I read the following article on Federal News Radio website from 'across the pond' regarding a serious derailment of a Performance Appraisal process within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The performance ratings affected reward and there was significant distortion of ratings between those employees of different races, ages, by location, and payscale; in short, in wasn't a fair and transparent system.

It's worth reading through as a cautionary tale, which although representing an extreme case, does highlight a real challenge with performance appraisal processes which focus on ratings and reward.

The interesting thing for me was to note the comment which stated that "the focus for the revamped system will be on performance improvement and career development, "rather than some number rating"."

This is the crux of the matter; when a number or rating, becomes the focus of the performance appraisal process, the ability to hold a meaningful conversation about learning, development, aspiration and improvement becomes seriously compromised.

John

www.bowlandsolutions.com