Appraising the performance of performance appraisals

摘要

As a ritual of corporate America, the days of the annualnperformance review may be numbered, thanks to managers and employeesnwho've suffered through too many of them. They're the impetus behind andeveloping trend among US corporations to explore alternatives. Thatntrend could have significant implications for employees across thenglobe, particularly in Japan, where an increasing number of firms arenadopting, with varying degrees of success, the very sort ofnpay-for-performance systems that US companies are consideringnabandoning. In theory, of course, appraisals do more good than harm.nThey are intended to furnish valuable feedback to both employee andnorganization. But, say human resources experts, the so called objectivencriteria used to assess workers are flawed metrics. This is especiallyntrue when it comes to judging engineers and other professionals, whontoday often work not as individuals, but as members of teams on projectsnof variable duration. This paper discusses the drawbacks to appraisalsnand suggests that appraisals try to do too much. Alternatives tonpay-for-performance are discussed focusing on better use of feedback andna clearer career ladder