Sympathy for the Manager

Robbie Kunreuther, writing in FedSmith, frames a problem with performance management in a new way this morning. The problem, he says, isn't just that our managers don't know how to manage for performance. It's that we don't know how to effectively evaluate managers:

Organizational metrics are fickle - especially when delegated down the chain. For example, if budgets are cut 5% across the board, not all supervisors will experience equal impact regarding their goals. Likewise, if senior management settles an appeal by placing a horrible employee under your supervision, shouldn't someone expect that action to affect your metrics?

I'm not sure that solving the problem of evaluations at any one level is the key to everything. But a holistic view of management and how to make it more effective, and how to evaluate it better once new tactics are being deployed, makes sense.