World Monitor Mag, Industrial Overview WM_November_2018_WEB_Version | Page 76

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Kill Your Performance Ratings
Neuroscience shows why numbers-based HR management is obsolete.
And watch the video “How Your Brain Responds to Performance Rankings.”
by David Rock, Josh Davis, and Beth Jones
prevalent in many organizations—and reinforced by PM
systems. This induces many employees to avoid the kind of
effort that leads to learning and professional growth. Think back
to your days in school. Chances are, no one liked to appear as
if he or she had to work really hard to get good grades. They
feared that others might think they were not naturally talented.
Similarly, in a work environment where the fixed mind-set holds
sway, people will typically strive to avoid difficult challenges.
Any stretch goal or strategic imperative, no matter how worthy,
will be seen as an invitation to fail. Unsurprisingly, this mind-
set also makes people more likely to cheat. In one study, people
primed just before a test with fixed mind-set suggestions (for
example, statements that they could not change or grow) were
300 percent more likely to cheat than their growth mind-set
counterparts.
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The effects on organizations are devastating. Conventional
performance management has been linked to high levels
of attrition, low productivity, and significant problems with
collaboration. PwC’s 17th Annual Global CEO Survey, conducted
in 2013, found that 93 percent of the CEOs surveyed recognized
the need to change their talent practices—something their
companies were doing wasn’t working. Meanwhile, according to
Korn Ferry Institute leadership development researcher Robert
Eichinger, the ability to “grow talent” is ranked 67th out of 67
competencies for managers, despite decades of investment in
PM systems. In other words, on average, managers are worse at
developing their employees than at anything else they do.
If you want a high-performance organization, you have to
reverse the destructive effects of conventional performance