Talent Management – Grooming Your Best

Talent Management – Are Annual Appraisal Results a Good Indication of the Employee’s Ability to Do Higher Level of Work?

By Lois Moncrief

Problem: Companies want to retain their best employees and prepare them for future top jobs in the company. It costs money and is a long term commitment to train and mentor these “high potential” employees. Therefore, companies are looking for ways to make the “first cuts” to limit the group to the most likely to succeed. Some companies use the results of employee annual appraisals to decide who is included in the first cut.

Using Annual Appraisals to Decide First Cuts

Some recent findings (Source: “How to Hang on to Your High Potentials”, Harvard Business Review, October 2011 p. 76) indicate that annual appraisals can be used to make the first cut in deciding who is considered a high potential.

On the surface this would seem to be a good starting point.

However, ability to do one’s current job well is not necessarily an indication that one can do a different, higher level job well.

In addition, the following variables could add to the difficulty of using the annual appraisals to decide that first cut:

• Do all possible high potentials have the same manager
  evaluating them using the same performance standards for each?

• Do all possible high potentials have the same job
  description and the same performance standards?

• Are the performance standards of possible candidates
  “subjective” (frequently vague with plenty of room for management
  subjectivity) or “objective” (numbers that are hard to discpute?

• Is each manager truly objective and fair or does
  he/she allow his/her biases and preconceptions to influence his/her
  evaluations of each employee?

Using annual appraisals as one of the factors used to determine a first cut may be of some value. However, I would take this a step further rather than relying so heavily on the annual appraisals.

Note: USA Today Snapshot on September 27, 2011 “Are annual performance reviews an accurate appraisal for employee’s work?   61% say “Yes”;  39% say “No”

Source: Globoforce/Society for Human Resource Management survey of 700 human resource managers

Another Valuable Factor for Consideration

Here is my suggestion for another valuable factor for determination of first cut:

Give special short term assignments such as projects and leading teams to all qualifying candidates.

Give all interested and qualified candidates temporary assignments where they are leading teams on short term projects lasting 1-4 months. This gives each qualified candidate the opportunity to demonstrate his/her ability to perform at the higher level of work and demonstrate his ability to lead others.

Each qualified candidate should be give the same amount of time and the same level of project difficulty.

At the end of this period, all candidates can be evaluated by a team of managers on how well each of them did on their assignments.  In addition blind surveys could be given to team members to evaluate the Team Leader’s effectiveness in leading the team and successfully completing the project.

Candidates who miss the cut should be counseled on areas for improvement and given opportunities for training in those areas and encouraged to try again later.

This process can be repeated if deciding managers would like to ensure that their selections for further training and mentoring are really the best candidates.

Advantages of Using My Suggestion for Another Factor for Determination of First Cut:

1. All qualified candidates may participate. Each should be given a short term individual project and also a short term team project that they can lead.

2. The short term projects of higher level work gives each candidate an equal opportunity to show what each of them are capable of doing. (Remember: keep the time the same and the level of difficulty the same in as much as possible).

3. Candidates select or weed themselves out by their performance on these short term projects that match closely the level of work they would be doing at these higher levels of future top jobs.

4. Other employees see who rises to the top through their own efforts and skills.

5. Each candidate sees how he compares to other candidates.

6. Giving all qualified candidates an opportunity to participate will lessen complaints and dissatisfaction with the process.

7. Candidates who miss the cut have reason and direction to continue working on their own career development and stay with the company.

Conclusion:

Adding performance on short term individual and team leader projects that are at the higher level of difficulty comparable to future top jobs gives decision makers a better look at the candidates and what they are capable of achieving in order to decide who makes the first cut and who doesn’t.  This should result in saving organization money and time spent training the first cut group by ensuring the best candidates have been selected.

If you would like more ideas on Career Development for your top performers, critical skill employees and high potentials, get your copy of Module 6 – Career Development now.

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Copyright (c) 2011 Lois Moncrief  All Rights Reserved