Oh. You were serious? Then it’s not funny, it’s sad.

After 25 years of watching people around me and listening to their war stories from other jobs, I think I can say that Culbert is right far too often. No one gets rid of the bad boss.

Culbert says “I’m sick and tired of hearing about subordinates who fail and get fired, while bosses, whose job it was to ensure subordinate effectiveness, get promoted and receive raises in pay.”

That’s because too many bosses see the _employee’s job_ as making _them_ look good (not the other way around. The entire review is too often “here are your faults, here’s how you need to improve.” No wonder some of us loathe “performance review” time as the joke it is.

While the “war for talent” may be experiencing a temporary pause given the current economic climate, demographics are such that we’ll soon be back to talking about how to attract the best and brightest – and evidently, how to retain them.

Given our research around the norms and expectations of the Net Gen, the key isn’t just feedback but rather ongoing engagement, goal setting and motivation. Something that isn’t generational but rather just good management.

In this case, he notes early on that the performance review is “an intimidation aimed at preserving the boss’s authority and power advantage.” I don’t think getting rid of the review will change anything in such an office – such a boss would just seek new ways to exert authority, etc.

Might be better to just get rid of the boss, and look for one who sees performance reviews a place to give constructive feedback, build the team, etc.