Rating: 
Summary: Thought Provoking Alternative
Review: Abolishing Performance Appraisals makes a powerful case for removing this well intended yet ineffective ritual organizations have been requiring for decades. Indeed, Coens and Jenkins provide solid reason why appraisals have to go, to be replaced with quality feedback mechanisms including coaching and support structures that enable employees to maximize their own potential. No one reading this book would challenge its basic argument. My primary concern was in the prescription. They recommend you recruit a group of stakeholders as your design team, to explore the problem in your own organization, and to arrive at alternatives that align with your organization's mission. Considering that Coens and Jenkins affirm W. Edward Deming's claim that 94% of performance outcomes are attributable to the system, they are less robust in offering concrete guidelines on what "the system" should look like. This book is excellent in describing the history of the problem and highly persuasive in its message. It accomplishes that goal. If the reader is interested in exploring a system that is a clear alternative, that is simple in scope and provides a strong transition from the current mess, I recommend you pick up Catalytic Coaching - The End of the Performance Review by Gary Markle. Equally thought provoking on the issue, but a stronger set of steps on how to approach the problem.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the book I have been waiting for long!
Review: Coens & Jenkins's APA speaks no nonsense, particularly on critizing the modern appraisal systems. Yes, our appraisal systems were and still are well-embedded in a very subtle mentality: The tendency to control. I must say that I have been finding for a book that can challenge the existing appraisal system, but I was disappointed. Though I think Peter Block's Stewardship did something great on the discussion, however, there's no book which has devoted totally on this measuring tool. So, I really once thought that it's a kind of un-challengable, and un-discussible in the business world. Thanks Coens & Jenkins for proving me wrong. APA takes a very thorough penetration into the appraisal system, and at the same time, beat the system form inside-out. And they really know all the details on our way to 'evaluate' the employees. But what I appreciate most is their intention to give direction and guidance toward a more healthy state of organizational life. Since there are enough books talking about heading into a so-called 'new paradigm' of management, but their action is not congurent with what they espoused, or they just simply have no actionable steps! Coens & Jenkins have invest a lot on 'What to do Instead' in each chapter. These are important, solid and also challenging advices that worth to try on, at least you can have a picture of what will be. That's an important distinction with other management books. As a consultant, I committed to act on what Coens and Jenkins advocate, and waiting to test the validity of their claims. Moreover, APA gives me solid information on how the appraisal systems can backfire our well intentions. This confirms my hunch concerning the current appraisal systems. Besides, due to its highly detail descriptions on the HR's way of doing things, it also can be viewed as a treasure education on the new paradigm of HRM. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Innovation Takes Guts!
Review: Coens and Jenkins had the guts and innovative thinking to address a fundamental issue in the global workforce: abolishing performance appraisals & the leadership that is required to have a healthy work environment. This book is a must-read for business owners, managers, and HR executives who are focused on creating an environment where people can contribute, perform, communicate, innovate, take pride in their work, and have fun learning. Based on the theories of management from Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Coens and Jenkins have not only focused on the theories, beliefs, and assumptions of leadership, but also on the practical skills needed to abolish performance appraisals and lead people! Do we really think that people will learn, contribute, cooperate, be passionate about their work and the customer when they are judged, rated, ranked, and intimidated? The insights Coens and Jenkins provide are awesome and real world! This book is an excellent tool and stimulus for leaders and managers to challenge the way people are treated and motivated and to build an environment where people love their work and the culture they are in. It is easy to retain people; it is really a no-brainer, as long as there is a culture that is healthy and enables people to learn and grow and share their knowledge. Personally I have seen hundreds of companies that destroy people; they are in a self-destruct mode; today they may be leaders in their industry; 10 years from now they will struggle to survive. But those organizations who challenge their current beliefs and assumptions, and the old systems will create innovation---in their practices and their thinking. This is what Coens and Jenkins have so artfully described in their focus on Abolishing Performance Appraisals. This is one of the top 5 books every executive should read and apply as soon as possible.
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Summary: An Important Contribution
Review: Dear Prospective Readers, I would like to give ABOLISHING PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS by Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins my highest recommendation. For years I have been convinced that appraising the contribution of individuals is a highly destructive organizational enterprise. I have come to this conclusion through my own experience and through the persuasive writings of Peter Scholtes (The Leader's Handbook) and W. Edwards Deming (The New Economics) and other authors. Coens and Jenkins have written a thoroughly researched and documented text that provides a wealth of information on why performance appraisal should be eliminated, and what instead should be done to perform the functions it allegedly achieves. Pages 306 and 307 provide an excellent summary of principles that can be used to improve organizational performance, coach employees, provide feedback, determine compensation, make promotion decisions, develop employees, help poor performers, and provide appropriate legal documentation in the event of a lawsuit. Figure 10.1 on page 286 provides an excellent summary of the process necessary for an organization to free itself from the grip of individual appraisal and refocus its attention on improving system performance. It is appropriately called a "Sixteen-Step Program to Recovery from Appraisal". Coems and Jenkins have made an extremenly valuable contribution to those organizations that seek to create humane work places. Sincerely, Laurenece J. Quick, Ph.D Associate Professor of Management Aurora University Aurora, IL.
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Summary: New Thinking: Abolishing Performance Appraisals
Review: Do high performance work systems and knowledge driven work designs need to incorporate performance appraisals? As business leaders move rapidly to transform organizations,they are forced to grapple with what to do about a performance appraisal system. Tom Coens and Mary Jenkins draw from an extensive bibliography of practitioner and academic leaders plus extensive personal experience to say,"abolish it!" Yes! Abolish your appraisal system and replace it with custom-designed decoupled systems for pay coaching,counseling, mentoring,development, and legal justification of personnel decisions. This book is aimed at practitioners and leaders but should be assigned in business schools. It is a provocative and powerful counterpoint to scholarly and professional books that reinforce the old thinking of bundling everything into one appraisal system. This old style approach has plagued managers, employees, and their organizations for the last century. If you a searching for a well-written and exciting read, buy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Good and bad
Review: Extensive research, good case studies, knowledgeble discussion of legal issues are strengths of this book. However, there are numerous weaknesses:
1 Linking enlightened management directly to ineffective appraisal systems. They are not nedessarily related.
2 Not acknowledging managers insight on employees performance.
3 Assuming apprasials are generally a high corporate priority compared with other management activities.
4 Not recommending one or two focused appraisal functions as an alternative to no appraisals.
5 Not providing an explaination of how to administer most pay raise systems (Hay for example).
6 Not clearly identifying how the rating drives pay, promotion and bonus. An alternative is required.
7 Not disussing how requirements may vary by industry job specifics or the impact of enviromental factors, such as, confidentiality and raises based on senioity. jrj
Rating:
Summary: Good and bad
Review: Extensive research, good case studies, knowledgeble discussion of legal issues are strengths of this book. However, there are numerous weaknesses:
1 Linking enlightened management directly to ineffective appraisal systems. They are not nedessarily related.
2 Not acknowledging managers insight on employees performance.
3 Assuming apprasials are generally a high corporate priority compared with other management activities.
4 Not recommending one or two focused appraisal functions as an alternative to no appraisals.
5 Not providing an explaination of how to administer most pay raise systems (Hay for example).
6 Not clearly identifying how the rating drives pay, promotion and bonus. An alternative is required.
7 Not disussing how requirements may vary by industry job specifics or the impact of enviromental factors, such as, confidentiality and raises based on senioity. jrj
Rating:
Summary: An Employment Lawyer's View
Review: First, let me reveal a potential source of bias - I've been practicing employment law, primarily from the management side, for more than 27 years and I have known Tom Coens for almost 20 years. Having revealed my potential biases, let me say that I found this to be an insightful and provocative book. I found the chapter on 'Dispelling The Legal Myths and Dealing With Poor Performers' particularly helpful and I am recommending the book to Human Resources Directors and employment lawyers with whom I work. As Tom and Mary point out, a myth prevalent at companies around America is that performance appraisals are the bedrock of defense against employment lawsuits. While it is true that objective, carefully considered, employment appraisals can be helpful in the defense of lawsuits, such appraisals are often the exception rather than the rule. As Tom and Mary note, unfortunately the press of business, the "halo factor", politics, disinclination of managers to discuss criticism and sheer laziness often compromise the effectiveness of performance appraisals both for their primary purposes and for the secondary purpose of utilizing such documents in the defense of lawsuits. In fact, it is not unusual in my practice to have the following conversation with a client. Client: We can't take it any more. We need to fire Employee X ASAP. He has been performing below par for years, but the bar has been raised and we can't afford to carry him any more. Me: Let me guess, Employee X is in a protected category and has gotten "satisfactory to good" performance appraisals for the last several years because Manager Y did not want to step up to the plate and tell him the real problems with his performance. Client: How did you know? Tom and Mary effectively address this problem and, better yet, give practical solutions to documenting performance and discipline while providing alternatives to excessive reliance on the performance appraisal system. I highly recommend their book.
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Summary: Finally! Performance for the 21st Century!
Review: If you've ever received a traditional performance appraisal (PA), every word of this book will ring true! The sad part is, in a country as technically advanced as the US, this same process has been used in corporations since World War II. Can you name another technology still in use from that era? As a Performance Management consultant I've reengineered appraisal systems based on employee and management needs, so the book's title put me off initially. Performance mesurement and feedback is critical in a high performing organization. But the authors' approach is right on target. Organizations should NOT stop measuring, but measure and feed back accurately within an adult-to-adult context. The data on how humans behave puts traditional PA systems to shame. What a waste of resources! Performance Management systems can be reengineered at little direct cost and return REAL individual, group and organizational performance improvement. I've found that nearly all PA systems are compensation rather than performance focused, and actually keep employees from the accountability the organization seeks. What's worse, these systems are often the only source for employee feedback! Coens and Jenkins capture and dispel all the well-meaning assumptions of traditional Performance Appraisals, while also providing solid PERFORMANCE-BASED alternatives. For example, and with no apologies to the lawyers, individual performance documentation is only needed when there is a serious performance problem, and that is quite rare. Positive performance data is available in other, more productive ways. Why burden the entire organization, demotivate employees, and waste valuable resources when treating adults as adults can actually improve BOTTOM LINE PERFORMNACE? The book is not for everyone, but managers who have always felt sick about using their company's PA process will be delighted to know that they were right all along. People know how to do this, and company bureaucracy just gets in the way. No business has extra people or money. I've effectively used these same principles for years. Thank you, Tom and Mary, for documenting a process for 21st century Performance Management.
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Summary: It's Time for Appraisals to Rest In Peace
Review: Perhaps no other workplace topic is so hotly debated, so universally loathed, so burdened with anxiety than that annual ritual known as the job performance evaluation. More than one supervisor has said it would be easier to write one's own obituary than tackle the yearly job review. The book, "Abolishing Performance Appraisals," has a simple way of addressing this task. Don't do them in the first place! The authors argue that performance appraisals are not working in ways they are intended to - to reward, motivate and improve work forces. Instead, such performance reviews demoralize employees and frustrate supervisors. The primary problem, the authors state, is that using one process for so many complex activities (although filled with good intentions) is idealistic as well as dispiriting. And, they continue, no amount of tweaking can solve the problem. The only true solution is to put appraisals to rest. Human Resources professionals will find this book most useful in determining how they can lead the charge in breaking away from tradition and moving closer to become a more progressive company. However, it is this challenge that will make the reader's head hurt. The book is well written and thoughtfully done. It is divided into three parts with the first two addressing why appraisals fail and examining the core reasons behind performance reviews. These first eight chapters depict clearly that appraisals are flawed with destructive, though unintended effects. All of author's arguments make sense - common sense - to an extent where one finds itself pledging never to conduct a performance appraisal again. It is the third part of the book that provides the reader with headaches. Although there is a sixteen-step process for making the transition from traditional performance appraisals to alternatives, there is no solution. As early as the Preface, the authors give ample warning about the endpoint by stating over and over again that there is no one model that answers all the questions they have identified. They state each company must find its own solution. In addition, they bring to reality that there is no shortcut. In fact, their recommended method usually takes two years to implement encompassing much effort, time, and cost. The concepts of this book, in a nutshell, are: getting to the underlying assumption of why performance appraisals are used and create a new way of thinking to change current strategies and systems; encouraging supervisors to provide honest feedback and communication to employees by maintaining daily, two-way communication; empowering employees to be responsible for themselves - for their careers, for receiving feedback, and holding themselves accountable for the work to be done; giving leaders the freedom to choose for themselves the most effective ways o f working with people; moving away from and individual performance company to a organizational improvement company; and creating a culture where the company provide all of its people the tools, training, resources, and environment to do all these things mentioned. The difficulty an HR professional will face in their industry is winning over top management to support these initiatives. Usually, management holds fast to traditions. Firms with proactive leaders may find some resistance at first but should be able to garner support easily. This book encourages you to be a witness to the performance appraisal funeral. Join other progressive companies that understand the "critical importance of working from new thinking." You won't be disappointed.
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