2. All’s well that ends well

    2. All’s well that ends well

    Lena and Tom are managers from different organizations. They have met at a conference and are discussing staff performance appraisals. Read their first dialogue before doing the exercise below.

    Tom: I’m not looking forward to getting back to the office on Monday.
    Lena: Why’s that?
    Tom: I have to start on the annual performance appraisals for my team. That’s 12 people. It takes ages. First of all, I have to fill in all the appraisal documents. Then, I need to hold a one-hour feedback session with each person. But there are also two urgent reports I have to finish for a board meeting.
    Lena: Poor you. Thank God I don’t have to do that any more!
    Tom: Does that mean you don’t do any annual appraisals at all?
    Lena: That’s right. We’ve gone over to a different system and now do regular one-on-one feedback sessions instead.
    Tom: Isn’t that even more time-consuming?
    Lena: Not really. The sessions are short. We have very clear, specific goals connected to the employee’s career development.
    Tom: But how do you assess pay increases if you don’t appraise performance?
    Lena: We’ve seen that managers often are biased in their assessments. So, we base the person’s remuneration on an accounting method. This analyses the monetary benefits they bring to the organization.
    Tom: I can certainly see there might be some advantages to your way of doing things.
    Lena: We also use a 360-degree feedback system run by HR.
    Tom: Wow! You certainly take giving feedback seriously. I need to look into this a bit more carefully.