Content about Dick Grote

July 26, 2011
Preparing for the Appraisal Meeting

Managers are universally advised that there should be no surprises during the course of a performance appraisal discussion and are scolded that, if the employee reacts with surprise to any point the manager makes, the manager hasn’t done his coaching job properly during the year. That’s another example of well-intentioned but poorly thought-out advice, says Dick Grote, author of “How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals.”

By Dick Grote, President, Grote Consulting Corporation

Get Everything Ready

There are a couple of important elements to arrange in advance of the performance appraisal meeting. The usual recommendations for preparing for the appraisal discussion are well known:

Gather all your materials:In addition to the performance appraisal document itself, you’ll want to have performance notes you’ve made during the course of the year and other support materials close at hand in case they’re needed.

June 29, 2011
SMART Goals: Bad Idea

By now, almost everyone who works for an organization is familiar with the hackneyed SMART acronym for setting goals: Goals must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. But teaching SMART goals is a bad idea that needs to be stomped out. Why? For one thing, managers aren’t told where they should look for goals, or how to determine whether their goals are appropriate and genuinely important, or how to make sure there’s some congruity between the goals individuals set and the organization’s business strategy.

By Dick Grote, President, Grote Consulting Corporation