Little value to employee reviews, survey finds

Every year, U.S. managers spend hours writing up employee evaluations, and workers spend a similar amount of time hoping a raise or bonus will result — or at least that they’ll glean insights about how to do their job better.

But much of that is wasted time, with evaluations yielding little benefit to many, according to a survey of employees by Watson Wyatt, the human-resources consulting firm.

By Andrea Coombes
CBS MarketWatch

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001923487_evaluations09.html

Only 30 percent of workers say their company’s evaluations help them improve their performance, and fewer than 40 percent say the reviews provide clear goals or feedback, according to the survey of 1,190 workers from a variety of industries.

"There are an awful lot of managers that kind of go through the motions. We treat performance management as, ‘Oh, these forms. It’s that time of year again,’ " said Scott Cohen, national practice leader of talent management at Watson Wyatt.

"It becomes a compliance exercise," he said. "It has absolutely no benefit to the business, nor does it have benefit to the manager or employee."

It’s an exercise that may have a negative effect on the bottom line. In a previous study, Watson Wyatt found that firms that clearly lay out workers’ responsibilities and their connection to larger company goals — also called "line of sight" — perform better overall.

"Companies with good line of sight show four times the total return to shareholders as companies with poor line of sight," Cohen said.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of workers surveyed said their company sets high performance standards. Just 44 percent said employees are held accountable for their performance.

Only 19 percent said their companies help poorly performing workers improve. That might be because many managers mince words in evaluations, Cohen said.

"The problem is many managers avoid confrontations. They don’t necessarily establish the right goals, so they fill out the forms and everybody gets 4s and 5s on a 5-point scale, so it’s useless.

"Human nature is people don’t like to confront," Cohen said. " … We have a tendency to sweep problems under the rug, (but) that’s not what managers were hired to do."

The key for managers is to develop "a good solid working relationship" throughout the year, Cohen said.

Employees give the evaluation process slightly higher marks when it comes to reviewing and rewarding past work, with 61 percent saying their performance was appraised accurately.

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