Performance appraisals, as you may know,
can be very stressful for both the employee
and the manager. I’d like to share some of
my tips in making the appraisals less
nerve-wracking and more productive.
Tips for Employees
For the employees, performance appraisals
are inherently difficult because evaluations
are naturally anxiety-provoking. For most
people, it is intimidating to feel that you
are being critically evaluated. Because many
employers are not the best about giving
regular feedback, employees are often unsure
what to expect and the fear of the unknown
is difficult. There is often a good deal
riding on these evaluations (your job, a
promotion, a raise, etc) so that adds
pressure to it.
When you have a review, go in with a
strong working knowledge of your own
performance appraisal. Know where you have
been excelling and where you have been
weaker. Proactively saying, “I have
struggles a bit on this account and want to
improve my sales skills,” will come across
very well to your manager and make her want
to help you. Also prepare specific questions
and ideas about what you need to do your job
better. Be careful not to complain but to
request specific resources or assistance to
help you perform your best.
Recognize whether your boss is giving you
helpful criticism or whether he is being
overly critical or malicious. If it is the
latter, do your best to remove yourself
emotionally from the situation and let the
criticism roll off you. If your boss is
reasonable and has some helpful pointers and
ideas, remind yourself how the criticism
will help you and that your boss’s purpose
is to help you perform your best.
Tips for Managers
For the manager, these evaluations are
difficult, especially when constructive
criticism needs to be given. While it is
important that managers give honest and
direct feedback, they often fear
compromising the quality of the relationship
with their employees, hurting the
individual’s feelings, decreasing morale and
teamwork. Managers worry about how employees
will take feedback and whether it will be
taken out of context. Managers sometimes
doubt their own leadership abilities and
wonder, “who am I to give this type of
feedback?”
It is also common for managers to dislike
the performance appraisal where almost
everything is positive because they worry
that their employees will then slack off or
think that they are pushovers for going so
easy on them.
How to Set up Your Session
Frame the session within the employee’s
goals for her career and your goals for her
and the company. Create direct links to
using the session to make changes with
specific incentives. The worst thing to do
is not to follow-up because that sends the
message that the session was not important.
Make sure that the employee has the
necessary resources to make the changes you
are asking him to make.
How to Deliver Difficult Feedback
The best performance appraisals do not
present any shocking information. Managers
should give ongoing feedback to employees so
employees know what to expect in their
appraisals. This reduces the anxiety on both
sides and improves the usefulness of the
appraisals. Follow-up on the appraisals is
equally important.
The employee will best hear feedback
(positive or negative) when it helps them to
accomplish their goals. If the manager can
frame negative feedback as help or advice
that can enable the employee to reach his
career goals, it will be taken much better
and even appreciated. It is also important
to balance negative with positive feedback
so the employee does not dismiss the
important negative feedback as the manager
being overly critical.
If your employee reacts negatively, here
are a few tips. First, recognize that the
employee is likely to have that reaction
because they care about their position and
want to do a good job. Second, try to
empathize with their position or put
yourself in their shoes. For a crying
employee, you can say, “I see it is very
important to you to do well in this position
and I really appreciate that. Would you be
willing to work together to make that
happen?” Third, address the behavior
specifically.
If the behavior is inappropriate, the
employee needs to know. A good way to
diffuse a defensive response is to give
specific, concrete, behavioral examples.
Fourth, if the employee is having a strong
emotional reaction and not hearing your
feedback, schedule a follow-up session to
discuss it when he is feeling calmer.
Remember that ongoing communication and
follow-up make the sessions as productive
and change-inducing as possible.
Larina Kase PsyD, MBA is a
business psychologist and The New York Times
bestselling author of The Confident Speaker.
For more resources on the psychology of
workplace communication visit
www.TheConfidentSpeaker.com
KEYWORDS:
Performance appraisals, constructive
criticism, teamwork, workplace
communication, change agent, leadership,
leadership abilities
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