I couldn’t help but laugh the other day when I saw this book, 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews, being posted on SHRM's email blast. This is why HR is frowned upon. The book tends to comes off as an insult to professionals in the Human Resources industry. It would seem to me that Paul Falcone thinks we are not capable of getting points across to co-workers. The book review says:
"No managerial or administrative task is as universally dreaded as the performance review. Supervisors may know the points they need to get across, but putting them on paper is another matter. This book puts the right words at their fingertips, with ready-to-use phrases and words, action items, and descriptions that managers, supervisors, and HR professionals can use to evaluate performance, prepare development plans, and address performance problems. 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Appraisals covers the 25 most commonly rated factors, including productivity, time management, decision making, and teamwork, as well as specific roles such as customer service, finance, sales, and more. The book provides hundreds of phrases to use in performance improvement plans, plus an appendix of helpful individual words."
It’s a book of phrases! What could it teach? If someone is unable to deliver efficient work in a productive manner, is the book going to refer to a “phrase” that the boss can use to say you’ve been slacking? The only use for a book like this is CYA, an acronym that won't be found in the text.
I feel that material like this makes people question Recruiters and their decisions and work ethic. It shows that we are incapable of defending our own work and shows why people comment badly towards HR, Recruiters, and Sourcers. If I need a dressing down from my manager, I hope he doesn't need to go to HR to get a book of phrases that can accurately tell me in corporate speak what needs to be done right before it's placed in my permanent file.
Performance Reviews may not be perfect, and there's a lot of room for improvement in training, but a book of weasel words a manager can use to avoid getting in trouble when documenting an employee is just...well, it's weasel words. That it's put out by SHRM is even more of an insult, as any association who puts words in people's mouths instead of teaching them how to manage employees needs to be more selective in what they promote.
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