don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

I am sitting in the smallest room in the house. I have your review in front of me. Soon it will be behind me. Max Reger's response to a critic

One area that causes great stress for managers and those who work for them is the annual employee performance review. This process is usually presented in the most positive of terms, but it often leads to resentments, lower morale and loss of talent. The idea is a worthy one: an evaluation and review process should provide employer and employee with helpful information about how the latter 'fits' in the business, how career plans of the employee match with the business' plan and how the business can help the employee maximize his or her potentials.

Reviews are very human processes, dependent upon skillful interactions and careful choice of words, so things often do not go well. In some cases, problems are built into the system, such as seems the case with the infamous GE review program instituted by media darling Jack Welsh. This system forces a percentage of managers to be labeled losers and thus doomed in the organization. When abused in this manner, reviews can be tools for building a case for termination, for justifying no pay raises, for extending reprimands and for settling scores or gaining revenge for slights, real or imagined. No wonder self-employment often seems so attractive -- hardly anyone gives him/herself a bad review!

Of course, positive and constructive reviews can be used to encourage and support desirable employees. Effective reviews are those that are anticipated and taken seriously, where outcomes can be objectively assessed by management and the employee. The emphasis should be on improving performance in weak and strong areas, not reforming personality or character or otherwise addressing personal issues.

It helps if employees can develop and be assessed on the basis of their own career plans and objectives (on which management has signed off), if numerical ratings are avoided (demeaning and subjective), if the emphasis is placed primarily on future possibilities rather than past errors and if, overall, priority is given to such qualities as proficiency, co-worker relationships and progress since the last review.

Tomorrow, I'll discuss how evaluations are used in the wellness field, using as my example the biggest and best of all conferences, the National Wellness Conference in Stevens Point, WI.

Till then, be well and look on the bright side.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of relationships. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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