Page 400 - The Handbook for Quality Management a Complete Guide to Operational Excellence

386 M a n a g e m e n t o f H u m a n R e s o u r c e s R e s o u r c e R e q u i r e m e n t s t o M a n a g e t h e Q u a l i t y F u n c t i o n 387

Joiner (1994) calls rating, ranking, and grouping of employees “the
three great demoralizers” and recommends:

Abolish them tomorrow! These three do much harm and no good; the remedy is
simple and swift.

The primary criticism of performance appraisals is that the practice is
inconsistent with, and even contradictory of, the role of the manager in
the modern workplace. Deming’s quality philosophy maintains that the
negative consequences of annual merit review systems are absolutely
devastat ing to any organization, and they remain an impassable barrier to
meaningful process improvement. Benneyan summarizes the arguments
against annual merit review as follows:

Contrary to the desires of an organization focused on quality, these ineffec-
tive management processes encourage short-term “safe” performance at the
expense of long-term planning. Additionally they
• Annihilate teamwork and trust
• Demoralize employees and destroy staff satisfaction
• Instill fear
• Discourage risk-taking and research
• Foster mediocrity
• Increase process variability
• Encourage rivalry, competition, and politics
The net result is to discourage meaningful and maximum process
improvement. The negative effects far outweigh any perceived value
for, without their removal, desired levels of quality may not ever be
achiev able.
Numerous additional arguments exist for rigorously driving such prac-
tices from all quality organizations. For example, it is essentially impossible
to design a system wherein people are evaluated only on events under their
control. The very notion that all, or for that matter any, managers possess, or
could ever possess, the skill necessary to judge the value of an employee is
both somewhat preposterous and insulting. If anything, what is considered
an evaluation of the employee is more a reflection of the system of manage-
ment of that employee!
Merit ratings reward people who do well within the current system.
Contrary to modern quality philosophies, the focus is primarily on measur-
able goals. Ultimately, such motivation tactics do not reward attempts to
improve the system, and the organization is the loser. Moreover, the sin cere
attempt to evaluate the performance of an individual based on another’s
personal observation and input from others introduces unavoidable biases
that compromise even the best intentions.

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