The (Dreaded) Annual Review

In the movie Coconuts the hotel employees of a mustachioed Groucho Marx chased him from the lobby and up a flight of stairs.

"We want our money," they yelled.

"What do you mean?"

"We want our money," they repeated.

"I don't understand. You want whose money?" Groucho shouted back.

"You haven't paid us. We want to be paid!"

"Oh," says Groucho, pointing directly at them. You want my money," with emphasis on the "my."

I digress, which is not uncommon for me when I am faced with a situation I find uncomfortable. Let's remove the (dreaded), and look at this a bit differently.

First, why should we think of the review as being about the employee? Don't both the employee and employer want the best possible performance? If you are an employee and don't perform as well as you can, perhaps you lack the proper tools or training. Maybe you don't feel appreciated and, as a result, are not as involved as you might be. I regard tools, training, and the expression of appreciation as the responsibility of the employer, not the employee.

Second, why shouldn't I want to encourage the best performance possible, and pay fairly for that performance? If all of my 45 or so employees felt unfairly treated and failed to show up Monday morning, my business would instantly disappear. Each of them is excellent at what they do and could easily find a position somewhere else. But how could I reconstruct, entirely by myself, the outstanding team which we have built together over the past 45 years?

I now regard the (not dreaded) annual review as a review of my own performance, not theirs. I think of my employees as coworkers. We work in the same building, write e-mails to outsiders and to each other, talk on the telephone, and enjoy lunch in early afternoon. Every one of us is a crew member on the same ship, headed in the same direction. (At Disneyland you would be called a "Cast Member," which sounds nice but, to me seems more like acting rather than interacting with customers and each other).

Today my ideal procedure on the annual review is:

1. Keep my coworkers up to date on how they are doing during the year. I offer approval to encourage them, though not as often as I should. I suggest course corrections to help them focus on what needs to be changed. When your flight lands in San Francisco it's too late to remember that you should have boarded the flight for Chicago. In the old days I would say to an employee after his or her first day on the job, "I've decided to renew your option. You can come back tomorrow." Today I cringe at the thought of how I would feel if my new boss of one day said that to me. Two weeks ago I hired Joy to help with the marketing and promotion of People Tools. At the end of her first week I asked, "Are all of us providing proper information and support so that you can do your best work?" If you have properly helped your coworkers during the year there will be no bad surprises for either of you at the annual review.

When I improve as a manager, my coworkers improve at their positions. That is why I no longer dread reviewing them, because, in reality, we are helping each other.

Let's take the word "Dreaded" out of The Annual Review.

This article is adapted with permission from the publisher, SelectBooks, from PEOPLE TOOLS FOR BUSINESS: 50 Strategies for Building Success, Creating Wealth, and Finding Happiness by Alan C. Fox. Copyright 2014.