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The Team-Building Peer Review

A close-up look at a peer-review form that can help staff members learn to pull together and trust each other.

The best peer reviews get staff members to pull together -- as Risk International can testify

Want to spot the stars and the slackers in your business? Don't ask your managers -- ask your employees. Coworkers often know more about their peers' strengths and weaknesses than supervisors do, and letting employees review one another is a great way for management to share in that knowledge.

Done correctly, peer reviews bring a host of other advantages. They generate more candid feedback, says one human-resources (HR) expert. Whereas supervisors tend to be Pollyannas, employees tell it like it is. "They give you the full range of good things, OK things, and bad things," he claims. Peer reviews can also help foster team building and help put HR issues -- such as skills improvement -- on the front burner.

The concept isn't new. Recently, businesses large and small have been putting it to work. The military has been using a similar technique for decades, partly because it builds camaraderie. But the hard part is knowing how to do it right.

One small company whose peer reviews really work is Risk International, a provider of risk-management services based in Akron. (The nine-year-old, $4-million company identifies liability exposures and liaises with insurance providers for Fortune 500 companies.) Chief executive David Hatch set up the reviews in 1990 as part of an overall annual appraisal process because, he says, "I wanted the employees to understand how their peers saw them and to learn that they are all accountable to each other. I also wanted them to have a chance to share input and to behave as team players rather than always looking good for the boss at the expense of the organization."

Risk International's peer reviews accomplish that with evaluation forms that pinpoint the attributes -- from personal integrity to the ability to minimize expenses -- that Hatch believes the members of a winning team should possess. (The criteria are equally weighted.)

The process works like this: Once a year, each of the company's 47 employees gets a packet of forms with a list of reviewees' names. At first employees reviewed everyone. But 18 months ago the form was rejiggered to allow them to rate only those they work with directly -- from 3 to 10 per reviewer. Anonymity is key, so the completed forms travel in a sealed envelope to a temporary worker, who inputs the data. When the results are in, each reviewee meets with his or her supervisor to discuss job strengths and create a plan to improve on areas that need work.

Much to Hatch's surprise, not everyone leaped at the chance to rate a workmate. Some felt threatened; others worried about confidentiality. Says Vera Baker, a research analyst, "I was real apprehensive that people would take out their petty disagreements with you in the peer review."

Baker doesn't think that now. She's one of many who like having a place to express their views. Says claim manager Adam Cook, "Everybody gets to state their opinion, good or bad. It's clear to employees that their opinions matter." Last year's reviews yielded concerns from employees that they were not kept adequately informed about the business's health. So Hatch launched monthly information-sharing get-togethers and biannual meetings at which everyone reviews the company's business plan.

Interdepartmental relations are also improving. The accounts-receivable staff, Hatch discovered, is markedly more responsive and willing to help than ever before. And the quietly competent workers -- sometimes ignored by bosses looking for stars -- are recognized.

With a staff that's outgrown its space four times since Risk International's founding, Hatch believes that giving employees their say has helped hold the company together. But creating a top-notch peer review hasn't been easy. Says Hatch, "To make all this feedback meaningful, you have to review what is said, compare it with the past, and come up with a plan. The supervisor has to be committed to sharing the results in a constructive way."

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Sample Peer-Review form: for all questions, answers are given on a scale of one to four (with one being highest), or "unknown"

Non-Managerial Performance Review - 1994

Note: As our company expands, there may be co-workers with whom you have little or no contact on a day-to-day basis. for these individuals, there may be questions you are not sure how to answer, therefore, use "Unknown" if you can't evaluate a competency.

1. Company Mission and Values

- Demonstrates high ethical standards and personal integrity

2. Customer Service and Quality Control

- Consistently sets and meets high standards of quality, gets the job done right the first time

- Responds quickly and effectively to clients' needs, goes the extra mile, exceeds clients' expectations

- Constantly looks for ways to add value to our services and/or products

- Supports the Quality/Productivity service team

3. Problem Solving/Judgment

- Sets specific, challenging and achievable goals and action plans

- Provides a logical and effective course of action for himself/herself to see that established goals are achieved

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