Chapter 11

Companies try to rein them in by forcing them to do all aspects of their jobs equally well - and high flyers do not react well to being micromanaged They often move on to other companies, where they tend to be average performers Or talent hoarding may become a problem - Leaders do not want to lose high performers or let others know about their exceptional performance - They often leave the company in order to get promoted

High performers can sometimes be overlooked or mistreated:

First, who are the organization's best and worst performers? o The differentiation of followers is critical, and doing this well should systematically improve the quality of followers over time• Second, how should performance consequences be allocated to employees? o Most organizations consider themselves meritocracies, where those who get the best results are given the best rewards o Yet if performance is not fairly judged, then bonuses and promotions will be a function of loyalty and office politics, rather than a function of follower performance• Third, can followers get personal growth from summary judgments of performance?o Historically, organizations focused on the differentiation and performance consequences aspects of performance evaluations Well over 90 percent of companies use some form of performance appraisal

In evaluating followers' performance, organizations are trying to address three issues:

• Observing followers' performance• Providing feedback and coaching on followers' behaviors Securing needed resources Regularly reviewing goal progress with followers o Some work lends itself to monitoring better than others o And if followers are dispersed, this compounds the monitoring difficult

Monitoring consists of several leader behaviors, including;

Otherwise it is difficult for leaders to provide meaningful feedback, evaluate performance,and differentiate low from high performers

Setting clear, explicit, measurable, and agreed-upon goals for the what and how of follower performance is extremely important...

First, as Highlight 11.2 shows, some jobs are much more difficult to evaluate than others o Particularly true of knowledge workers o In the absence of measurable performance goals, leaders may be asked to use judgment, which can be biased and not reflect followers' actual performance Second, leaders not understanding the job or its context can sometimes assign the wrong performance goals to followers o Followers may achieve the goals, but with little team or organizational impact• Third, a sizeable percentage of leaders believe it is more important to be popular than fair o Their lack of differentiation is a recipe for mediocrity Fourth, many leaders and followers have negative reactions to the bureaucratic nature of performance appraisals o Performance appraisals are burdensome, but companies can change the process• Finally, the biggest controversy has to do with numerical ratings o They are subject to bias an

Several contentious issues surround the evaluation of followers' performance

electronic performance monitoring Transponders on tractor-trailers allow trucking companies to monitor drivers 24 hours a day• Uber monitors customer and driver feedback immediately after rides Organizations like electronic performance monitoring as it is cheap, provides control, and helps take time-wasting behavior out of the workplace o People do not like the intrusive nature of such monitoring and it runs counter to what we know about autonomy, empowerment, engagement, and creativity

Technological advances allow leaders use ____________ like never before

planning

first component of performance managament cycle

the team and organization goals

it is incumbent upon leaders to fully understand...

performance management cycle

leaders need to be proficient at all three components of the _________________ when working with followers to accomplish group or organizational goals

evaluating

makes up the third component in the cycle, and entails Providing some type of summary feedback on job performance to followers

absenteeism leadership

occurs when leaders are so busy traveling, attending meetings, or being preoccupied they have little time for their followers and teams

Cookie licking

occurs when leaders cannot let go of actions or decisions that should be delegated to staff

Executive magnification

occurs when leaders engage in idle conversations that followers misinterpret as work mandates

Presenteeism

occurs when leaders insist that followers put in long hours at the office

Understanding how the team or organization defines success• Understanding the context in which followers operate• Determining what followers need to deliver and behave for the team to succeed• And then setting clear expectations for follower performance

planning involves:

monitoring

second component

Time-wasting leaders

unintentionally assign work or set rules detrimental to a team's overall performance

monitoring

which includes: Tracking follower performance Sharing feedback on goal progress Providing needed resources and coaching, and more

planning

which involves developing a thorough understanding of: The team's or organization's goals The role followers need to play to in goal accomplishment The context in which followers operate What they need to get done The behaviors they need to exhibit for the team to be successful