The problems that I have identified regarding contemporary performance appraisal systems are certainly great and not easily solved. Yet, we must be careful about throwing the baby out with the bath water. Many of the problems that Coen and Jenkins identified relate specifically to the use of a deficit-model and to the use of a single method of appraisal, namely, quantifiable rating scales. I propose that an appreciative model can bypass or solve many of the problems identified by Coen and Jenkins. It can also solve many of the additional problems I have identified previously in this series of essays. I further propose that a multi-source and multi-method feedback process can successfully address many of the remaining performance appraisal concerns raised by Coen and Jenkins.
Rather than abolishing performance appraisal systems, as Coen and Jenkins suggest, I suggest that these systems must be profoundly overhauled. Making use of appreciative approaches to feedback, many of which have been proposed by Coen and Jenkins, I believe that performance appraisal can be a creditable and useful tool for virtually any organization. In making the case for an appreciative approach, I will first turn in the next essay to the characteristics and outcomes associated with deficit-based appraisals, and then turn to the distinctive characteristics of an appreciative approach to the appraisal of employee performance.
i H. John Bernardin, Christine Hagan, Jeffry Kane and Peter Villanova, “Effective Performance Management,” in James W. Smither (ed.). Performance Appraisal: State of the Art in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998, p. 3.
ii Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins. Abolishing Performance Appraisals. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2000.
iii Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins. Abolishing Performance Appraisals. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2000, p. 25.
iv For example: Anthony Dalessio, “Using Multisource Feedback for Employee Development and Personnel Decisions,” in James W. Smither (ed.). Performance Appraisal: State of the Art in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998, p. 287.
v Mirian Graddick and Pamela Lane, “Evaluating Executive Performance,” in James W. Smither (ed.). Performance Appraisal: State of the Art in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998, p 370.
vi Mirian Graddick and Pamela Lane, “Evaluating Executive Performance,” in James W. Smither (ed.). Performance Appraisal: State of the Art in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998, p 371.
vii Mirian Graddick and Pamela Lane, “Evaluating Executive Performance,” in James W. Smither (ed.). Performance Appraisal: State of the Art in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998, p 371.
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