Roxanne,
In a message dated 96-01-05 20:14:40 EST, you write about performance
review, job descriptions, and the need for systemic change rather than
individual effort.
>My experience has led me to the belief that performance review of
>individual employees and the rating of individual employees are obstacles
>to productivity and enjoyment of work.
My research in this area and that of many others backs up your
experience,which is almost always the case with good common sense. There
are some basic beliefs about fear and control as motivators that support
labelling and judging. I have done a fair amount of work in the area of
eliminating performance reviews. I have also done a fair amount of work in
substance-abuse prevention. I mention this because I find that the
attitudinal and emotional issues that flare up over eliminating
performance reviews are almost as great as those that surface around drug
use.
>not to say that employees don't need feedback about how they're doing or
>information on what might be important to the organization and its
>customers..
to be effective in terms of personal growth and cost, feedback has to be
immediate. Once a year( or even 3 times a year) is too little and too
late. People need to be involved in how to reach expected levels of
performance. I help people design and use their own self-evaluation
instruments that have agreed upon & clearly defined indices of success and
are used in goal-setting, planning, and continuous improvement. The focus
then is on the task to be done. The questions are "Did we achieve our
goals? Why? Why not? What resources are needed? What needs to be done
differently?
>most replace the practice
>with a formal peer or 360 degree feedback system and significant training
>in how to give and receive feedback.
Without careful guidelines and specific indices of success first & then
training, 360 degree back can be just as tyrannical. It's the judgement
thing again and no one can be "pleasing" to everyone.
>Yes, I have found organizations that actually recognize and promote the
>natural joy of learning and working. And in a small way I think I have
>helped many organizations see the value and make progress in moving in
>this direction. Carol Sager expressed her view that the focus should be
>shifted to the individual to make this happen. I don't disagree with
>Carol, but as a consultant to organizations and a natural born systems
>thinker, I tend to seek systems solutions. Also, I believe that it is
>very difficult for a healthy individual to thrive in an unhealthy>community.
Roxanne, I agree that we should all strive to find an organization that
understands the importance of joy in a working environment. If this is not
possible, we should try to build the organization in which we want to
work, build our own assets so that we don't feel dead-locked, and/or
determine what we can learn from our current situation. My focus is not so
much on the individual vs the system, but on the responsibility and the
power that each of us has to make a difference. If we forget this and
don't work at it, we increase our dependency and waste our time looking
for others to make things better for us.
> Does anyone know of an older organization that has transformed itself
>into a joyful, jobless, boundryless world?
By default, some of the large companies have downsized to the point where
if someone has a good idea and is getting the job done, they're delighted,
or perhaps more accurately, they back off and forget about "protocol" or
"job descriptions." This allows many creative people to find more joy in
their work than they did previously. My point is that "the joyful" part is
up to us. More and more we are in a boundryless world where there are no
set jobs only tasks to be done, goals to accomplish - fast. Speed of
response provides the competitive edge. Today there is really one
over-riding job description - do what it takes to get the job done right.
People will work across traditional boundaries and be employed for the
life of the project - not forever.
-- Carol Sager The Critical Linkages II Newsletter 21 Wallis Road Chestnut Hill, MA 02167 617/469-9644 v 617/469-9639 fax sageredent@aol.com