It’s déjà vu all over again. Yank and rank, or whatever you want to call that grade on a curve, performance review system is out at Microsoft (sort of) but in at Yahoo. So the debate about good and bad continues. In the meantime, the Economist offers a good review of what we know about the practice.
“Ranking and yanking is more logical in investment banks, law and accountancy firms and big consultancies: their business model is, in a sense, built on recruiting large numbers of junior staff and motivating them with the prospect of becoming a partner, even though in practice only a few of them can ever make it. In other types of business, the evidence suggests that it may work at first, if a firm needs to cut away dead wood”
You will read lots of things about rank and yank. I’ve listed several good articles below. But you won’t hear much about the real problem with it. Rank and yank lets bosses and companies off the hook.
With rank and yank, bosses don’t have to work with their people every day making the small changes that grow into great performance. If you’re going to grade on a curve, why do the hard work of performance management and team member development?
With rank and yank, companies don’t have to address the failures of their performance evaluation system. They don’t have to invest time and money in selecting, training, and supporting good supervisors at all levels.
Rand and yank and all its kin are copouts. If you want good performance management that results in fair performance evaluation, look to your supervisors. Select people likely to succeed in the job. Train them and support them so they work with their team members every day to improve individual and team performance. Don’t let rank and yank be a cover for lousy supervision and lazy leadership.
Helpful Articles
From the Economist: Motivating workers: Ranked and yanked
From the NY Times: Microsoft Abolishes Employee Evaluation System
From Business Week: Microsoft Kills Its Hated Stack Rankings. Does Anyone Do Employee Reviews Right?
From the Wall Street Journal: Microsoft Abandons ‘Stack Ranking’ of Employees
From Karin Hurt: Stack Ranking Performance Management Systems
Good post! Yes, forced ranking forces fear!