Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

The last of the Seven Deadly Diseases we’ll talk about for now is: Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance.a

I talk about this in other posts in ManagersRealm here and here. Deming says this in his book:a

‘It nourishes short-term performance, annihilates long-term planning, builds fear, demolishes teamwork, nourishes rivalry and politics.” 

“It leaves people bitter, crushed, bruised, battered, desolate, despondent, dejected, feeling inferior, some even depressed, unfit for work for weeks after receipt of rating, unable to comprehend why they are inferior. It is unfair, as it ascribes to the people in a group differences that may be caused totally by the system that they work in.”

The major problem that Deming points out is that this way of doing things destroys the purpose of building a team and as a result will make the business the loser in the long run.

What happens is that the individual starts to look out for himself, rather than what’s best for the customer, team, or the business. Everyone starts to look out for their own interests through self-promotion.

Another unintended side effect, possible the worse, is that the merit rating system rewards those who conform to the system. They are not the innovators; they are the ones who play it safe. It penalizes those who may want to change the system; those who want to make things better.

The merit system discourages those whom the business may need more than any other to make sure that they continue on a competitive footing with all the others out there.

We as managers and business owners need to think again concerning the ways that we need to measure results, so that the measuring process itself doesn’t destroy the very purpose we exist for.