Issue:June 2013
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT- The Performance Report
I hate Performance Reports! In my experience dealing with these reports, I have always found that, on their own, they are too little, too late and the cause for more problems than they are worth. I say this for several reasons.
1. The rating system is typically a 1 to 5 score with 5 being a “walks on water” rating, and 1 being a “you better start looking for a new job” rating. The problem is that in a person’s mind, receiving a rating of 3 is a failure and patently unfair. But if you read the definition of a 3 in most report forms, the definition states that a 3 meets all expectations in the category under review. That’s a great rating. I would say that the score relates to a B+ or an A-.
2. The reviewer and reviewee are going to be in an unavoidable conflict during and after the review. The reviewer will normally take the position that he or she is being generous with the ratings and hoping to motivate the reviewee, while the reviewee will become upset because he or she will believe the reviewer does not see the values and benefits they are bringing to the company and why they are not receiving all 4s and 5s.
3. The Performance Report is generally a once-per-year review, and this can often be a shocking experience because the reviewee believes that everything is wonderful because nothing negative has been said to them all year. The reviewer, on the other hand, knows that no one is perfect, so certain shortcomings have to be brought to the reviewee’s attention.
4. Most managers have never been trained or counseled on how to conduct a Performance Report meeting, and they often degrade into a confrontation of varying degrees.
When I was with AT&T, we had an annual performance review. It was an extensive document that covered multiple areas and had the standard 1 to 5 rating scale. The problem with AT&T’s Performance Report was that if you did not receive a 5 in every category, then you were considered a failure. So what benefit is a Performance Report if everyone is rated as “walks on water” in every category? It might make a person feel good, but it is a fraudulent rating that makes it valueless.
A Performance Report should be a document in which you and the person you are reviewing take the opportunity to talk about that person’s job performance not just from your perspective but from the reviewee’s perspective. The person being reviewed will often have a different perspective from yours, and you should both talk this through.
John A. Bermingham is currently the COO of 1st Light Energy & Conservation Lighting. He was previously Co-President and COO of AgraTech, a biotech enterprise focused on chitosan, a biomaterial processed from crustacean shells (shrimp, crawfish, crab, etc), as well as President & CEO of Cord Crafts, LLC, a leading manufacturer and marketer of permanent botanicals. Prior to Cord Crafts, he was President & CEO of Alco Consumer Products, Inc., an importer of house ware, home goods, pet, and safety products under the Alco brand name and through licenses from the ASPCA and Red Cross. He successfully turned around the company in 60 days and sold Alco to a strategic buyer. Mr. Bermingham was previously the President & CEO of Lang Holdings, Inc. (an innovative leader in the social sentiment and home décor industries) and President, Chairman, and CEO of Ampad (a leading manufacturer and distributor of office products). With more than 20 years of turnaround experience, he also held the positions of Chairman, President, and CEO of Centis, Inc., Smith Corona Corporation, and Rolodex Corporation. He turned around several business units of AT&T Consumer Products Group and served as the EVP of the Electronics Group and President of the Magnetic Products Group, Sony Corporation of America. Mr. Bermingham served 3 years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps with responsibility for Top Secret Cryptographic Codes and Top Secret Nuclear Release Codes, earned his BA in Business Administration from Saint Leo University, and completed the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program.
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