Peer Performance Ratings LO10451

RMTomasko@aol.com
Sat, 12 Oct 1996 12:08:51 -0400

Comment on John Conover's application (LO10409) of game theory and the
Prisioner's Dilemma logic to the request Alex Muro (LO 10400) made for
feedback about companies that have implemented peer-rating systems.

John provided a good, systematic analysis of why many peer-rating
approaches are doomed to failure. There are ways some of the good aspects
of this technique can be maintained without reverting completely to more
traditional approaches.

What I've seen most effective, and have advised some clients to consider,
are evaluation systems that still expect the employee's boss to do the
evaluating and judging. But that boss is also mandated to make
significant use of broadbased inputs obtained from the employee's
teammates, peers and maybe customers and suppliers. This potentially
shifts the game a little away from the tit-for-tat dynamic John Conover
described so well - as long as the manager carefully thinks out how the
perfromance inputs will be solicited and what their nature will be.

Decisions about what is getting measured, in some cases, is as important
as who is doing the measuring.

In systems like these, the boss is held accountable for demonstrating how
these inputs shaped the evaluation made of the employee being rated.

This techniques is not a panacea, but at least its maintains some realism
about the role of the leader and manager in flatter, horizontal,
process-driven organization. The situations I've seen become most
troubled are those that deny the psychological importance of the
leader/manager/boss (and the web of accountabilities that person is
immersed in), and try to turn the critical evaluation/performance
improvement process completely over to the teams or those being judged.

Any one have further thoughts on this ticklish issue?

Bob Tomasko
RMTomasko@aol.com

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RMTomasko@aol.com

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