Comments on: Too Much Positive Feedback a Bad Thing?

By: Josh Roby

Josh Roby — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 00:05:10 +0000

What forum do you feel is best for positive feedback? Verbal, e-mail, public recognition, performance review?

By: The SuccessFactors Blog: Human Resources and Workforce Performance Management

The SuccessFactors Blog: Human Resources and Workforce Performance Management — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 20:03:34 +0000

The Human Side of Performance Management

Here’s a quote from a comment that was made on an earlier post: Your company appears to care about things like "performance" and "alignment". These are terms I hear from the man who works on my car. How do people…

By: Max Goldman

Max Goldman — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 18:08:33 +0000

You’ve got some good points. I think the idea that expectations constitute the environment in which performance is measured is right on. That’s why true evaluation can only take place when goals (aka expectations) are clear – and agreed upon by both the employee and manager.

As far as whether or not people care about such things depends, in part, on whether they work for companies that care. If as a company I make it clear that X is what is expected of my employees, and that they will be rewarded for their accomplishments, I think that employees will (and do) care.

My experience is that most people want to know what they can do to improve – and how they’ll be rewarded when they do.

By: BobbyZ

BobbyZ — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 05:49:42 +0000

I think you are missing the point. Your company has an interesting name – SuccessFactors. It calls to question two big questions all of us have faced – what is “success” and what are the “factors”. That might be more than your readers want to explore at this time. How do you define success? What are the factors that determine success? Expectations are like the like the pants we wear. Who defines what is expected and when? Performance is defined by the expectations surrounded by the time and space in which those expecations are set. Are you rated by how much money you make or whether or not you have something to say? We all must work for a living, but how can we make our working time meaningful? Does it matter? If my work is not meaningful today, will it be tomorrow?

Your company appears to care about things like “performance” and “alignment”. These are terms I hear from the man who works on my car. How do people define performance? People, working people, not all the Phds, MBA, ODs, OEs, EIOs that might read this blog. What do REAL people think? Do people give a **** ? I think people want to do something good or they want to do something better. What are you doing about that?