March 3, 2009
The Levels in Action
The Perils of Making Managers Play the "Comparison Game" at Review Time
Is it possible for a single, apparently sensible business decision to crush morale and poison relationships throughout an organization? I saw something along these lines occur in a company where I once worked, in the wake of an edict driven by Finance and ratified by HR. The company wanted tighter control of the budget allotted for salaries, and they sought to achieve this through tighter control of performance evaluations.
Question of the Week
Q: I’m wondering what Fr. Spitzer’s views are on the whole subprime mortgage meltdown and banking crisis? If he were advising banking industry leaders in the years leading up to the crisis, could he have seen it coming or at least seen that something was very wrong in terms of the culture of the banks?
– JK, Michigan A: A lot of industry leaders could see as long as three years ago what kinds of abuses could come if the economy were to decline. (More ...)
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Managers were given a very strict formula to adhere to: On a 5-point scale, the ratings for all the people they reviewed had to average a 3. In practice this meant that if managers wished to give some people higher ratings, they could only do so by giving other people ratings below 3. For every overachiever you rewarded, you had to brand someone else an underachiever. (More ...)
News from the Center
Construction Execs in New Orleans Receive Their First Spritz of Spitzer
Fifty leaders from major construction firms in Louisiana got their first taste of the Spitzer Center's business philosophy and programs through a half-day seminar hosted and organized by Durr Heavy Construction. The seminar, held January 28 in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, introduced participants to The Four Levels of Happiness™, the core concept of the Center's Journey to Excellence program. As typically happens when leaders see the Four Levels for the first time, they found the model “eye-opening” and “very insightful.” (More)