One of my takeaways from the conference – everyone is mad at performance management. Managers hate doing it. HR hates administering it. CFOs hate having a huge asset (people) with no real feedback loops or accountability system.
I have an idea.
Instead of using software to automate a flawed system, use new communication channels (social networking, perhaps?) to build a fast feedback system that is more direct, and get a better result with less hassle. I’ll be meeting with some social networking wonks and geeks next week, and I will be pushing this idea on them. They don’t have an HR background, and that may actually be an advantage. This is a marketing and communication and system design problem, more than an HR issue. It’s just an issue that we all need to fix.
Now more than ever. I’ll keep you posted.
Karl Ahlrichs' Uncommon Experience 
Karl:
How about we just get rid of performance management altogether? If we want to quit smoking, is smoking cigars better.
High time we realize that the performance of any organization is 95% attributable to the system (structure, work design, technology, management thinking, constraints, regulations, etc.) and only 5% attributable to the individual. So let’s start working on the system and get rid of this other junk that just distracts us.
Tripp
If it means an end to the annual review but increases the volume and quality of internal feedback, I’m all for it. If we can improve communication and interaction and get a better result, then the formalized process becomes redundant. What we’re doing now is wrong on many levels…
Performance Management is so much more than simply getting to a comparative performance rating at the end of the year. If viewed in that perspective then systems and processes certainly can bring frustration in the new world we live in. If we consider it as the center of an integrated system of development, job satisfaction, strategic alignment at the individual level as well as a link to pay we can modify our approach without throwing the proverbial baby out with the bath water.
Well put. It really gets back to enlightened management on a personal level.
What if we actually pursue a regular stand up (short) feedback meeting between manager and employee every week, month, whatever and develop people with reachable goals that stretch and challenge them. Managers get feedback on how to lead that employee and everyone wins. If people reach agreed upon goals, they feel better than the rating every year and the company elevates performance.