Annual review generates a mindset in employees that dictates the way they work, focused on external rather than internal motivators. It’s a mindset founded on the premise of fear, and where fear exists, innovation and growth become stunted.
Kahina Ouerdane and Joanna Awogni, the visionaries at the helm of GSOFT’s Culture & Organisation team, spill out why they decided to go against the annual feedback system.
Kahina explains that there is a movement from the intrinsic motivation for doing things, to extrinsic motivation, and it is during this shift that purpose and meaning become lost.
There is a pleasure that is extracted from the process when you know you are being evaluated, so you do it for the wrong reason.
Tying any sort of learning to grades and rewards removes authenticity from the act. This lack of authenticity stunts creative thinking and innovation, which are crucial aspects of company growth, differentiation, and success.
Kahina and Joanna explain that annual reviews are no longer a responsible way to evaluate. There is too much recency bias, it’s inefficient and overly ambitious to think that managers can collect accurate, year-long notes, and moreover it’s demotivating for employees to feel that they 'are' the number that’s assigned to them.
When you assign a number value to someone, they become boxed into that number.
Much like the process of human evolution, this is the evolution of the workplace. Things become obsolete as we begin to understand what works best, and what doesn’t work at all. The focus now is on putting employees at the center. Committing to the perpetuation of the fear-inducing annual review seems to go against the grain of humanising the workforce.
Ultimately, we are moving from 2.0 to 3.0 management, meaning away from a command and control environment towards self-organised teams and shared leadership.
This allows people to focus on their purpose, rather than on impressing other people for the sake of this final, looming grade. It lets employees see and experience work life beyond the fear factor of this final review.
The movement away from this feedback process, which has been embedded in many organisations for decades, requires a lot of reflection. It’s tough to break free from habits – especially since there is something clean and simple about being able to tie up the whole year in a bow with a final review. Even if companies understand that the process is broken, the process of change is too heavy for many organisations to implement without clear directions for replacement.
Change is scary, but sometimes the pangs of an initial discomfort are worth it, if not necessary.
Courtesy: www.officevibe.com
