When we stopped offering guidance about what the right rating distribution ought to be, we saw four distinct rating patterns emerge that better reflected the actual performance characteristics of different teams and individuals. We also saw that managers doubled their usage of the extremes of the rating system. Expanding the proportion of people receiving the top rating better reflected their actual performance (skip ahead to chapter 10 to see why that’s true). And reducing the stigma of being in the bottom performance category made it easier for managers to have direct, compassionate
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