The Positive Enabler<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"Enabler:](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/ImIcTCF4j04cQ2KLtdJTL6zhFhq7KbNvbPPxeFLrrfLWEopApyCpynB8HJLrRhWttgX39Xl1XSALJytbr0KjTfWBF1PT2nkZzjJu6iSUgkqCdGAKwQR_XeXVwrjAnqK7MCy-2YYX\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAs its definition conveys, the word \u201cenabler\u201d has a negative connotation, and this comes through frequently in discussions about psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But enablers can also be positive. They can influence behavior in constructive, productive ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A positive enabler \u201chelps to make things possible,\u201d according to Ruth Nina Welsh, author of Be Your Own Counselor and Coach.<\/em> \u201cThey support a person\u2019s plans and encourage their dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cBeing a positive enabler is a selfless behavior,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cIt occurs because the enabler wants the best for a person. They want to find ways to help make things possible. It\u2019s not about taking over or bossing someone, but it\u2019s about being a supportive presence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To many people, Welsh\u2019s take might seem too abstract or like an emotional, feel-good message. But there\u2019s truth in there. We all can be powerful influencers of people. And I believe that we all know that we get the best performance out of people when they feel inspired by a leader and sincerely believe that leadership is concerned and invested in their success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This concept \u2014 the notion of setting people up for success \u2014 is the foundation of positive enablement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, a more traditional performance management process typically takes precedence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Employee Appraisals: A See-Saw History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The predominant goal of employee appraisals has changed over decades \u2014 at times reinforcing employee accountability, at other times driving employee development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAppraisals can be traced back to the U.S. military\u2019s \u2018merit rating\u2019 system, created during World War I to identify poor performers for discharge or transfer,\u201d according to \u201cThe Performance Management Revolution<\/a>,\u201d a 2016 Harvard Business Review<\/em> article that traces the history of performance assessment. \u201cAfter World War II, about 60% of U.S. companies were using them (by the 1960s, it was closer to 90%).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA shortage of managerial talent in the late 1950s and the 1960s inspired companies to use appraisals to develop new supervisors and executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 1970s, the pendulum swung the other way. Amid rampant inflation, annual wage increases gained importance. And with new anti-discrimination laws on the books, companies were pressured to award pay more objectively, according to the article. \u201cAccountability became a higher priority than development for many organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The forced ranking of employees championed by General Electric CEO Jack Welch in the 1980s reinforced the use of appraisals to hold employees accountable. A 1993 law that exempted bonus pay from salary tax deduction limits also reinforced the trend, along with other factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the early 2000s, an estimated one-third of U.S. corporations and 60% of the Fortune 500 companies were using a forced-ranking system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the past 10 to 15 years, the pendulum has started to swing back toward assessing performance as a way to drive employee performance. But it hasn\u2019t swung far enough. Let\u2019s talk about what we can do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Timeline](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/7zPLPFiHaJqieBIsnxpA1Gk_Q51hQXEq-cEwzsZPBk0G8AjwgkDNeO5BOTvJUPD1A9j2uFbSHyiRN4vjRZXSf4zb3cmFHjjot7KMBQUvm-dWONssUnjmKeB-bWkhhWX1kcxQsI8p\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPerformance Management Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At most organizations, the annual performance review is a staple of HR performance management. The review typically covers at least two of these four topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Results<\/strong>, including commentary about an employee\u2019s achievement of pre-established goals.<\/li>
- Contributions<\/strong>, including an assessment of an employee\u2019s efforts compared to those of other employees.<\/li>
- Quality<\/strong>, including an assessment of the quality of the results achieved.<\/li>
- Behaviors<\/strong>, including commentary about how an employee achieved results.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Performance reviews are often positioned as a way for managers to provide feedback on the previous year\u2019s performance. They\u2019re touted as a way for leaders to recommend areas of focus or improvement for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Performance Reviews: A Faulty Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In reality, the performance review is a compensation tool that\u2019s used to determine how, or whether, an employee is rewarded and recognized for his or her contributions and results. As such, the performance review discussion often turns into a negotiation around the employee\u2019s rating or a grievance brought by the employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Performance review advocates often say that the tool also serves as documentation of poor performance that can be used if an employee files a lawsuit. However, many employment lawyers counter this assumption, stating that in many cases performance reviews actually hurt an employer due to poorly executed or contradictory wording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we could list many problems with performance reviews, let\u2019s look at the most egregious identified in \u201cDrawbacks of Performance Appraisals,\u201d an article in the Houston Chronicle<\/em> that identified four key problems making performance reviews ineffective, unfair, and possibly even harmful.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPerformance reviews are problematic because they:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Limit perspective<\/strong>. They\u2019re based on one person\u2019s view, sometimes supported by feedback from others, but most often driven by the manager.<\/li>
- Erode motivation<\/strong>. They determine compensation but are seen by the employee as rigged, in that they don\u2019t always accurately correlate performance and pay. This is due to enforced bell curves and other tactics that limit the number of people who receive the highest ratings.<\/li>
- Consume time<\/strong>. Many, if not most, People Leaders dread writing and conducting performance review discussions due to the time required to collect data about performance, write a review reflective of the evaluation period (typically one year), and have a conversation that the leader knows won\u2019t be satisfying to most employees.<\/li>
- Accommodate bias<\/strong>. The primary, if not only, assessor brings his or her own biases to the table when evaluating performance. These biases may be social in nature or due to other factors like communication style, work location, and comfort with the employee.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Recent research on the topic is eye-popping. Only 13% of individual contributors strongly agree their performance review inspires them to improve, and that percentage is a microscopic 8% for managers, according to The Manager Experience<\/a><\/em>, a five-year Gallup study published in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Performance](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/JrkmDv4ge8wJodqek9LjzFS2I_7XCvYWLAJmA-wM8mNqzGcYmiebf2Nm2SunR-DmOIyfHj6wyelgoY9-HkZBsB8yQW86NSmMv-MGHSd-CViTUcdc3IbyHI43qqU2G59PyofLcw_w\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nManagers, the study revealed, \u201calso find performance reviews to be less fair and less accurate than individual contributors do. If there were a single argument against the traditional performance review, it would be this: Those administering performance reviews think less of the process than those receiving them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s no surprise that many companies have moved away from formal performance reviews and adopted other mechanisms for improving performance and internal mobility<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEnabling Career Mobility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
No matter what method an organization chooses to replace performance reviews, the replacement should embrace positive enablement as its core goal. Why? Positive enablement breeds a company culture that\u2019s ripe to support career mobility \u2014 which can be truly transformational for organizations and individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Career mobility happens when employees have the ability to learn new skills that lead to new opportunities for career advancement. It\u2019s a win-win for employers and employees. Employers benefit from a constantly developing pool of internal candidates<\/a> who can rise to new challenges and keep the organization competitive. Employees benefit too, because they\u2019re able to stay more engaged, be more excited about the future, take on new projects or roles, and achieve their professional goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\nPerformance Previews<\/em>: A Dynamic Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\nA good model for replacing the performance review is something that I\u2019ve started to call the \u201cperformance preview.\u201d The idea is this: Kick off the year with a conversation between the People Leader and employee that\u2019s ongoing. While the traditional performance review inherently looks backward, the performance preview<\/em> is always forward-looking \u2014 focused on what employees need to do in order to do their jobs well, and what they need from the organization to keep advancing on their individual career journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAn important part of making a performance preview work \u2014 and unlocking its support for career mobility \u2014 is understanding what skills people have and what skills people need. These days, a career isn\u2019t defined by a bunch of successive jobs; rather, it\u2019s a portfolio of skills and experiences. When somebody\u2019s career is mobile, it\u2019s because they\u2019re able to demonstrate how their skills have evolved, or how transferable they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When People Leaders proactively help employees map out a development journey based on the skills employees<\/a> need, everyone involved takes a critical first step in setting employees, and the company, up for success. And then something wonderful happens: A learning process begins. And increasingly, an upskilling<\/a> platform like Degreed, which maps learning to skills and roles, is helping employers quickly connect employees to a wide range of curated and personalized learning content.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe next step? Providing real-world opportunities for employees to put their new knowledge to work. Career mobility opportunities like these include shadowing, mentoring, short-term assignments, ad- hoc projects, and even new roles. These are great because they let employees test their new knowledge, build confidence, and continue to build even more new skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through it all, the People Leader provides success tips to the employee, rather than backward-looking feedback that\u2019s often perceived as critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Positive Enablement is the Way to Career Mobility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As more and more companies embrace ongoing career conversations, yours should too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you do choose to continue relying on traditional performance reviews, be honest with yourself about this fact: They\u2019re a tool for creating a rationale for compensation, or for documenting a performance problem to limit liability in litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And be realistic about this as well: Performance reviews are not helping your organization improve people\u2019s work and contributions in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To truly help your employees, and to help your organization get ahead, you need a dynamic, forward-looking employee development process that supports career mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Want to learn more about career mobility? Sign up for our free mini-course, 5 Days of Career Mobility<\/a><\/em>, to get started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"5](\"https:\/\/explore.degreed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/5daysDCM-launch_blogcta.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve never understood why the HR community adopted the term \u201cperformance management.\u201d Successfully managing someone\u2019s performance is an unrealistic expectation. Most parents struggle to manage a teenage child\u2019s behavior and school performance. So what would make us seriously believe that People Leaders can successfully manage the performance of other adults? I consider the role of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":61313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[655],"tags":[751,704],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-61310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skills-talent-mobility","tag-movilidad-profesional","tag-desarrollo-de-habilidades"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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That's why we're shifting performance reviews to performance previews. 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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAs its definition conveys, the word \u201cenabler\u201d has a negative connotation, and this comes through frequently in discussions about psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But enablers can also be positive. They can influence behavior in constructive, productive ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A positive enabler \u201chelps to make things possible,\u201d according to Ruth Nina Welsh, author of Be Your Own Counselor and Coach.<\/em> \u201cThey support a person\u2019s plans and encourage their dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing a positive enabler is a selfless behavior,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cIt occurs because the enabler wants the best for a person. They want to find ways to help make things possible. It\u2019s not about taking over or bossing someone, but it\u2019s about being a supportive presence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To many people, Welsh\u2019s take might seem too abstract or like an emotional, feel-good message. But there\u2019s truth in there. We all can be powerful influencers of people. And I believe that we all know that we get the best performance out of people when they feel inspired by a leader and sincerely believe that leadership is concerned and invested in their success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This concept \u2014 the notion of setting people up for success \u2014 is the foundation of positive enablement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, a more traditional performance management process typically takes precedence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The predominant goal of employee appraisals has changed over decades \u2014 at times reinforcing employee accountability, at other times driving employee development<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAppraisals can be traced back to the U.S. military\u2019s \u2018merit rating\u2019 system, created during World War I to identify poor performers for discharge or transfer,\u201d according to \u201cThe Performance Management Revolution<\/a>,\u201d a 2016 Harvard Business Review<\/em> article that traces the history of performance assessment. \u201cAfter World War II, about 60% of U.S. companies were using them (by the 1960s, it was closer to 90%).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A shortage of managerial talent in the late 1950s and the 1960s inspired companies to use appraisals to develop new supervisors and executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 1970s, the pendulum swung the other way. Amid rampant inflation, annual wage increases gained importance. And with new anti-discrimination laws on the books, companies were pressured to award pay more objectively, according to the article. \u201cAccountability became a higher priority than development for many organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The forced ranking of employees championed by General Electric CEO Jack Welch in the 1980s reinforced the use of appraisals to hold employees accountable. A 1993 law that exempted bonus pay from salary tax deduction limits also reinforced the trend, along with other factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the early 2000s, an estimated one-third of U.S. corporations and 60% of the Fortune 500 companies were using a forced-ranking system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past 10 to 15 years, the pendulum has started to swing back toward assessing performance as a way to drive employee performance. But it hasn\u2019t swung far enough. Let\u2019s talk about what we can do about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At most organizations, the annual performance review is a staple of HR performance management. The review typically covers at least two of these four topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance reviews are often positioned as a way for managers to provide feedback on the previous year\u2019s performance. They\u2019re touted as a way for leaders to recommend areas of focus or improvement for the upcoming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality, the performance review is a compensation tool that\u2019s used to determine how, or whether, an employee is rewarded and recognized for his or her contributions and results. As such, the performance review discussion often turns into a negotiation around the employee\u2019s rating or a grievance brought by the employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance review advocates often say that the tool also serves as documentation of poor performance that can be used if an employee files a lawsuit. However, many employment lawyers counter this assumption, stating that in many cases performance reviews actually hurt an employer due to poorly executed or contradictory wording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we could list many problems with performance reviews, let\u2019s look at the most egregious identified in \u201cDrawbacks of Performance Appraisals,\u201d an article in the Houston Chronicle<\/em> that identified four key problems making performance reviews ineffective, unfair, and possibly even harmful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance reviews are problematic because they:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent research on the topic is eye-popping. Only 13% of individual contributors strongly agree their performance review inspires them to improve, and that percentage is a microscopic 8% for managers, according to The Manager Experience<\/a><\/em>, a five-year Gallup study published in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Managers, the study revealed, \u201calso find performance reviews to be less fair and less accurate than individual contributors do. If there were a single argument against the traditional performance review, it would be this: Those administering performance reviews think less of the process than those receiving them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s no surprise that many companies have moved away from formal performance reviews and adopted other mechanisms for improving performance and internal mobility<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what method an organization chooses to replace performance reviews, the replacement should embrace positive enablement as its core goal. Why? Positive enablement breeds a company culture that\u2019s ripe to support career mobility \u2014 which can be truly transformational for organizations and individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Career mobility happens when employees have the ability to learn new skills that lead to new opportunities for career advancement. It\u2019s a win-win for employers and employees. Employers benefit from a constantly developing pool of internal candidates<\/a> who can rise to new challenges and keep the organization competitive. Employees benefit too, because they\u2019re able to stay more engaged, be more excited about the future, take on new projects or roles, and achieve their professional goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A good model for replacing the performance review is something that I\u2019ve started to call the \u201cperformance preview.\u201d The idea is this: Kick off the year with a conversation between the People Leader and employee that\u2019s ongoing. While the traditional performance review inherently looks backward, the performance preview<\/em> is always forward-looking \u2014 focused on what employees need to do in order to do their jobs well, and what they need from the organization to keep advancing on their individual career journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An important part of making a performance preview work \u2014 and unlocking its support for career mobility \u2014 is understanding what skills people have and what skills people need. These days, a career isn\u2019t defined by a bunch of successive jobs; rather, it\u2019s a portfolio of skills and experiences. When somebody\u2019s career is mobile, it\u2019s because they\u2019re able to demonstrate how their skills have evolved, or how transferable they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When People Leaders proactively help employees map out a development journey based on the skills employees<\/a> need, everyone involved takes a critical first step in setting employees, and the company, up for success. And then something wonderful happens: A learning process begins. And increasingly, an upskilling<\/a> platform like Degreed, which maps learning to skills and roles, is helping employers quickly connect employees to a wide range of curated and personalized learning content.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next step? Providing real-world opportunities for employees to put their new knowledge to work. Career mobility opportunities like these include shadowing, mentoring, short-term assignments, ad- hoc projects, and even new roles. These are great because they let employees test their new knowledge, build confidence, and continue to build even more new skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Through it all, the People Leader provides success tips to the employee, rather than backward-looking feedback that\u2019s often perceived as critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As more and more companies embrace ongoing career conversations, yours should too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do choose to continue relying on traditional performance reviews, be honest with yourself about this fact: They\u2019re a tool for creating a rationale for compensation, or for documenting a performance problem to limit liability in litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And be realistic about this as well: Performance reviews are not helping your organization improve people\u2019s work and contributions in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To truly help your employees, and to help your organization get ahead, you need a dynamic, forward-looking employee development process that supports career mobility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to learn more about career mobility? Sign up for our free mini-course, 5 Days of Career Mobility<\/a><\/em>, to get started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve never understood why the HR community adopted the term \u201cperformance management.\u201d Successfully managing someone\u2019s performance is an unrealistic expectation. Most parents struggle to manage a teenage child\u2019s behavior and school performance. So what would make us seriously believe that People Leaders can successfully manage the performance of other adults? I consider the role of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":61313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[655],"tags":[751,704],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-61310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skills-talent-mobility","tag-movilidad-profesional","tag-desarrollo-de-habilidades"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEmployee Appraisals: A See-Saw History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Performance Management Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Performance Reviews: A Faulty Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Enabling Career Mobility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Performance Previews<\/em>: A Dynamic Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Positive Enablement is the Way to Career Mobility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"