To celebrate top performers and to apply peer pressure on the rest of the team, leaders are sometimes tempted to rank team members in the performance evaluation process. Whereas ratings allow team members to judge themselves against a standard, rankings force colleagues to compare themselves to others, rather than to absolute results.
This pits team members against one another and often produces competitive jealousy, bitterness, and bad feelings between colleagues. Rankings too often undermine the goodwill and spirit of the team and result in a negative climate that actually decreases the long-term performance of the majority of the team. Since there can only be one top performer and only a limited number of high-ranking winners, rankings demotivate those who begin to see themselves as perpetual underperformers.
Rankings showcase losers more than they highlight winners.
The goal of great teams is to have all A players and winners. This is where ratings against a set of standards come to the rescue. The motivating alternative to a ranking system is a criterion system where success is determined by whether people reach a specific level, target, or goal independent of what others accomplish.
Ratings allow leaders and team members to know where they stand against a set of predetermined outcomes or attributes. Not only do ratings motivate people to perform at a higher level, but research has also shown that team members in a rating system are more likely to share with their colleagues the processes and actions that led to their success. With an unlimited number of winners, team members come to know exactly what is required of them to earn the recognition and reward they deserve through performance.
When organizations tie evaluations of managers to the cumulative ratings of individual performers, then the team becomes fully aligned with the idea that performance is a sport where everyone can and should win.
It’s time to dump the urge to rank people and commit to the advantages of rating performance. Ratings are the points of a compass that show everyone the path to higher performance. When everyone can reach the highest standards, performance has the potential to soar. As opposed to ranking people, ratings allow everyone to shine brightly. That’s the color of gold for team success.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
