positive attitude about work? Are there accomplishments which demonstrate excellence? Is there a pattern of progressive responsibility in the work that shows ambition? Do the projects outline the ability to both lead and provide support within a team? (Colossians 3:23 [NLT] – “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people”)
Do not be so concerned with superfluous things like formatting, stylized punctuation or accidentally typing “manger” instead of “manager.” Focusing heavily on unessential things will cause us to miss those diamonds in the rough.
We all make errors, both before and during our employment journeys. We have to use caution in judging others too harshly – especially knowing our own skills, abilities and practices are not necessarily at the best level they can be (Matthew 7).
Instead, by focusing on identifying the potential talent in the resumes we receive, we can rest assured we will yield good candidates and build a strong team of staff members to complete the work.
Buzz Rooney is a practicing HR Professional with over a decade of experience in the production, manufacturing and retail industries. She has Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies with a focus on Organizational Communication and Leadership as well as a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Management. Buzz is also a blogger and part-time HR consultant.
New Book Provides Christian Inspiration for Business Leaders and Professionals
Contact: Mark A. Griffin, In HIS Name HR LLC, 717-572-2183, MGriffin@InHISNameHR.com
LANCASTER, Penn., May 7, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — HR consultant and career coach Mark A. Griffin has worked for more than 20 years in a corporate world where the bottom line is king and often anything goes in the pursuit of profit.
Mark believes, however, that there is another, better way to do business and in his latest book, How To Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations, he provides inspiration for Christian business leaders who want to create a values-led organization that brings Christ into the workplace.
In the last decade, the global corporate world has endured some of the toughest economic times since the Great Depression with business leaders and employees alike enduring increasing pressure s
imply to survive. Too often the workplace has become somewhere devoid of hope and of genuine purpose and yet the workplace is still where many of us spend the majority of our time.
Mark’s human resources career over two decades in the marketplace has encompassed both Fortune 500 companies, such as Kodak, Quaker Oats and Merck, and small and mid-sized companies and his knowledge and expertise of the corporate world is unrivaled.
It’s his experience of a business world that has lost its way and is out of touch with its responsibilities to both workforce and clientele that has led Mark in a different direction, one informed and inspired by his own strong Christian faith.
Mark’s remarkable book will empower business leaders to be bold and brave in bringing their own faith into their workplace. He understands that it takes great courage to step away from the normal business practices that continue to dominate America’s corporate world but his book provides simple and effective tools that will integrate the teachings of Christ into an organization.
Through his own organization, In HIS Name HR LLC, Mark is on a mission to provide world-class business consulting that allows clients to be prosperous but also to be “Kingdom-Minded” by instilling a Christian ethos and establishing goals that reflect that ethos.
How To Build “Kingdom-Minded” Organizations provides the starting point for those who want to create, build and develop their own values-led business that is profitable and is also a stable, positive environment in which employee wellbeing is enhanced, thus improving quality and increasing productivity.
Radical, inspirational and affirmative — Mark A. Griffin’s template for “Kingdom-Minded” businesses is an idea whose time has come.
Learn more about Mark A. Griffin and his quest to help the Christian owned company live their faith by visiting him at www.InHISNameHR.com, or contact him on www.Twitter.com/InHISNameHR.
Radio Series Week 10- How to get your non-performers off the bus
Tune in and enjoy listening to Mark A. Griffin, Chief Consultant, inspire you as he dialogues with host Dee Kovach on, How to get your non-performers off the bus. Let Mark inspire you to be bold in your faith as you learn to navigate the complexities of faith in the workplace. Be encouraged as you learn how to develop a high performing organization through your HR practices.
“Praise HIS Name” in partnership with “In HIS Name HR LLC” announce the launch of a twelve week radio series highlighting faith in the Christian owned workplace. Tune in and enjoy listening to Mark A. Griffin, Chief Consultant, inspire you as he dialogues with host Dee Kovach, exploring twelve inspiring weeks of Christian Business topics.
Radio Series Week 9-How to manage employees to their potential within your company
Tune in and enjoy listening to Mark A. Griffin, Chief Consultant, inspire you as he dialogues with host Dee Kovach on, How to manage employees to their potential within your company. Let Mark inspire you to be bold in your faith as you learn to navigate the complexities of faith in the workplace. Be encouraged as you learn how to develop a high performing organization through your HR practices.
“Praise HIS Name” in partnership with “In HIS Name HR LLC” announce the launch of a twelve week radio series highlighting faith in the Christian owned workplace. Tune in and enjoy listening to Mark A. Griffin, Chief Consultant, inspire you as he dialogues with host Dee Kovach, exploring twelve inspiring weeks of Christian Business topics.
