Analyzing Michelle Neely Martinez’s article “Rewards Given the Right Way”
Ever dreaded the annual performance review? Once a year companies try to evaluate their workforce with a standard form containing generalities that are supposed to define whether each employee was successful over the previous year. The grading systems, one-way communication, and lack of collaborative effort create a dreaded process for all parties involved. To combat this loathsome process, Michelle Neely Martinez, in her article “Rewards given the right way”, explores a new design for performance appraisals that promotes open conversation regarding company and personal goals, avoids the negative reactions caused by constructive criticism, and creates positive evaluation of employees’ strengths and weaknesses to inspire “development and improvement.” (p. 2)
To encourage open conversation managers have to remove the preconceived notions of their subordinates that the review process is a one-way dialogue. Using grading scales made the employees focus mainly on the marks they were receiving instead of involving themselves in what the marks meant. This caused employees to only argue their stance when there was a lower value assigned to their performance than they expected, thus eliminating productive conversation. Eliminating the grading system and introducing the Socratic Method to foster constructive collaboration between manager and subordinate creates a constructive and positive performance evaluation. The purpose of “broader two-way exchanges” Martinez explains, is “to focus more on development, as well as to initiate more open and honest conversations.” (p. 2)
Upon removing the grading systems and encouraging open dialogue the evaluation meetings co...
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...” (p. 106)
The innovative approach to employee reviews provided by Martinez creates a positive way to evaluate employees’ strengths and weaknesses. The process promotes open conversations, enhanced by the Socratic Method, to generate enthusiasm in both the manager and the subordinate. The fear of negative reactions becomes almost nonexistent because of the collaborative dialogue. Martinez successfully created a performance evaluation system that takes the dread out of employee evaluations.
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Banner, D. K., Graber, J. M. (1985). Critical issues in performances appraisal. Journal of Management Development. Issue 4. Pp. 27-35.