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HRM

Stop using Self-Assessments in performance reviews

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

Image by David Davies used under Creative Commons License

Research has shown that people can rarely self-assessment accurately. If the person self-assessing has low self-confidence, than this will be reflected on his/her self assessment. Also there are cultures where self promotion is negatively viewed and this too may lead someone to completing a less than positive self review. Lots of characteristics may impact how one self-assesses: race, gender, beliefs, religion, etc.

On the other side of the coin are individuals raised in competitive environments where self-promotion is not only welcome but encouraged. In these cases an individual may take credit for group work in an attempt to "win points".

If your company forces you to conduct evaluations based on self-rating then it is important you consciously determine your employees tendencies and use that knowledge to erase over/under self-evaluations in an attempt to be fait, objective and manage with integrity.

I have spoken to some organizational researchers and have read hundreds of reports, I can find no objective research that shows that sharing self-assessments before the formal manager-employee review contributes to a better or more accurate evaluation outcome. 

On the contrary, there seems to be research showing that these self-evaluations may actually bias the reviewing manager and that any bias adjustments made (if at all) are inadequate to compensate for the actual gap. 

Knowing this, I believe these self assessments are a historic relic of days gone by and should be completely abolished as an HR practice. What do you think?

Review of heart rate measurement apps on IOS

technologyEdward Kiledjian

There are plenty of reasons why you may want to regularly check your heart rate. After a recent run, I wanted to compare the performance of: 

The measurements were taken within seconds of each other so I could be sure nothing else could impact the results.

First up was Instant Heart Rate. To use this app, you gently plate your finger in front of the back camera & flash. After a couple of seconds, it detects and counts your heart rate.

Next up was Cardio Buddy. In addition to performing a useful function (calculating your heart rate), it also has a high cool factor in how it measures your heart rate. You frame your face (using the front facing camera) and it calculates your heart rate using blood flow variations not visible to the human eye. This is a cool party trick. Everyone I show this to is surprised and amazed.

Last was my trusty chest based heart rate monitor. I have previously compared it's results to those from my blood pressure monitor and they usually match.

Comparing all of the results, they are relatively close but Cardio Buddy seemed to be closer to the my chest based monitor than Instant HEart Rate (which surprised me). I ran another series of test 30, 60 and 90 minutes later and the results were a almost the same. As the rest period grew longer, Instant Heart rate got closer to the chest monitor but in all the tests, Cardio Buddy was the closest.

It is important to note that the 2 app based monitors are best used in an indoor or shady environment without harsh direct sunlight.