The First Penguin
Recently, many talent management (strategic human resource management) systems known as 360-degree feedback have become widely available.
It is a mechanism that attempts to visualize an individual's annual performance by gathering information on their strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures (perhaps it is more appropriate to describe it as "whether they achieved their goals or ended up in vain...") from both the individual themselves and those they have worked with. Recently, AI-based weighting has been added to this, which is said to allow for more precise evaluations.
The concept behind this evaluation is not bad.
It is not bad, but... I do not recommend that small and medium-sized enterprises introduce such 360-degree evaluation systems.
There is a metaphor called the "first penguin."
Penguin colonies do not have a boss (leader) like those seen in monkeys or other animals; they have a habit of "following the first one to move."
When a colony encounters danger, it is not a leader's instruction, but rather the first penguin that takes the initiative to move and confirm safety, after which the other penguins follow, allowing the entire colony to avoid that danger.
The penguin that dives in first, disregarding the danger, can show its companions with its own body that the sea is safe, and it can secure food more reliably than anyone else.
Large corporations do not need first penguins.
This is because as long as you belong to a large corporation, the safety of the sea is guaranteed. There is no need to search for feeding grounds on your own. In such an environment, 360-degree feedback becomes beneficial.
In exchange for safety, the living area for each penguin in that sea is strictly designated, and they are not allowed to stray from it. And if someone dives into an unauthorized area and creates an unexpected wave, they will be criticized (via 360-degree feedback) by those who were splashed by that wave.
However, small and medium-sized enterprises are not like that.
No, they must not be like that.
The living area for small and medium-sized enterprises is not a sea enclosed in safety, but an open ocean with many external enemies. In that sea, which is adjacent to danger, the entire team must be able to secure food.
Therefore, small and medium-sized enterprises need first penguins.
Business owners must evaluate that person's "courage" rather than their results. And that is something neither AI nor 360-degree feedback can do.
The "evaluation of courage" should be carried out personally by the business owner.