We are getting close to the time of year when we have traditionally conducted our Performance Reviews. Typically, we send out forms and guidelines by the middle of May and ask that the reviews be completed by July 1st. This year will be no different. Every employee is entitled to honest feedback about how they are doing, where they have shown great strength and what they can do to improve in areas of weakness. And every employee is also entitled to let their manager know how they would like their career to develop, so there can be a discussion about skills development and career growth opportunities.

Ideally, those Performance Review discussions would be accompanied by a salary review, so we can reward strong performance and encourage those who need improvement. As you already know, based on input this past February from a wide array of staff members and much discussion on this blog and elsewhere, we decided to freeze our salaries as part of our overall cost savings plan. But the lack of salary reviews does not mean that Performance Reviews are any less necessary or important. Our best performers deserve to hear from us about how we value their efforts, and how we might help further their development. And our weaker performers also deserve our honest feedback, so they know beyond doubt what we expect of them and where they need to show improvement.

One of the rationales we used for implementing the salary freeze as well as the furlough program was the idea that those collective actions on the part of all Incisive employees would minimize the need to reduce staff. But, to be clear, none of us have accepted a reduction in pay for the sake of keeping weaker performers employed here. In fact, our collective sacrifices virtually require management to take a hard line on performance--to ensure that the jobs we are saving are filled by hard-working, high-performing, and valued individuals. The Performance Reviews are designed for that purpose.

An article in Wednesday's NY Times about the impact of furlough programs underscored the issues that such programs raise. The article quoted John Sullivan, a professor of management at San Francisco State University, as saying, "firms use furloughs instead of layoffs because they lack the courage to look individual employees in the eye and terminate them... In my view, managers get paid to make tough decisions, not to avoid them.”

Let's not avoid those tough decisions. Most of the people on our staff who will receive Performance Reviews undoubtedly deserve to be praised for the work they are doing. I would suggest that we be lavish in that praise and thoughtful about the feedback we provide. It has been a challenging year throughout the company, and I am very proud of the way in which our team members have risen to those challenges. In a year in which we cannot provide our best performers with the usual financial rewards, it becomes that much more important to provide feedback that will lead to skills improvement and career development.

At the same time, let's be honest with those who are not meeting our expectations. If we can help them to improve their performance--great, let's put a program together and help them to succeed. But if not, then let's help them out the door so someone else can come in and knock our socks off. The hard truth is that the rest of us deserve no less.