Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work [Hardcover]

Dick Grote (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2005

A comprehensive how-to guide to designing and implementing a fair and effective forced ranking system, including how to accurately categorise A, B and C players and manage and reward players differently. This book clears away the confusion surrounding a controversial performance management practice called forced ranking, which evaluates how well employees perform relative to their peers instead of against predetermined performance goals. More importantly, it provides a tactical, how-to guide for doing forced ranking right-and highlights the huge advantages firms and their employees can reap by doing so.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Dick Grote is Chairman and CEO of Grote Consulting Corporation in Dallas, Texas, and the developer of the GroteApproach web-based performance management system. He is the author of The Complete Guide to Performance Appraisal, The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book, and Discipline Without Punishment.

About the Author

Dick Grote is Chairman and CEO of Grote Consulting Corporation in Dallas, Texas and the developer of the GROTEAPPROACHSM Web-based performance management system. He is also a popular speaker and consultant, has been a frequent commentator on workplace issues on NPR's Morning Edition and is frequently cited in major newspapers and business publications (WSJ, Time, Fortune, etc.).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (November 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591397480
• ISBN-13: 978-1591397489
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #486,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Performance Management: How to Have "The Best of Both Worlds", August 11, 2006

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work (Hardcover)

Although certainly not an imperative, I do recommend reading one or both of Grote's earlier works first (Discipline Without Punishment and The Employee Appraisal Question and Answer Book) before reading this, his latest work. In all three, he generously shares what he has learned over several decades as a senior-level executive in HR at Frito-Lay and United Airlines, then as founder/CEO of his own thriving management consulting firm (which he later sold to his senior partners), and since then as an independent consultant. In fairness to Grote, the term "HR" has much wider and deeper meaning than it does to many others. He cares passionately, almost obsessively about helping to achieve the full development of every human being whom he encounters, both within the organizations which retain his services and among those who read his books as well as those who comprise the numerous audiences to which he speaks.

In this volume, Grote examines a concept -- forced ranking -- which began to receive increasingly greater attention when advocated by Jack Welch during his tenure as CEO of General Electric. It is important to note that Grote is by nature and training an empiricist in that he rigorously observes real-world experience (his and others') rather than relying almost entirely on theories, hypotheses, assumptions, etc. He is also a pragmatist in that he is determined to learn what does and doesn't work...also, WHY. Back to Welch. In essence, GE's version of forced ranking has a 20/70/10 performance measurement ranking scheme: 20% are the best, 70% are vital, and 10% are at the bottom. (Reportedly, those in the last group are strongly encouraged to seek new career opportunities elsewhere but, if necessary, terminated. ) Grote notes that this ranking scheme has some obvious advantages and has been adopted (usually with some modification) by other major corporations.

Grote recommends an alternative ranking scheme which he explains in sufficient detail. It remains for each reader to determine (a) whether or not forced ranking is appropriate to her or his own organization and, if so (b) which ranking scheme would be most appropriate. Grote can assist with making both determinations.

In my view, the more immediate issues to address include these:

1. With rare exceptions, organizations reward what they value most. That said, in terms of human resources, what are a given organization's greatest human resource needs? What incentives are used in response to those needs?

2. To what extent does that organization recruit, interview, hire, and then develop people to fill those needs?

3. Are performances expectations clearly understood by everyone directly involved (i.e. supervisor and direct report)?

4. Are performance metrics also clearly understood by everyone involved?

5. Are they applied fairly and consistently?

6. Finally, as HR needs change, are performance expectations and metrics modified in a timely response to those needs?

As Grote duly acknowledges, forced ranking is certainly not for everyone. Moreover, what worked at GE during the Welch years may not have been appropriate for most other organizations then, nor appropriate for GE now. (Presumably, over the years, GE's senior management has made the necessary modifications to which I referred earlier.) My point is, the six questions just posed must be answered first before making a decision about whether or not to implement some version of forced ranking enterprise-wide.

As is his SOP, Grote presents his narrative in combination with a number of reader-friendly devices which include sequences of key points highlighted in bold face, check-lists to facilitate self-audits as well as evaluations of the reader's own organization (e.g."First Things First - Is Your Company Ready?"), and three especially helpful appendices: Memos and Scripts for Managers, FAQs About the Forced Ranking System, and Forced Ranking and the Law. Grote concludes his book as follows: "Conventional performance appraisal has an important place in the talent management palette of any organization. So does forced ranking. Neither process by itself is complete; both have limitations. But together they can provide an accurate and well-rounded picture of the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the team." Senior-level executives in most organizations continue to insist that "people are our most valuable asset." Grote challenges them to determine precisely what that total value is...and to do so with metrics which are realistic, consistent, and (yes) equitable for everyone involved.

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Grote's earlier works as well as Leigh Branham's The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, James O'Toole and Edward E. Lawler III's The New American Workplace, and Workforce Crisis co-authored by Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson, and Robert Morison.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Setting Up a Fair and Legal System, January 21, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work (Hardcover)

A forced ranking system where each employee is ranked relative to his peers has a great deal of potential when it is administered fairly, humanely, and evenly across departments. When such a system allows lower level (or really any level) managers to pick favorites, to discriminate unfairly or is applied unevenly from department to department; the system falls apart, and can even lead to the courts.

The key, of course, is to create a forced ranking system that is not only fair but which is also viewed by the employees as being fair. And, should worse come to worse, it must also have legal defensibility.

Forced ranking has been around for a lot of years. Only in recent times has there been a reaction against it. Enron, for instance had a forced ranking system and still the company imploded. Other companies that have used forced ranking have continued to use them, and often used them to get their employees to perform better and to make the changes in their work habits that make them better employees.

Mr. Grote has written this book to share stories of companies with successful programs. He discusses what makes a program successful and the places where it can fail.

Do not skip Appendix C where he talks about the legal aspects where again he reports on what happened at several companies and the court cases that resulted. In fact, you just may want to read Appendix C first and keep it in mind as you read the rest of the book.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, November 18, 2005

By 

Jordan Cowman "Labor Lawyer" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work (Hardcover)

I have read a number of books and papers on the subject of forced rankings. Forced Ranking by Dick Grote really is the best of the lot. He takes a very complex and misunderstood topic and puts it in a very readable and understandable form. I think every Human Resource professional and CEO should take the time to read this book. It will quickly bring you up to speed on the cutting edge thinking on this subject, and, if used properly, can be a powerful tool in torquing up your workforce. Forced Rankings is worth the time and effort to read. I recommend it highly.