Rethinking college degrees and workplace performance appraisal

There has been a concerned murmur reported in the media about “unmarketable” university degrees by some students, worried that they will not get jobs with the courses they have been pursuing. Perhaps the students should not be too insistent, given a growing trend among some of the major international corporations to do away with college degrees as the only criteria to recruit new talent into employment. Research by various talent and human resource managers indicates that relying on college degrees alone is “too blunt an approach to recruitment.” The research has “found no evidence to conclude that previous success in higher education correlated with future success in subsequent professional qualifications undertaken.” This makes for a harsh reality. In May last year, audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Britain became among the first major employers to exclude university education points grading system from its employment process, in the hope of recruiting broader talent. And, in August of the same year, Ernst & Young, one of the UK’s biggest graduate recruiters announced that, beginning this year, it will be removing the degree classification from its entry criteria, affirming the “no evidence” findings of success at university not correlating with achievement in later life. This has been concomitant with another trend that has also been taking root, rethinking the basis and usefulness of performance appraisal in the workplace. The Washington Post reports that, according to management research firm CEB, 95 percent of managers in “a prominent list of major corporations in the Fortune 500” are dissatisfied with the way their companies conduct performance reviews, and nearly 90 percent of HR leaders say the process doesn’t even yield accurate information. The list of corporations includes Accenture which employs over 330,000 people worldwide, among heavyweights such IBM, General Electric, Microsoft, Deloitte, The Gap, Adobe and international audit firm KPMG, among others. The Corporations are reported to have had enough with the forced rankings, the time-consuming paperwork and the frustration engendered among managers and employees alike. According to the research, the average manager spends more than 200 hours a year on activities related to performance reviews. The firms have been convinced all the effort spent on the performance review process didn’t ultimately accomplish their main goal to drive better performance among employees. Other cited research has shown that even employees who get positive performance appraisal reviews experience negative effects from the process. It often triggers disengagement, and constricts our openness to creativity and growth. And, as one HR practice leader for CEB was quoted saying, “Employees that do best in performance management systems tend to be the employees that are the most narcissistic and self-promoting, those aren’t necessarily the employees you need to be the best organization going forward.” The trend now taking root is employing feedback on employee performance on a more regular basis. IBM, for instance, has launched an app-based performance review system they are calling “Checkpoint”, which includes shorter-term goals and feedback at least every quarter. On its part, KPMG has instituted enhancements to the firm’s performance management and development processes to increase real time feedback and coaching, build skills, improve teamwork, elevate collective performance, and ultimately enhance the quality of client services. The general approach to performance appraisal sweeping across the world is between KPMG’s real time and IBM’s regular feedback. The once a year performance appraisal has become archaic and pointless. Meanwhile, in scrapping degree classification as entry criteria for employment, firms such as Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers are leading the way in the belief that placing too much emphasis on the scores will mean employers may miss out on key talent from disadvantaged backgrounds, who can perform less well at school. This means that, while a college degree is good, it should not a “be all and end all”. Even those without it now have a chance at lucrative gainful employment based on their talent and what they bring to the table as the trend catches up across the world.

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Rethinking college degrees and workplace performance appraisal