Hack:
Abolish performance appraisals - and do some different things instead.

The Solution is based on the following new assumptions.

Assumption A - There needs to be alignment between the system and the individual/manager's role in performance improvements and feedback. The manager's role is to remove obstacles, solve problems and facilitate improvements to systemic issues.

Assumption B -The employee's role is pivotal. The assumption is the employee understands their job role best and their own performance. Employees are the best people to seek and obtain feedback on their own performance and to determine who can best give that feedback as well as have insight into how to improve performance.

The System and Brain-Savvy focused solution

The following solution takes into account new discoveries in the field of neuroscience, which are now influencing leadership and management, and their accompanying systems and processes as well as challenging many underlying assumptions about ‘good management’. The solution works with the brain functioning rather than against it. We describe here the 'brain-savvy' solution to feedback and hence strong performance. It is important for organisations adopting such an approach to continually question whether the system they introduce works with the functioning of the brain, rather than against it, and that it mitigates against creating a threat response in people and instead where ever possible creates a reward response.

The conditions necessary for effective, brain-savvy feedback

1. The manager and employee understand the fundamental functioning of the brain as it applies to work within a business. Training has been provided to ensure managers and employees can apply this understanding to their respective roles.
2. Manager and employee are expected, and rewarded for, working towards maximising performance to meet corporate and business unit goals. Manager and employee are clear about their purpose and have jointly determined performance standards and measures related to purpose and what the customer wants.
3. The employee has control of the feedback process; they determine when, with whom and in which circumstances they seek feedback. Employees are trained to assess their own performance and openly discuss that with manager, colleagues and others who can help them develop their performance to the highest standards. For example, engaging a performance coach. This approach helps to reduce the threat response.
4. The manager's role is to remove obstacles, communicate changes in corporate and business unit goals, ensure there are methods and policies in place to give employees the data needed to assess performance and to provide support and, when asked coaching on performance. 
5. The performance system focuses on what is going well, rather than what is going poorly. Positive feedback predominates and development is strengths based. Employees have access to tools for understanding how to improve performance; tools may range from training courses, benchmarking data, performance coaching, etc. 
6. The culture of the organisation encourages and values time spent on assessment of performance using data, feedback from colleagues, customers and others with insight. This includes but is not limited to professional bodies, networks with competitors and suppliers, external institutions such as universities and informal networks of peers. Time is made available for development. This does not have to be 'soft' or easy. Nothing in the brain-savvy approach would stop an organisation, wishing to adopt this approach, from implementing a system that required clear links to business improvement and a business case before time and money is spent on tools or coaching. However, the underlying new paradigm of thinking and cultural values are that employees are naturally motivated, wish to perform and the organisation wishes to provide the means for maximising that performance.

The conditions necessary for effective systemic performance feedback

1. Tools and processes for continuous improvement and feedback within the system are in place,using these tools are associated with a sense of reward for employees and not threat.
2. There is transparency as to how the system works so performance improvements can be identified.
3. It is explicitly recognised by employees and managers that focus on performance improvements is linked to a holistic approach to system improvements.
4. That each employee sees it as a part of their role within the organisation to identify and appropriately highlight opportunities to improve system performance.
5. That managers facilitate the implementation of improvements and provide feedback on the system in a continuous manner not just periodically.
6. That the manager sees it as their responsibility that continuous improvement processes are working.

Examples of the types of support an organisation may provide:

An employee can submit their request for support (time, training, etc.);these must be aligned to the corporate and business unit goals.

An employee can request support for general development in areas not strictly aligned to organisational goals. Perhaps writing or networking skills, etc. But a business case must be made.

An employee can publish either anonymously or authored their lessons learned and is encouraged to do so. Social networking and social learning sites within the organisation encourage this type of sharing.

Employees can mentor and coach colleagues with the goal to pass on expertise and improve team performance and feedback.

Employees and managers are educated in how personal change happens so that they may factor this into how they plan development.