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When does performance management become bullying?
When does performance management become bullying?
July 24, 2009
Ask an underperforming employee and many will say, setting targets, giving me warnings is bullying me. Ask their manager and they will say they are frustrated by the lack of performance .
They will tell you an employment law requirement such as warnings make their life difficult and impose unnecessary procedural burdens. Ask a high performing employee and they will say the setting of targets and giving of feedback is welcome and helps them improve their performance.
Employers have often failed to confront performance problems, or ‘square pegs in round holes’ and used transfers and ‘promotions’ to move employees out of critical performance areas. Until quite recently it was common to hear “he’s been here twenty years and he’s never been any good” as a long saga of under-performance and under management unfolded. Now underperforming staff are more likely to be ‘performance managed’ out of the business.
The practise of setting objectives, then warnings, then dismissal (if objectives are not met), can look like a fair and objective process. But, poor practise and a few rogue players are giving performance management a bad name, that in some organisations announcing that an individual needs to go on a performance improvement programme is tantamount to handing them their notice!
The setting of impossible goals (by over stating the goals or under resourcing what is needed to achieve it) is one of the behaviours identified as bullying. Not only will unrealistic goals undermine the fairness of any dismissal but they may also trigger claims of bullying. If these claims are linked to any issue of discrimination this can turn into a very expensive 'efficiency exercise'. Managers need to take care that their performance management and supervision is based on what can be achieved and offers adequate training, resourcing and support.
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Comments
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I savoured reading it. I need to read more on this subject...I am admiring the time and effort you put in your blog, because it is apparently one great place where I can find lot of usable info..
Sales directors get to be sales directors because they personally bring in sales, and are willing to take responsibility for the team that actually get the revenue in.
But boy, there are some who have the people skills of an alligator. These are the ones who are constantly having to recruit to replace the last good sales guy they p*****d off due to unrealistic targets and psychological bullying.
And funnily enough the guys that do stick around usually end up just like the guy at the top... and the horrible, pointless cycle continues.
What you actually need is a system that attracts people who believe in your company AND who are hungry for reward, too.
I have blogged elsewhere on this topic:
http://startupdonutblog.co.uk/2008/03/17/looking-after-no1/
I've found bullying quite common among sales managers and teams but at the same time found executives objectives unrealistic. It's a completely different view in the trenches. As a marketing person I'm more of a witness than a victim, but it frustrates me beyond belief to see how archaic environments can be. What I've also found is an astonishing amount of people who simply can't manage. Some seem like micro-managers because they can't seem to delegate responsibility and trust their team members. Having worked in SMBs for the past ten years I can tell you all of the above greatly influences employee morale and certainly retention.
It is very reasonable to expect an employee to deliver a certain level of performance, especially in an SME where carrying an employee can cost you significantly.
Performance managing can be positive for both the company and the under-performing employee. It needs to be:
a) genuine with the end aim to be that they continue in their job but with improved performance
b) appropriate with the training and support needed to address their needs
c) flexible that if it turns out the weakness is not able to be overcome every effort is made to see if there is a way to remove the difficult element of their job and still make them an asset rather than a burden to the company.
If it is a case that they are a round peg in a square hole then the duty of care is to ensure they understand why, they understand their strengths and they are supported enough that they can find another job elsewhere that allows them to use their strengths and not fall to their weaknesses.
Employees do have rights, but so do employers. An employer has to protect the rights of all employees and if one employee is causing enough of a detriment to the company and fellow employees then genuine performance management that ends up in them losing their job is in no way shape or form bullying.
I have been bullied at work, and left my job because of it. I have also been in a position of managing people who I have had to performance manage, which needed to be done for their own sake and the sake of those employees they in turn managed and worked alongside.
Not everyone can do everything. But there if someone is treated with dignity and respect then whatever the outcome it will not be bullying.
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