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How to Terminate an Employee without Breaking Their Spirit

Monster.com –– January 2017

In this article, Dick Grote states that though terminating an employee is never easy, there is an effective way to fire someone while maintaining the dignity of both people involved. Dick Grote provides a specific 5-step procedure that explains exactly how to terminate someone’s employment successfully.

3 Popular Goal-Setting Techniques Managers Should Avoid

Harvard Business Review –– January 2017

In this article, Dick Grote states that while the value of setting goals is unarguable, there are three commonly used goal-setting techniques that can thwart success when goal-setting time rolls around: SMART goals, cascading goals, and using percentage weights to indicate relative goal importance. Dick explains why goal-setters should avoid being overly influenced by the SMART test, be cautious about the use of cascading goals, and avoid using percentage weights.

Every Manager Needs to Practice Two Types of Coaching

Harvard Business Review –– September 2016

Companies today haven’t abandoned performance appraisals, despite all the buzz in the media. What has changed? The expectation that managers will do a LOT more coaching. Dick Grote explains in this article that there are actually two kinds of coaching—scheduled and spontaneous—and he provides some practical tips on the best way to do each one.

How to Fire Someone Without Getting Sued

HR Magazine –– June 1, 2016

Elisabeth Greenbaum Kasson interviewed Dick Grote, President of Grote Consulting Corporation, a performance management firm in Dallas, Texas, about how companies are moving away from Performance Improvement Plans in favor of a more direct approach. Grote is among those opposed to PIPs. “The best thing for an organization to do when they realize that an employee simply isn’t working out is to use a procedure called a ‘decision-making leave,’” he explains. This is effectively a paid day off during which the employee is asked to reflect on the performance feedback she has received and to ask herself if she is willing and able to meet the company’s expectations.

What to Say and Do When Your Employee Has Another Job Offer

Harvard Business Review –– May 31, 2016

It’s normal to get a sinking feeling when one of your employees says, “I have something to tell you.” No manager wants to hear that someone on his team has another job offer in hand. But how should you actually respond to the news? In this interview with Dick Grote, Amy Gallo asks if you should counteroffer? Or just accept that they’re moving on? How can you tell if the employee is just bluffing to get a raise? “Instead of panicking, make the most of the situation. Whether or not the employee ends up taking the other offer, this is a rich opportunity,” says Dick Grote a performance management consultant and author of the HBR Tools on Goal Setting and Performance Reviews.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Firing Someone

Harvard Business Review — February 17, 2016

Years ago Dick Grote heard the statement, “Discharge is the capital punishment of organizational life.” What nonsense! In this Harvard Business Review article, Grote explains how to handle a termination successfully. “If our metaphor for termination is capital punishment, no wonder organizations and their managers are so hesitant to fire a poor performer,” he says. The appropriate metaphor? A no-fault divorce. “As painful as divorce may be at the time, it allows two people to correct a mistake and move on to a more satisfying future. Handled well, termination works the same way.”

How to Respond When Your Employee Asks for a Raise

Harvard Business Review –– February 17, 2016

As Amy Gallo observes in an interview with Dick Grote, no matter who’s making the request when an employee asks for a raise––your star performer or an average one––you’re likely to feel taken aback or annoyed at being put in this position. “Most managers do,” says Dick Grote, performance management consultant and author of How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals. “Resist the urge to say something like ‘It’s not up to me’ or ‘I can’t decide that,’ which undermines your authority,” he advises. “And watch your facial expressions and body language as well as your words. If word gets out that the way you can get a raise is simply by asking for one, you’re going to have a line outside your door.”

The Right Way to Fire Someone

Harvard Business Review –– February 5, 2016

In an interview with Rebecca Knight, Dick Grote says that firing an employee is the single most difficult thing we ask leaders to do. “Even when the business justification is clear, you’re sitting down and telling someone that he’s no longer getting a paycheck and that when he wakes up in the morning, he has no place to go. That’s tough.” If you’re having trouble mustering the courage to act, Grote advises you to think about your team. “After all, they’re the ones who are picking up the slack and maybe working longer hours because the person you need to fire is not doing his job correctly.”

How to Handle Negative Feedback

Harvard Business Review — August 2015

What should you do when you’re the target of criticism (even if it’s unjust and unfair)? As Dick Grote explains in this article in the Harvard Business Review, unless you have spent a little time in advance thinking about what you’ll do the next time that—fairly or foully—someone delivers some unexpected criticism, all the good advice you’ve heard about how to react won’t come immediately to mind. Unprepared, you’re likely to be so caught up in the immediacy of the moment that you won’t remember these three simple, familiar prescriptions that allow us to keep control and to master (or at least, defuse) the situation. So they bear repeating, and thinking through now—so you’ll be prepared in the heat of the moment. Listen carefully, don’t get defensive, ask for time.

How to Get a New Employee Up to Speed

Harvard Business Review –– May 22, 2015

“If you want people to perform well, you have to get them off to a good start. That’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?” says Dick Grote in this interview with Sara Stibitz.  “It’s important to be thoughtful and deliberate about an employee’s first few months. Ask one person to act as a sponsor,” advises Grote, “and designate him or her to be the go-to person when the new teammate runs into problems. This is good for the sponsor, for whom this is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership skills as well as the new employee. Ask your existing employees how long it took before they felt they were part of the team. What they say is the best data you’re going to get.” He also recommends asking existing employees about their overall onboarding experience. “The old-timers won’t remember, but those hired two months ago will have feedback about what they wish they’d learned earlier,” Grote says.

The Danger in Self-Appraisals

HRM Asia Magazine — March 2015

Asking employees to rate their own performance has been a common part of organizational performance appraisals for many years. Dick Grote explains in this article why self-appraisals may actually cause more harm than good, and then he proposes a far more effective way to get the employee’s input.

Improving Performance Evaluations Using Calibration

SHRM Online –– May 23, 2014

“Few things come out lower on employee engagement surveys than performance appraisals, but we do them because the data is needed to ensure fairness with compensation, promotions—or terminations,” said Dick Grote of Grote Consulting Corporation during his presentation at the 2014 WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference, held in Dallas on May 19-21, 2014. “A good system doesn’t start with assessment; a good system starts with performance planning,” he noted. “Performance appraisals will always be difficult, but managers make them even more so when they don’t make their objectives clear at the start of the year — for instance, regarding expectations for measurable outcomes and accomplishments (results) and demonstration of competencies (behaviors). If you believe in pay for performance, you must have data to differentiate where people stand.” In an interview with Stephen Miller of SHRM Online, he proposed the radical notion that performance management systems can actually work, and that employers have “an ethical obligation” to employees to see that they do. “To ensure that performance appraisal ratings are accurate, organizations should use ratings distribution guidelines, have appraisals reviewed by the appraisal writer’s supervisor, and hold calibration sessions,” he advises.

Forced Ranking and Relative Comparison

The Dallas Morning News–– February 20, 2014

In an interview with Hanah Cho, Dick Grote, a performance management consultant in Dallas Texas advises: “Assess Your Team: Determine who your A, B and C players are. Reward the A players, reassure the B players and remove the C players. Terminate marginal performers fast. Err on the side of speed. Remember, it isn’t the people you fire who make your life miserable. It’s the ones you don’t.”

Stack Ranking

National Public Radio’s “Marketplace” –– November 13, 2013

Mark Garrison interviewed Dick Grote, a former GE employee who wrote the book, Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work.  Grote says that the forced ranking process works because it requires managers to identify who’s great and who needs help. But even supporters like him acknowledge that the system has gotten a bad name over the years. “Virtually no one uses that term forced ranking anymore”, he says. “That carries so much negative baggage.” The term most often used now is calibration.

Microsoft Abandons “Stacked Ranking”

The Wall Street Journal –– November 12, 2013

Shira Ovide and Rachel Feintzeig interviewed Dick Grote, a Dallas-based performance management consultant and author of a book about forced ranking, about Microsoft’s decision to abandon its “stacked ranking” system. Mr. Grote says that the problem with forced ranking is partially the name, which conjures more negative associations than almost any term in the business vocabulary. He estimates that at least 30% of Fortune 500 companies continue to rank employees along a curve, doing so under softer-sounding terms such as talent management. “For example,” he says “a firm might mandate that only 10% of a supervisor’s employees can rank in a top category and 2% must be in the bottom group.” While true stack rankings are becoming rarer, “firms are looking for ways to add rigor to performance reviews and toughen up ‘easy graders’ in their management ranks,” says Mr. Grote, who works with large multinational industrial organizations.

What is a Performance Appraisal?

The Conference Board Review –– Summer 2013

In an interview with Vadim Liberman, performance management consultant Dick Grote says: “Sure, there’s a level of subjectivity here, but every performance appraisal is ultimately subjective. An assessment is a formal record of a supervisor’s opinion of the quality of the employee’s work.” He points out that “the operative word is opinion. It is not a testable, provable document, though it does need to be grounded in reality.”

Goal Setting

The Conference Board Review –– Summer 2013

In this interview with Vadim Liberman, Dick Grote warns: “Your weakest performers are going to latch on to the attainable part of SMART and set goals completely within their comfort zones.? Why? Because as he explains, “The better your appraisal, the more money you stand to earn, so rather than create genuine stretch goals, you can set bars too low, knowing that making the numbers also means making other numbers in your bank account.”

A Performance Appraisal Conundrum: What Would You Do?

Harvard Business Review “Daily Alert Blog” – July 2013

The Harvard Business Review’s “Daily Alert” blog published Dick’s short article, “A Performance-Appraisal Conundrum: What Would You Do?” The question: When an employee is involved in a significant incident immediately after the close of the one-year performance appraisal cycle and that incident impacts his performance either negatively or positively, should the incident be included in the annual review?

How to Write the Dreaded Self-Appraisal

Harvard Business Review – March 2013

Here are principles to remember from Dick’s interview with Amy Gallo of the Harvard Business Review. Understand how your self-appraisal will be used. Focus mostly on what you’ve accomplished in the past year. Talk about your weaknesses using developmental language. Ask about growth opportunities. Don’t be defensive or critical of others.

In Conversation with Performance Management Guru Dick Grote

SHRM India Online Newsletter – January 2012

Rajeshwari Sharma, the editor of SHRM India Online Newsletter asks Dick about trends in performance management. Dick discusses an increased focus on excellence in managing performance and the use of calibration to drive the truth into performance appraisal ratings. He also lists six ways for an organization to determine if its performance management system is effective.

How to Crack Your Appraisal in Three Months

Economic Times of India – January 2012

In this interview Saumaya Biyattacharya asks Dick what an employee can do during the last three months of the one-year performance appraisal cycle to increase the chances of an acceptable performance evaluation when that employee’s performance has been mediocre during the first nine months. Dick explains how employees can take advantage of the most common performance appraisal mistake that managers make – the “recency effect.”

Delivering an Effective Performance Review

Harvard Business Review – November 2011

In its “Best Practices” blog, the Harvard Business Review interviews Dick about how to make performance appraisals more effective. In the blog Dick provides a lot of specific suggestions on how to make this prickly process beneficial for everyone involved. “If you take the right approach,” interviewer Rebecca Knight notes, “appraisals are an excellent opportunity to reinforce the solid performers and redirect the poor ones.”

Preparing for the Appraisal Meeting

Training Magazine – August 2011

In the August 2011 issue of Training Magazine, there’s a brief excerpt from Dick’s new book, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals. In this excerpt Dick explains how to prepare in advance for the performance appraisal meeting, including such recommendations as selecting an appropriate place for the meeting (always in a business setting … never in an informal setting). And he discusses the myth of “no surprises.”

How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals

Published by the Harvard Business Review Press – July 2011

Unlike other books that Dick Grote has written, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals is not aimed at HR professionals and senior executives, Instead Dick’s target audience for this book is line managers and supervisors who must successfully use whatever performance management system their company gives them. His goal for the book is to show these managers and supervisors how to meet their performance appraisal responsibilities at an “Exceeds Expectations” level.

Let’s Abolish Self Appraisal

Harvard Business Review “Blog Network” – July 2011

In this blog Dick explains why managers should not ask employees to complete self-appraisals. Instead managers should ask each direct report to prepare an informal list of his or her most important accomplishments and achievements during the appraisal period. This “good stuff” list will provide the same value as a formal self-appraisal, and it may remove some of the stress and negativity felt about the performance appraisal process itself.

SMART Goals — Bad Idea

Training Magazine – July 2011

The subhead to Dick’s article in the July 2011 issue of Training Magazine provides the article’s core message: “Dump the SMART acronym. Insist that people set wise goals that truly test the limits of their capabilities.”

Pros and Cons of 360-Degree Performance Feedback

SHRM Online –– July 11, 2011

Steve Taylor interviewed Dick Grote about using 360 degree feedback. Grote said that applying 360-degree feedback to development or coaching probably doesn’t do much harm. However, he cautioned, “When 360 degree feedback is used for determining compensation and/or promotion, misleading information might be provided by the office screw-up who doesn’t know anything anyway. And also by the guy down the hall bucking for the same promotion you are who wants to put a dagger in your ribs.”

Making Onboarding Work

Harvard Business Review “Blog Network” – June 2011

In this blog Dick explains how a good job of onboarding can help make new employees feel welcome and comfortable in their new surroundings, and can take weeks off the learning curve so that new employees quickly become productive members of their new workgroups.

How to Handle a Raise Request

Harvard Business Review “Blog Network” – June 2011

“Can I have a raise?” Those five little words can cause a lot of stress in many smaller organizations, and even some larger ones, where there is no formal compensation policy. In this blog, Dick offers suggestions on how to answer that question.

Evaluating Values

HR Magazine –– April 2011

When management expert Dick Grote gives a speech, he often asks how many in the audience have a formal set of company values and how many have formal appraisal systems. Most hands go up for both questions. But when he asks if the performance appraisal forms reflect the values statements, few people say yes. “Leaders of very few companies hold people accountable for company values on performance appraisals or any other mechanism,” says Grote, founder of Grote Consulting Corporation in Frisco, Texas, and author of the book, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals. As he noted in this interview with Kathryn Usrey, not all values are appropriate to include on a performance appraisal form. For instance, “Can you assess employees on a 5-point scale on their ethics? What would a 3 rating look like? You assume everyone in the organization has ethics. If they didn’t have a fully functioning ethical and moral compass, you would terminate them.” Grote describes how HR professionals for an oil company resolved this dilemma. The company listed “Ethics” as the first value and pre-populated it with the highest rating of 5. Below that section was a note: “If for any reason a 5 is inappropriate for this individual, a serious conversation must occur with HR.” This demonstrated the importance of ethics as a company-value and encouraged managers to talk with employees about it.

Is Progressive Discipline a Thing of the Past?

SHRM – January 2010

In this provocatively titled article, writer Rebecca Hastings quotes Dick Grote extensively on the need to refocus disciplinary action from a punitive process to one that concentrates on requiring people to take personal responsibility for their choices of behavior.

Many interviewees throughout Hastings’s article advocate using Dick’s Discipline Without Punishment approach. She concludes her piece by quoting Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., author of the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: P.S. It’s All Small Stuff: “Your job is very simple,” Mantell said, quoting from Grote’s book: “To help them become a good employee or an ex-employee.”

When There’s No Pay for Performance

SHRM Online – April 2009

The April 2009 issue of SHRM’s online magazine quotes Dick Grote extensively in Rebecca Hastings’ feature story, “When There’s No Pay for Performance.” In the article, Dick talks about why performance appraisal is important even when there’s no money for merit increases.

Manager, Employee Perceptions of Performance Differ

SHRM Online – April 2009

In the April 2009 issue of SHRM’s online magazine, writer Rebecca Hastings interviews Dick about why using self-appraisal is a bad idea for her story, “Manager, Employee Perceptions of Performance Differ.”

Curing What Ails Performance Reviews

HR Magazine – January 2009

In the January 2009 issue of SHRM’s HR Magazine, writer Adrienne Fox interviews Dick Grote about how to improve annual appraisals for her feature story, “Curing What Ails Performance Reviews.” “Grote chooses his words for maximum effect,” she writes, in describing Dick’s prescriptions for remedying appraisal ills.

Poor Economy Burns Low Performers

Houston Chronicle – January 28, 2009

In the January 28, 2009 article, “Poor economy burns low performers,” L.M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle includes Dick Grote’s thoughts regarding the issue of trimming workforces in a bad economy. In the article, Dick provides insight into what smart companies do with their difficult employees and poor performers in tough times.

Helping Managers Hold Difficult Conversations

International Personnel Management Association Newsletter – October 2008

In this feature article, Dick offers proven strategies and practical tips that will help managers hold difficult conversations ranging from poor performance to behavioral and attitude issues.

Passing Judgment

The Conference Board Review – September/October 2008

The cover story of the September/October 2008 issue of The Conference Board Review is Dick Grote’s article, “Passing Judgment.” In the article Dick explains that the reason performance appraisal programs fail is typically not because of shoddy forms, bad data and clumsy discussions. The real problem is that most people involved with the performance management process believe a set of myths that actually prevent their performance management procedures from operating successfully — no matter how well the managers have been trained and how expertly the forms have been designed.

Keep Forced Ranking Out of Court

Training Magazine – June, 2008

In the June 2008 issue of Training Magazine, Dick is interviewed by Sarah Boehle for her article, “Keep Forced Ranking Out of Court.” In the article, Dick reinforces the benefits of a forced ranking system and emphasizes the importance of effective procedural and legal training for managers who will be using the system.

Calibration Gives Performance Appraisals an Extra Element

The Dallas Morning News – April 9, 2008

Dick Grote is interviewed by Cheryl Hall of the The Dallas Morning News in the article, “Calibration Gives Performance Appraisals an Extra Element.” The article presents the critical need for companies to distinguish their stars from their less-than-stellar employees. In the article, Dick discusses the important role of calibration and how it drives truth into the performance appraisal process.

Who Measures Up?

Utah CEO Magazine – March 2008

Dick Grote is interviewed by Geoff Griffin of Utah CEO Magazine in the article, “Who measures up?” In the article, Dick provides an insightful suggestion for how to tell if someone on your management team has the right stuff to be a real leader.

Retooling the Employee Appraisal

Beauty Store Business Magazine – February 2008

In his feature story for Beauty Store Business magazine, Phillip M. Perry interviews Dick Grote on the importance of performance appraisal in organizations. In the article, Dick validates the value of the process and provides key tips and important insight for conducting truly meaningful performance reviews.

HR Magazine Interviews Dick Grote on Calibration

HR Magazine – January 2008

In this issue of HR Magazine, Joanne Sammer includes an interview with Dick about an intriguing performance management process called “calibration.” In the interview, Dick explains that it’s not OK for managers to have varying standards of performance, since performance appraisal ratings impact compensation, promotions, development — even terminations.

Focus in Face of Adversity

Houston Chronicle – October 3, 2007

Dick Grote is interviewed by L.M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle in the article, “Focus in Face of Adversity.” The article deals with the need to concentrate on the job and stay focused in spite of having to deal with real personal problems. In the article, Dick provides some suggestions on how employees should deal with outside problems that may adversely impact their job performance.

Workplace Distractions

Careers Channel at BusinessWeek.com – July 20, 2007

Emily Keller interviewed Dick Grote for her article about workplace distractions, which cost
U. S. business $650 billion a year. Dick discusses how that overworking employees and giving managers too many employees to supervise distracts them from their core mission of doing quality work.

Honest Appraisals

Human Resource Executive – May 16, 2007

In Julie Liedman’s article, Dick Grote is quoted extensively on methods that companies are using to drive the truth into performance management, including calibration sessions and linking pay to performance.

Fear of Firing

BusinessWeek – April 23, 2007

Dick Grote appears in the cover story of this issue where he discusses his belief that companies are better off terminating poor performers than retaining them, as long as they do it right.

What’s Right with Performance Appraisal?

The Times of India – October 2006

In this article Dick Grote explains how a formal performance appraisal process fulfills an ethical obligation of leadership by letting each employee know the answers to two questions: (1) What do you expect of me, and (2) how am I doing at meeting your expectations?

Are Performance Appraisals Worth the Hassle?

Across the Board (the magazine of The Conference Board) – July/August 2006

This article in Across the Board presents a dialogue between Dick Grote and Steve Scullen, Associate Professor of Management at Drake University, about whether or not performance appraisals are worth the hassle. Some of the issues discussed are: can performance evaluations be made fairer, less intimidating, and a better experience for all concerned?

Discipline Without Punishment, Second Edition

Published by the American Management Association – May 2006

Dick Grote’s book, Discipline Without Punishment, became a management classic with its original publication in 1995. Now in a completely updated second edition, the book provides a complete explanation of the philosophy and mechanics of the Discipline Without Punishment® performance improvement system, including the methods for implementing the system in any organization. It is valuable both to the human resources executive who wants to adopt a more effective discipline system and to operating managers and line supervisors who want to solve people problems quickly, confidently and permanently.

Spotlight on Dick Grote

Human Resource Management International Digest – March 2006

Sarah Powell, the editor of Human Resource Management International Digest, interviews Dick Grote extensively about the differences between standard performance appraisal and the forced ranking procedure. In closing the interview, Dick argues that a forced ranking process can be beneficial even to those who end up being ranked low.

Forced Ranking: Making Performance Management Work

Published by the Harvard Business School Press – November 2005

Forced ranking is one of the most controversial topics in management. Dick Grote’s book, published by the Harvard Business School Press, dispels common misperceptions about the process and explains how to create a forced-ranking system that is fair, evenhanded, and effective.

Driving True Development

Training Magazine – July 2005

In Dick Grote’s feature article for Training Magazine, he explains why creating development plans is a critical component of an effective performance management process. He reveals why development plans so often fail. And he provides step-by-step guidelines on how to create development plan that work.

Harvard Management Update Interviews Dick Grote on Top Performers

Harvard Management Update – September 2004

Dick Grote is interviewed by Loren Gary of Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation about the importance of getting the best performers in the most important jobs, and how to identify an organization’s ‘A’ players. Grote Consulting clients American Airlines, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, LucasFilm, Sprint and Weyerhauser are also interviewed for the article.

How to Find, Fix, or Fire Your Poor Performers

CIO Magazine – November 2003

In her feature article, Meredith Levinson interviews Dick Grote about the costs created by underperforming employees, how forced ranking works and how it can backfire, and five steps to improving performance.

Chuck Old-Style Reviews

Investor’s Business Daily – October 2003

In an interview with Cord Cooper, Dick Grote offers tips for giving meaningful performance reviews.

Forced Ranking

HR Magazine – June 2003

Dick Grote discusses with Steve Bates the controversial process by which employees are graded against each other instead of judged against performance standards.

Training magazine calls Dick Grote a “master of development”

Training Magazine – May 2003

In a sidebar to her feature story, “Developing for Dollars,” about the steps companies are taking to build managerial accountability for developing employee talent, Kristine Ellis focuses on Dick Grote’s approach to writing competencies to reflect mastery performance.

Evaluate This! The New Performance Review

Working Knowledge Newsletter – April 2003

In this Harvard Business School publication, Dick Grote explains to interviewer Peter Allen that performance appraisals shouldn’t be akin to having a root canal.

Judgment Day

U.S. News and World Report – January 2003

Kim Clark’s interview with Dick Grote discusses various methods used in performance appraisals including 360 degree feedback, technology-based systems, and forced ranking.

Forced Ranking: Behind the Scenes

Across the Board (the magazine of The Conference Board) – November/December 2002

In this cover story of the November/December 2002 issue of Across the Board, Dick Grote describes how forced ranking works, and he explains why he is an advocate of the practice –– when it’s used well. In the article he takes the reader behind the scenes and describes the actual forced ranking procedure that he created for a large consumer goods company and what went on during the ranking sessions.

OK, Let’s Review

Entrepreneur Magazine – October 2002

Dick Grote talks about how appraising the sales staff’s performance does not have to be the biggest pain in anyone’s year with writer Kimberly McCall.

Dick Grote interviewed by BBC Radio

October 11, 2002

Dick Grote is interviewed by British Broadcasting Radio in London about best practices in Performance Management.

Assess Your Workers

USA Today – August 15, 2002

In the article, “Assess Your Workers,” Dick Grote is interviewed about the importance of an effective performance management system.

Performance Reviews and Why You Need Them

Associated Press Newswires – July 2002

In this interview with Joyce Rosenberg, Dick Grote discusses the importance of performance reviews.

The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book

Published by the American Management Association – May 2002

In his book, The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book, Dick Grote answers more than 140 of the most common––and most difficult––questions about performance appraisal. By writing in an easy-to-understand, practical way, he provides managers with the skill and the confidence they need to become masters of the performance appraisal process.

Harvard Business School Interviews Dick Grote on the “Perfect” Performance Appraisal Form

Harvard Management Update – October 2001

In a special supplement to the Harvard Management Update, the Harvard Business School today published an interview with Dick Grote about the content and structure of a perfect performance appraisal form.

Discipline Without Punishment

Across the Board (the magazine of The Conference Board) – September/October 2001

In this feature article of the September/October 2001 issue of Across the Board, Dick describes how the Discipline Without Punishment® performance improvement system solves the problems of absenteeism, bad attitudes and poor performance through a non-punitive, responsibility-based approach. As Dick says in the article, “It may be possible to punish people into compliance, but we cannot punish people into commitment. And commitment is what today’s organizations require.”

Performance Reviews: Perilous Curves Ahead

Fortune Magazine – May 2001

The value of grading employees via forced ranking as a management tool when implemented fairly is discussed by Dick Grote in this article by Joe Vaughn.

National Public Radio interviews Dick Grote

Morning Edition – March 3, 2001

Bob Edwards and David Molpus of NPR interview Dick Grote on what businesses are doing to overcome employees’ perceptions that performance reviews are an administrative headache.

Is There a Perfect Appraisal Form? Yes, Says Expert

HR Briefing – February 2001

HR Briefing, a subscription-only journal aimed at senior HR executives and consultants, devoted the lead story of its February 15, 2001 issue to an interview with performance appraisal expert Dick Grote on the content and structure of a “perfect” performance evaluation form.

Workforce magazine recognizes significance of Dick Grote’s work in performance appraisal

Workforce Magazine – January 2001

Dick Grote is included at number nineteen in a list of the eighty people, events and trends that have shaped Human Resources in the past century.

Performance Appraisal: Solving the Toughest Challenges

HR Magazine — July 2000

In this article Dick explains how to handle some of the toughest challenges in performance appraisal with elegance and professionalism. For example, how do you evaluate an employee when she is geographically removed from the manager, making data-collection laborious? What happens when the employee is technically more knowledgeable than the manager? Or when the person on the receiving end of the evaluation is years older than the appraiser, or is making more money? What do you do when the employee is just doing a flat-out lousy job?

What Do We Buy When We Pay for Performance?

Benefits and Compensation Solutions Magazine — June 2000

Just what is it that our salary dollars buy? In this cover article for Benefits and Compensation Solutions Magazine, Dick answers this question and others such as: Does money motivate? How do we manage compensation systems so that we get the most from our money? What can pay do? And what can pay not do?

Rules for Revolutionaries: How to Implement Change

Not-for-Profit CEO — June 2000

In this feature article, Dick Grote explains how to become adroit in managing change, whether internally generated or imposed from the outside.

Secrets of Performance Appraisal: Best Practices from the Masters

Across the Board (the magazine of The Conference Board) – May 2000

In this cover story of the May 2000 issue of Across the Board, Dick reveals what makes successful organizations different from the also-rans. He explains that those organizations with world-class performance management systems insist that all managers maintain consistent, demanding standards for everyone; that they identify their highest-potential employees and develop them quickly; and that they move marginal performers aside so they don’t block the path of talent. These organizations treat their human resources departments as partners, staff them with the highest caliber talent available, and insist that they be active agents for change.

In Performance Management Public Sector Leads the Pack

Harvard Business Review — January/February 2000

In this article for the Harvard Business Review, Dick Grote explains that surprisingly, some of the most innovative work in developing new approaches to performance management is being done these days by organizations in the public sector. Dick describes how municipalities, states, and federal government agencies are generating highly effective people-management systems and installing them with remarkable success.