The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book: A Survival Guide for Managers [Paperback]

Dick Grote (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2002

"Most managers hate conducting performance appraisal discussions. What's worse, few feel confident in their ability to accurately assess the performance of a subordinate. In The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book, expert Dick Grote answers over 100 of the most common -- and most difficult -- questions about this vitally important but often misunderstood and misused tool, including: * How should I react when an employee starts crying during the appraisal discussion ...or gets mad at me? * Which is more important -- the results the person achieved or the way she went about doing the job? * Is there such a thing as a perfect performance appraisal form? Many of the answers include a Hot Tip or Red Flag: a note to the reader making a particularly insightful suggestion. This book helps supervisors and HR professionals ease the pain of performance appraisal and use the process effectively."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is highly recommended for the organization or manager seeking to become more comfortable with the appraisal process." -- TRAINING, Minneapolis, MN April 2003

..shows how to make the process productive rather than painful...targets managers,provides valuable insight for employees on the process, too. -- Dayton, Ohio News, June 24, 2002

Superb guide establishing & implementing a performance appraisal system in a small or large company,steering you through all the pitfalls -- The Globe & Mail Toronto

Review

The Globe & Mail (Toronto): "...a superb guide to establishing and implementing a performance appraisal system in a small or large company, steering you through all the pitfalls."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1 edition (June 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081447151X
• ISBN-13: 978-0814471517
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Questions, Answers, and a Great Deal More, August 1, 2006

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book: A Survival Guide for Managers (Paperback)

Although this book was first published in 2002, I only recently read it and, as my rating correctly indicates, I think it is an outstanding piece of work. Performance measurement is one of the most important and yet least understood business subjects and it is certain to become even more important during the next several years as organizations become more "virtual" and many of those involved with them become "free agents" or are at least more independent. Also, on average, people now make 7-9 job changes during a career. The average for those in my generation is half of that, if not less. Grote wrote this book primarily for managers who are responsible for measuring the performance of others.

A relatively recent and (in my opinion) promising trend is that, increasingly, one of the metrics used for evaluating the performance of a manager is how well she or he measures the performance of others. That is the subject for another book which Grote, perhaps, will one day write.

Given the substance of the material in this book and how Grote wishes to organize and then present it, the Q&A format seems eminently appropriate. He adds a clever variation: The inclusion of "Tell Me More" comments after his initial response to each core question. I greatly appreciate the personal, conversational tone which Grote establishes and then sustain in each of his three books, the other two being Discipline Without Punishment and Forced Ranking. He comes about as close as a business thinker/writer can to seeming to interact directly with his reader.

Obviously, this book will be of primary interest and value to supervisors but I also highly recommend it to those who are supervised. Now more than ever before, it is imperative to make crystal clear what expectations are and how performance relative to those expectations is measured, especially during interviews of candidates and then, once hired, during their orientation...which few organizations do well. (That is another book awaiting someone to produce it.) As Grote would be among the first to point out, the results of countless research studies which examine employee satisfaction concur that feeling appreciated, believing in the value of the work done, and having one's performance evaluated fairly and consistently are among the attributes which participants in the research studies considered to be most important. Also revealing is the fact that, depending upon which results are consulted, compensation was ranked anywhere from #9 and #14 in importance.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Grote's other two as well as Michael Ray's The Highest Goal and The Oz Principle co-authored by Craig Hickman, Tom Smith, and Roger Connors; also Mark Samuel's Creating the Accountable Organization and The Power Of Personal Accountability, co-authored with Sophie Chiche.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a no-nonsense approach to performance appraisals, September 13, 2004

By 

Anthony Padgett (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book: A Survival Guide for Managers (Paperback)

I found the book very easy to follow, and the principles and concepts were down-to-earth. The author gives a no-nonsense approach in performance appraisals, using common-sense and throws out all the other HR mumbo-jumbo. He also lays out a good argument for tying the PA to the company's objectives and missions, ideas on employee motivation (forget the "employee of the month" ideas), how to deal with difficult reviewees (those who just don't understand how their performance is bad), and the best way to handle performance planning meetings at the beginning of the year and the importance of these.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for new and old managers alike, October 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book: A Survival Guide for Managers (Paperback)

Mr. Grote tells it like it is, and I loved his approach in this book. It's presented in a question & answer format where he presents a question that is just about everyone's mind who conducts performance appraisals for employees, and he answers it with a short answer then a longer and more detailed answer. The best line is when he says, "Supervisors put up with too much [stuff]otherwise writes very well and straightforward, and strongly pushed the responsibility for improvement back to the employee, not the manager. Thank you for liberating me! He spends a good deal of the book on performance planning as well, an often underutilized tool to set an employee up for success.