At Morningside Academy, an independent school in Seattle that serves elementary and middle school children with learning disabilities, students receive a daily report card that documents what they learned. Parents review the report card each day and write their own performance-related comments.
Such a performance management process is a far cry from what’s practiced in corporate America.
“Every day the teacher has to ask, ‘Did I teach that child what I was slated to today?’” said Aubrey Daniels, author and chairman of consulting firm Aubrey Daniels International, comparing the early education practice to the corporate environment. “This is the type of performance review that works. We need to get rid of the traditional way companies are doing it. We’ve tweaked it for 50 years, and it’s no better today than it was. Throw it out, start over and ask the question: Why are we doing this?”
Aside from being outdated, convoluted and full of corporate mumbo jumbo, the traditional once-a-year performance review between a manager and direct report is ineffective. Some organizations have shifted to a performance management process that is more agile and accelerated — like today’s business environment. Constant feedback is at the core of the new way of thinking, something workers, especially younger ones, have come to value.
