{"id":3676,"date":"2025-04-03T13:59:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3676"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:15:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:15:29","slug":"can-performance-be-managed-upward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Performance Be Managed Upward?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Employees evaluating managers\u2019 performance, not just vice versa, also can benefit organizations.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s according to Academy of Management Scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/herman-aguinis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Herman Aguinis<\/a> of at the George Washington University School of Business and author of Performance Management for Dummies, who cited Dell Inc., where everyone\u2014from entry-level employees to the top management team\u2014completes an annual employee engagement survey called \u201cTell Dell\u201d with questions about performance and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Dell leaders use the survey data to hold personnel\u2014including leaders\u2014accountable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore they get promoted upward, every Dell manager needs to have really good ratings from their subordinates or direct reports, so it\u2019s not just the supervisor evaluating the performance of their employees, but also the employees evaluating the performance of leadership and their supervisors\u2014it goes both ways, upward and downward,\u201d Aguinis said.<\/p>\n<p>An even more extreme experiment in a new way to do performance management is \u201cradical transparency,\u201d which Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, initiated more than three decades ago. He\u2019d been looking for ways to improve the company\u2019s performance and establish a culture of openness and independent thought. The organization has encouraged employees to review their direct manager or supervisor and even senior executives honestly, even harshly\u2014real-time performance evaluations often deliver \u201cradical truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Dalio found success with this approach, it\u2019s not for everyone, as it can ruffle feathers and make people uncomfortable. Radical transparency means that leaders\u2014and everyone else at the company\u2014open themselves up to oversight and critiques. They must have thick skin and open minds to listen with humility to the feedback that lower-ranking employees give them and respond to it in ways that are productive, without getting defensive or seeking retribution. They also have to deliver brutally honest feedback to their direct reports in ways that improve their performance and morale rather than discouraging them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Daniel Butcher Employees evaluating managers\u2019 performance, not just vice versa, also can benefit organizations. That\u2019s according to Academy of Management Scholar Herman Aguinis of at the George Washington University School of Business and author of Performance Management for Dummies, who cited Dell Inc., where everyone\u2014from entry-level employees to the top management team\u2014completes an annual [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,74,77,76],"tags":[],"sp_smart_badges":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":["post-3676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","category-hr","category-pay","category-performance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can Performance Be Managed Upward? - Academy of Management Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Butcher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"headline\":\"Can Performance Be Managed Upward?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-03T13:59:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T15:15:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":322,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/businesspeople-argue.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"CAREERS\",\"HR\",\"PAY\",\"PERFORMANCE\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/\",\"name\":\"Can Performance Be Managed Upward? - Academy of Management Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/businesspeople-argue.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-03T13:59:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T15:15:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/businesspeople-argue.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/businesspeople-argue.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Source: Shutterstock\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can Performance Be Managed Upward?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academy of Management Today\",\"description\":\"Smarter, faster business news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\",\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g559188980b254e0e0624aacb72ebc733\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Butcher\"},\"description\":\"Daniel Butcher is a writer and the Managing Editor of AOM Today at the Academy of Management (AOM). Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\\\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/danielbutcher\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/author\\\/daniel-butcher\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can Performance Be Managed Upward? - Academy of Management Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Butcher","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Butcher","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c"},"headline":"Can Performance Be Managed Upward?","datePublished":"2025-04-03T13:59:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T15:15:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/"},"wordCount":322,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg","articleSection":["CAREERS","HR","PAY","PERFORMANCE"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/","name":"Can Performance Be Managed Upward? - Academy of Management Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-03T13:59:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-09T15:15:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Source: Shutterstock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/can-performance-be-managed-upward\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can Performance Be Managed Upward?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/","name":"Academy of Management Today","description":"Smarter, faster business news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c","name":"Daniel Butcher","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g559188980b254e0e0624aacb72ebc733","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/085e55dd8b6bc186c84fe76ed72735ec1ce8396dff19755de507fb86659a8d08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Butcher"},"description":"Daniel Butcher is a writer and the Managing Editor of AOM Today at the Academy of Management (AOM). Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/danielbutcher\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"daniel-butcher","display_name":"Daniel Butcher","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp","url2x":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg",1000,667,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg",1000,667,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg",1000,667,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg",800,534,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg",1000,667,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue.jpg",1000,667,false],"owl_elementor_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"owl_elementor_team":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue-350x450.jpg",350,450,true],"owl_elementor_testimonial":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/businesspeople-argue-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Daniel Butcher","author_link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"},"rttpg_comment":2,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/careers\/\" rel=\"category tag\">CAREERS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/hr\/\" rel=\"category tag\">HR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/pay\/\" rel=\"category tag\">PAY<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/performance\/\" rel=\"category tag\">PERFORMANCE<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"By Daniel Butcher Employees evaluating managers\u2019 performance, not just vice versa, also can benefit organizations. That\u2019s according to Academy of Management Scholar Herman Aguinis of at the George Washington University School of Business and author of Performance Management for Dummies, who cited Dell Inc., where everyone\u2014from entry-level employees to the top management team\u2014completes an annual&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"sp_smart_badges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sp_smart_badges?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}