Peer Performance Ratings LO10669

John Constantine (rainbird@trail.com)
Wed, 23 Oct 1996 09:47:07 -0700

Replying to LO10632 --

Frank Voehl suggested:

"The apathy of many of the people arouind us is not due to their being
physically and mentally exhausted. Instead, the problems seem to lie in
the modern worker's relationship to her/his job, with the way s/he
percieves goals in relation to it."

and further,
" Instead of helping us to reach our goals, it is called upon to help
make someone else's come true. Thus, the time channeled into such a task
is perceived as time SUBTRACTED from the total time available for our
life."

Would your comments not indicate a case of cognitive dissonance? Many
workers are in such a state as you describe. They are in conflict pure and
simple, and often feel "chained" to the job. Too often this occurs in
large bureaucracies.

Rather than becoming "unstuck in time" a la Billy Pilgrim, workers (and
managers) in large organizations often become more and more "stuck in the
muck" as time marches on and their situation presents conflicts rather
than opportunities. "If I only hang on for a few more years, things may
change", or "I've been here so long...if I leave now, I'll lose my
retirement.", or "Look how much I've INVESTED in this job."

In the last, the person has become the position. They have indeed given of
themselves, often without knowing the cost to themselves as persons. What
remains, too often, is an empty shell. Can they change? Yes. Will they
change? "The longer I go, the behinder I get."

What's the answer? Change the system which they must work in; whether it
is by leadership, stress overload, budget crisis, whatever... If the
system does not change, it's not likely that the worker's (or manager's)
situation will change.

The bureaucratic response to "peer performance" is not healthy. Since it
is often couched in political terms, the "sides" change and those who were
in the "good" group become the "bad", making peer performance merely a
continuation of system tampering, increasing rather than decreasing
variation in the system.

It has been said before by me and perhaps by others, that the more energy
that is spent on controlling people, the less will be available for
improving the systems in which they work.

-- 

Regards, John Constantine rainbird@trail.com Rainbird Management Consulting PO Box 23554 Santa Fe, NM 87502 http://www.trail.com/~rainbird "Dealing in Essentials"

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