What do you think of when I mention the annual performance review? Most employees don’t think they are effective, and supervisors dread them, so why do we keep doing them? This edition of By Your Life, we explore how to make a performance evaluation a more positive and productive experience for all involved.

Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_10_14.mp3

Welcome to the twenty-ninth episode of By Your Life. Thank you for joining me. If you haven’t already, please subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, or on the right side of the page so I can send you notifications when each new episode is posted. And please forward to a friend you think would benefit from By Your Life.

My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular, business world. It is my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace, and to trust that it is good for business. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.

In this edition, we will reflect on the readings for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. When I listened to the Gospel reading, I couldn’t help but think it sounded a lot like a performance appraisal. You know, those well-intended, often dreaded, and rarely effective meetings between an employee and his or her supervisor. Okay, so maybe they aren’t always that bad.

But I recently watched a presentation on YouTube by Ken Miller, founder of the Change & Innovation Agency (changeagents.info). It was titled, “Honk if you Love Performance Appraisals.” He asked his audience, “How many of you would say that you are the person that you are today because of your performance appraisals?” Not one hand went up, but there was a lot of laughter. He said that in all the times he’s asked that question to thousands of managers, only once did someone raise her hand to answer “yes.” So, he asked the woman, “Really? You really are who you are today because of your performance appraisals?” And, she said, “Absolutely, but I’m bitter and jaded.” More laughter followed.

As a supervisor, I never looked forward to the time of year performance appraisals were due. In fact, I can’t think of a single person who ever thought, “Oh goody! It’s performance appraisal time. I get to figure out how to fit my team member’s performance into one of those objective, five-point rating scales, write some general justification for why I rated them that way, and hope that I don’t totally demoralize them in the process.” Things only got worse when the powers-that-be decided we had to force fit our team members’ ratings into a typical bell curve. We were not allowed to rate everyone in our departments as above average, even if they were.

I know not all companies have horrific performance appraisal processes. But I’ve yet to discover one that has figured out a fool-proof approach. The reason is, most people approach the performance review with the same attitude I did and therefore, they get less than satisfactory results. So, if employees don’t think they are effective, and supervisors dread them, why do we keep doing them?

A better question might be, why do we keep doing ineffective performance reviews and what would it take to make the process less of a dreaded, waste of time, and instead, a more positive and productive experience for all involved?

Let’s go back to the Gospel reading and see what Jesus did when the man ran up and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” (Mk 10:21) He loved him.

What does it mean to love someone? St. Thomas Aquinas said, “To love is to will the good of another.” And the Catechism of the Catholic Church follows, “All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. Only the good can be loved.” (CCC 1766)

By loving him, Jesus recognized the man was good. He reviewed the expectations that had previously set with the man and acknowledged that his keeping the commandments was also good. But it went deeper than that. He respected the man’s dignity. Because he loved him, He wanted what was good for him. This performance appraisal wasn’t about what was in God’s best interest, nor was it about what was in Jesus’ best interest. He loved him. He cared about what was in the man’s best interest – eternal life. So, he spoke truth to him and he told him what he needed to do to get to the next level. He said, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; .” (Mk 10:21)

In other words, here’s what’s holding you back. If you want eternal life, do this. But Jesus didn’t just leave this guy to figure out how on his own. He said, “come, follow me.” (Mk 10:21) I will show you the way to eternal life, because I am the way.

Unfortunately, this story has a sad ending because the young rich man, walked away sad. He decided he didn’t want to do what it takes. Jesus knew that the truth was hard. He said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mk 10:23) Yet, he didn’t lower the bar. He didn’t back off on the requirements. Instead, he offered help to meet the requirements. “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” (Mk 10:27)

In my early years as a young manager, I had an employee who started demonstrating a habit of missing work on Mondays. She always had an excuse. Actually, it was quite amazing how tragedy after tragedy happened in this young girl’s life on Sunday nights. In addition to getting sick, there was a car accident, a fire, a friend dying, and a few others. While I couldn’t prove she wasn’t being truthful, I was highly suspicious of these stories. So, I sat down to talk with her about it, and I didn’t wait until her one-year anniversary rolled around.

First, I asked her what she wanted out of a career with our company. Then we talked about the opportunities that were available for her to achieve her goals. But, I told her that these opportunities were dependent on how she performed in this job. I was willing to help her and recommend her for new opportunities, but she needed to demonstrate that she was worthy of a recommendation. She needed to show up to work. We talked about how her absences impacted the rest of the team. Her job was important and if she wasn’t there, others suffered. Also, to address my suspicions, from that point on, she had to bring supporting evidence for me to excuse any future absences. For the next 30 days, she was there on time every day. And then she quit.

Perhaps, this is another story with a sad ending. I don’t know what happened to her. Leaving this job may have been the best thing for her, but only if she learned something about responsibility. I know that I did my part to help and encourage her. But ultimately, it was up to her.

So, what do you do if you have a less than perfect performance appraisal process at your company? You may not be able to change the form, but you can change your attitude about the process.

The first step is to consider who this process should be benefiting. Do you “love” that person? Yes, I’m asking if you “love” that person who is always late, who is always causing drama, the one who is abrasive, and the who you’ve told 100 times how to do their job and they still miss the details.

The second step is to look for the good. Economist Andris Strazds, whose TEDxRiga talk was titled “Don’t Bury the Annual Performance Review,” suggests we take a lesson from funerals. He argues that performance appraisals would be much more beneficial if they were more like a eulogy filled with those specific stories about how a person made a positive difference in your life, or in the case of a performance review, the life of the department or company. These specific stories are something the individual can identify with, be proud of, and replicate.

The third step is to look at the future. Where does the individual want to go and what do they need to do to get there? How do they need to grow and develop to make it to the next level? I know that for some underperforming individuals, there is no “next level.” The goal is just to keep the job they have. But perhaps, they are a bad fit for this job. If their gifts, talents, skills and motivation are not aligned with what it takes for success in this job, how can you help them find a better fit somewhere else? For those who have room to grow in this job, what specifically do they need to do?

The fourth step is to be committed to helping them get to where they want to go. What do you need to do to teach them, support them, invest in them? Even though it is up to the individual to choose to do the work, your job is to remove the obstacles and help them get there.

The fifth step is really multiple steps. It is the follow up. Your #1 job as a leader is to develop your people. You can’t do that if you only sit down to talk about their development once per year. God has placed these people in your life and it is your responsibility to serve them. How well are you doing?

Perhaps today is also a good time to do a little self-appraisal with the guidance of Sunday’s scripture readings. What have you done with the talents and skills God has given you? What do you want out of your time here on earth? I suspect that like the young rich man, it is to inherit eternal life. So how are you doing in that quest?

Life is hard. We are distracted. So many things get in our way. Sometimes we mistake these things, wealth, power, pleasure, or honor, as good. How hard it is to break free from what modern culture values as good. Jesus reminds us, “No one is good but God alone.” (Mk 10:18) And, we can only find our perfection “in seeking and loving what is true and good.” (CCC 1704)

So, what do you have to do to eliminate the things that get between you and that which you seek, the only One who is true and good? What are those things that you’ve mistaken as good?

The Book of Wisdom, in its beautiful, poetic style, is clear that those things which we seek, scepter and throne (power), priceless gems, silver or gold, (riches), or health and beauty, (pleasure) are nothing when compared to her.   (Wis 7:8-10) So what is Wisdom? Bishop Robert Barron said, “Wisdom is the clarity of mind and heart that comes from a deep friendship with God.”

Without Wisdom, we continue to seek that which will always leave us wanting more. For as St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “For you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

But, when we put first things first, that is, when God is placed in the right order, all good things will come to us. Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.” (Mk 10:29-30) This is the paradox of the promise. If we give it all up, we will have a hundred  times more in this life and in the age to come.

Let us join the Psalmist and ask the Holy Spirit to “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Ps 90:12) Let’s get our priorities in the right order, so that we also help others along the way.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

May God bless you abundantly and may you glorify the Lord by your life.  Amen

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