everyone knows that deming disliked annual performance appraisals as he says in his out of the crisis:
Merit rating rewards people who do well within the system. It does not reward attempts to improve the system.
when he was asked what should be done instead, he is reported to have said: "whatever peter scholtes says." deming was against performance appraisals because, (in his own words):
It nourishes short-term performance, annihilates long-term planning, builds fear, demolishes teamwork, nourishes rivalry and politics.
also, as most opponents of PA will tell you, the common problem with PA is that the system can be gamed; and it is routinely gamed. this results in an opposite and unintended outcome which, needless to say, is detrimental to the organisation.
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whether or not, it is a general phenomenon, as far as i can see (or comment from experience), it is true for system admins; rather, a textbook case that illustrates what is wrong with PA. suppose we ignore this and assume that PA is inevitable, we are still left to find a way to measure system administrators, which is a daunting task – if not impossible. i too have the regrettable task of doing appraisals – which i do because i am bound by duty – and do it with an undisguised dislike of the process. in the course of a few years, i have made notes on how it fails (with respect to system admins – as it would be temerarious to comment on all disciplines).
