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 |
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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
© Linda M. Farley www.LMFarley.com LMF@onr.com
Follow Me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LindaFarley
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Linda, this post is a mind-blower. I had no idea there were so many similarities between what happens within corporations and the military. And you are so right – going without giving feedback and/or holding people accountable can kill. Thank you for researching this and sharing it with us.
Linda,
This is a powerful message that can prevent future tragedies if people listen.