Lack of Feedback Can Kill

Linda Farley — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:10:06 +0000

Tragedies touch me deeply. Yet, in processing them, come perspectives that I never expected. I respectfully submit to you the following article. May we learn much from the mistakes that led up to the sacrifice of so many.

How often have you seen the following sequence of events in your organization: a low performing employee continues on, year after year, with his/her lack of performance being ignored, moved from position to position – maybe even getting a promotion?

Maybe supervisors and managers have been trained on performance development–however, are they actually putting this training into practice?

Are they competently giving performance feedback?
Are they following up on performance progress?
Are they appropriately implementing consequences?

What is the process for addressing performance issues in your organization? What is the impact when this process is not trained, implemented and monitored in your organization? At the least it can adversely affect organizational performance. It may implode your company.

It could even be tragic.

Consider the Pentagon findings regarding the November slayings in Fort Hood, Texas, as reported by the Chicago Tribune:

“…shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan repeatedly earned favorable performance ratings in spite of mounting concerns about his views and behavior.”

“Among other issues, investigators have examined how it was that Hasan received repeated positive performance reviews that allowed his career to advance despite concerns about inappropriate behavior….”

“… the findings are expected to explore why concerns about Hasan’s performance at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were not passed on to his supervisors at his next assignment, at Texas’ Fort Hood.”

“Hasan’s performance at Walter Reed, as described by officials and those who knew him, should have raised red flags and prevented his promotion and transfer…. For instance, Hasan’s superiors faulted his light caseload and said he shirked professional responsibilities.”

“The investigation is also supposed to point to ways to overhaul the military performance evaluation system.”

The LA Times reports:

“In the Army, few performance reviews contain negative comments. However, at senior levels and in competitive fields, an evaluation that is less than effusive in its praise can derail an officer’s promotion. In less competitive fields and at junior levels, the Army has promoted the vast majority of its officers. And because of a shortage of mental health personnel, few such experts are blocked from promotion.”

“The culture that encourages mainly positive reviews has undercut the usefulness of the system for evaluating officers’ strengths and weaknesses, according to some military officials who requested anonymity when discussing the case.”

Consider how our employees often progress through performance development, compared to the progression of this Army officer.

Frequent Employee Progression

Hasan’s Progression

Employee’s performance is low.

“Records from his medical school days at a Maryland university also indicated Hasan received average and failing grades and at one point had been placed on academic probation.” ~CBC News

Employee’s low performance is ignored.

“Despite concerns about Hasan’s behaviour, supervisors gave him positive reviews in his officer evaluation reports.” ~CBC News

Employee gets a new position or promotion.

“Hasan was promoted to captain in 2003.” ~CBC News

Employee continues low performance.

“The review revealed that Hasan’s supervisors during his psychiatry internship and residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., from 2003 to 2007, voiced concerns about him in memos, meeting notes and counseling sessions.

He graduated from Walter Reed in 2007.

Upon graduation, Hasan received a favourable reference letter from Moran, despite the director’s earlier concerns.” ~CBC News.

Employee is passed from department to department, supervisor to supervisor where low performance pattern continues.

“Hasan completed a two-year fellowship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., before arriving at Fort Hood in July 2009.

He was promoted to major in 2009.” ~CBC News

After a while, the low performance is passively accepted because the employee has worked there so long. Additionally, we don’t need to lose another person and have to hire and train a new one.

“Some have speculated that Hasan was able to rise through the ranks, despite his superiors’ hesitations, because the U.S. army is contending with shortages of both psychiatrists and majors in the medical corps.” ~CBC News

People talk about the low performer, resent him/her, but learn to live with the situation.

“Hasan’s performance at Walter Reed, as described by officials and those who knew him, should have raised red flags and prevented his promotion and transfer….” ~LA Times

Low performance begins to permeate the culture. Soon, people know that nothing will be done, that the organization needs them too much to challenge their results.

“The culture that encourages mainly positive reviews has undercut the usefulness of the system for evaluating officers’ strengths and weaknesses. ~LA Times

Of course, this is not a mere story about performance. It is about an individual who was motivated to far greater destruction than we can comprehend. However, it does raise the question that if appropriate development and consequences had been implemented, would the “red flags” have been noticed? Would this person have had the easy access to our loved ones to carry out such an atrocity?

As business professionals, we are responsible to develop people, to get people in the right positions and, also, to get them out of positions which would be detrimental to the organization or to others. We are responsible for creating an effective development process, training the process and holding people accountable to implement the process…even when implementing appropriate consequences is tough.

Could something as simple as implementation of a true performance development process have prevented this tragedy?

Do you need to look at how your organization’s performance development process is being implemented? What “red flags” are you missing?

Complete news stories at

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-fort-hood-0111-0112jan12,0,4710456.story

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/12/nation/la-na-fort-hood12-2010jan12

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/01/11/fort-hood-shooting.html

Follow Me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LindaFarley

Linda M. Farley » People Development

Lack of Feedback Can Kill