I am not and never have been a fan of annual
appraisals. It’s rather like running
your business only on looking at the end of year results and hoping that we can
make any adjustments that for issues that come to light. The answer is regular and formal one-to-one
meetings.
These one-to-ones are not to the leader’s agenda. It is the individual who determines the topics
for discussion and the leader listens and makes comment as appropriate. Not an easy task for the leader to keep
relatively quiet but a very important one.
As I said before, business is or should be simple and it is
the interaction with people at which we are not always very competent that
often gets in the way and leads to complications.
Over the years I have come across a couple of very simple
and very subjective assessment techniques which I have found invaluable for any
leader to use.
They are:
·
The PAEI
Code assessment
·
The 9½
rating assessment
The PAEI method can be used to assess both the business and
individuals within it and it stands for:
- Productivity: the amount of effort being devoted to the business
- Administration: how effectively is the business administered
- Entrepreneurship: what is the level of imagination and innovation?
- Integration: how well are the people engaged and included?
Giving each test a rating from 1-5, in the early start-up
days of the business the productivity rating is very high, administration is
generally low, ntrepreneurship rating is again high and as there are very few
people integration is usually automatic.
As the business grows and takes on more people the PAEI code
changes. For example, while P is or
should still be high, A will have increased, E may well have reduced and I will
probably have improved.
If we asses an individual on the same basis then certain
traits will emerge. For example, an
accountant typically will have high P, high A, low E and low I. Conversely an owner/manager will have a high
P rating, low A, very high E and average I.
That makes for significant differences in approach and using
the PAEI code can give a subjective judgement on an individual.
The 9½ assessment is very simple. Look at your top team and give them a rating
from 1-10 (10 being high) which covers their total influence in the business.
The aim should be to achieve a 9½ rating for everyone on the
top team which says that you have the right people on the bus, all in the right
seats and all facing the same way.
If, for example, you rate someone as 8, then it is feasible
with mutual co--operation, to develop that individual to a 9 or 9½. If sadly you have a 6 or 7 then it is almost
impossible to develop that individual to achieve top rating and some decision
needs to be taken.
Yes, this test is very subjective but it does help to shed
light on people’s abilities, enthusiasm, alignment, engagement and all the
other great traits which go to make up a good top team member.
I saw a great item on the web last week: Conversation - CFO says to the CEO: “If we
spend all out time and effort developing people, they might leave” “True” says the CEO “but if we don’t develop
them they might stay”
These two tests can give you a clue as to whether you want them
to stay and add value to the business.
Download my book "Leading to Success" from the Amazon Kindle store
Visit www.vistage.co.uk