The Crowdsourced Performance Review by Eric Mosley - Book review

The Crowdsourced Performance Review

How to Use the Power of Social Recognition to Transform Employee Performance

By: Eric Mosley

Published: May 8, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 0071817980
ISBN-13: 978-0071817981
Publisher: McGraw-Hill










"The traditional performance review is frozen in time. Its design is outdated and its implementation is typically mediocre", writes social recognition thought leader and CEO of Globoforce, Eric Mosley, in his innovative and transformational book The Crowdsourced Performance Review: How to Use the Power of Social Recognition to Transform Employee Performance. The author describes the flawed and counterproductive approach taken with utilizing the traditional performance review, and offers an alternative strategy of gathering and assessing the opinions and perspectives of many people to establish a more accurate appraisal of an employee's contribution.

Eric Mosley understands that the standard form of performance reviews is not only deeply flawed, but also produces the exact opposite outcomes from those expected from the appraisal. Instead of building employee morale and improving overall productivity, the traditional review creates a culture of fear, mistrust, and lowered staff morale.

To overcome these glaring weaknesses in the employee review process, Eric Mosley recommends a completely different approach to evaluating employee performance and contribution to the organization. Instead of simply utilizing an annual, one on one meeting between manager and employee, the author proposes widening the scope of the review including the entire organization on an ongoing basis.

Eric Mosley (photo left) recognizes that the traditional performance review is so deeply flawed in its design and execution, that no amount of incremental improvement can salvage it from the trash bin of history. While the author realizes that the standard appraisal format is formal and structured, he proposes an entirely different formality and structure within the crowdsourced approach. The fundamental difference resides in the real time assessment, the ongoing nature of the review, and the crowdsourced input and information comprising the evaluation.

Eric Mosley presents an alternative methodology that overcomes the problems inherent within the traditional performance review. This fresh approach also takes advantage of the advances in technology, the power of social media, newer business thought regarding the value of company culture, and the collective wisdom of the entire organization. The author divides the book into three overarching sections as follows:

* Improving performance with the wisdom of crowds
* Putting the crowdsourced performance review into practice
* The future of performance management

For me, the power of the book is how Eric Mosley combines a strong theoretical framework and reasoning for using a crowdsourced performance review, with the practical steps for the successful implementation of this new evaluation process. The author establishes the reasoning for replacing the outmoded traditional review process with a completely different methodology. The standard review process has never achieved its stated goals at the best of times. The process is adversarial and fails to guide or coach employees to higher levels of performance. Indeed, the opposite effect is more likely outcome, making the entire event an exercise in futility.

Eric Mosley embraces the reasoning that the established process is not repairable, and needs replacement. The advances in technology enable managers and entire organizations to evaluate and assess performance on an ongoing basis, and in real time. The entire wisdom stored in the entire organization is also called upon in the evaluation process, providing more insights, ideas, and perspectives that a single manager may miss.

The author also recognizes that the older process did real harm to employee morale, resulting in a mistrusting company culture. The proposed new performance review transforms the culture into one of engagement and collaboration in the process, offering the competitive advantage of a strong company culture.

I highly recommend the revolutionary and must read book The Crowdsourced Performance Review: How to Use the Power of Social Recognition to Transform Employee Performance by Eric Mosley, to any business leaders, executives, and managers who are seeking a fresh and effective approach to the age old problem of creating effective employee performance reviews. With the current practice of reviews being completely outdated, this book offers an alternative that is effective for the employee, the manager, and the entire company culture.