“I talked with some of the other managers,” Patricia explained. “No one likes our Performance Appraisal system.”

I nodded. “Tell me more.”

“Here’s the thing. Sure, we get together informally on a daily basis and talk about what is going on. But to sit down formally once a year to evaluate someone isn’t very productive. Even if I could remember something that happened earlier in the year, what’s the point. It’s water under the bridge. And most of the scoring questions are about things that I don’t think are relevant for most of our positions.”

“Then, why did your company select the format from this website?” I asked.

Patricia smiled. “Because no one wanted to take the time to really think this thing through. No one wanted to volunteer to create something more effective. Over the years, we have had six or seven different evaluation systems. And every couple of years, somebody says they are bored with this one or that one and we change. No one has ever liked any system we have ever had.”