What Are The Strengths Of The Supposed Year-Round Performance Appraisals

It is apparent that C & D takes their performance appraisal system of their Associates very seriously. One strength with this system is that each Associate is assigned a “Development Coach” (DC) that is in charge of bringing the Associate through the annual performance appraisal process all the way until their 9-11th year, where they are then eligible to be promoted to a partner. This is important because that particular DC can really get to know their Associate and connect with them. I believe it will prove to be more accurate when it comes time for performance appraisals. Another strength of the process is the procedure of talking to everyone that has worked on the case the Associate has been assigned too, allowing the DC to approach multiple

The first has to do with the supposed year-round performance appraisal. The lives of these partners are extremely busy and demanding. They do not have the time to constantly review the Associates. The actual practice that occurs is the DCs will pay attention to their Associates for the few months leading up to the appraisal in February. This practice will not show an accurate depiction of the performance of the Associate because of the limited period. Lastly, the performance assessment grades that the DCs are supposed to give the Associates on the ten separate criteria are very subjective. Seeing how each DC is a different person, they could interpret these “grades” differently, no matter how much effort is put into standardizing the

Why or why not? What are the risks Associated with your position and how would you address them?
If I were a partner at C & D, I would fully support the early election of Mona to partner. Before I would voice my opinion, I would encourage the firm to understand where Mona stands. Instead of basing judgment of rumors, confront her and develop an understanding of what she is going through. That could give some valuable information and show Mona that her firm cares about her. If she were considering leaving to another firm, I recommend C & D informing her that they are considering promoting her to partner early if she is interested. Again, if it came to the decision of letting Mona promote earlier, or letting her go to C & D’s rival firm, I would fully support promoting her early. From the passage, Mona seems to be an extremely valuable asset. That is something that a firm cannot let go under these circumstances. She has clearly earned her promotion; she just did it quicker than many other Associates did. Along with that, if Mona were to leave, she would be going to the rival firm, making C & D’s life much harder because not only have they lost her from the team, but they now have to go up against her, which in the end could have them losing out on