What Ruins A Performance Review?

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140608161920-122640494-what-ruins-a-performance-review?trk=prof-post

It is well known that poorly handled reviews lead to low morale and dissatisfaction and It is certainly true that it may be better not to do a review than to go through a meaningless, mechanical ritual.

Performance feedback and review is part and parcel of the life of anyone in a managerial role and seldom do we realize that some of these actions ruin the review. Let's take a look at them.

Short term memory effect:

Most performance evaluations tend to focus on performance over the most recent period, even if the employee has accomplished great things over the course of the entire year.

A new story every time:

Most managers forget the advice and feedback they gave during the last review. However, the employee does not forget it.

Raise Issues which are not backed by proof points:

Making blanket statements like - we are not doing enough, we need to improve and not backing it up with relevant examples or instances which makes the manager draw the inferences to improve.

Focusing on employee's personal choices:

In other words,making comments on family life, dress code, beliefs, etc., and not on actual performance or tasks which could drive performance.

Focusing on weaknesses:

Beating down the employee on his weak areas so that he forgets his strengths and devotes his energy to make his weak areas his strengths

Comparing one employee to another:

Some managers love comparing performance of two employees who are in similar functions and make it a point to compare individuals and not how well or poorly have they fared on the yearly goals.

Not allocating time:

Busy managers hate doing reviews as they are always short on time. As a result, employees feel that their managers cannot spare 60 minutes in a year to give them feedback. Managers and employees merely perform a ritual that benefits no one.

All-is-well syndrome:

Brushing issues under the carpet as some managers are scared of telling employees where they need to change course or align energy. They often speak in general terms to avoid specifics.

Fiddling with gadgets:

During appraisal sessions, managers are often more interested in checking their iphones, Blackberries and fielding phone calls than paying attention to the task at hand. This conveys to the employee that he or she is insignificant in the manager’s scheme of thing.

Giving a higher performance rating to motivate:

Some managers believe that a lower performance rating makes an employee unhappy and reduce engagement, a manager's job is to keep employees happy and motivated so no one gets a lower rating. This keeps everyone happy and there are no visibly disengaged employees.