My Performance Review was not what I hoped for
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Ouch – your manager is critical of your performance at your review. When this happens it can be really difficult, particularly if you feel that you had a great year and you were expecting something different from your manager. But if this happens to you, what’s the best way to deal with it?
Performance Reviews are also your meeting. If an issue gets raised, you should already be aware of it. If nothing has been raised before your meeting, it may be useful to ask your manager ahead of time if there are any issues you can think about before you meet. But even if you are surprised by feedback – there are ways of responding that make people think positively about how you handled it!
- Remember what it takes to give negative feedback. For most managers it takes a lot for them to honestly share their concerns. And, even if you disagree now or with this particular issue, they may well be right the next time – so you need to encourage them to continue to do that. Try not to close off future feedback with a negative reaction now.
- Pay attention. When you hear that your performance is viewed negatively, there can be a temptation to go into yourself and stop listening. But it’s important that you don’t miss what they’re trying to say to you and – even if you fundamentally disagree with what they’re saying – still seek to work out what they think and why. You need to do this because even if you feel that they are wrong, that is still their perception, and possibly the perception of others in the business. You need to understand the perception in order to come up with changes in behaviour that will alter that perception. Besides which, in almost every bit of feedback, there are nuggets of truth – what can you learn from what they’re saying? Are there aspects of how you perform that you are genuinely blind to?
- Show that you are paying attention. The all-time best response to critical feedback is to summarise to show that you are listening. This will immediately raise your manager’s assessment of you – and it’s not hard to do. Just repeat their words, and ask “Have I got that right?” And also make notes and write it down – even if you need to say – “let me just make a note of that”. This shows that you are keen to improve, and also gives you breathing space.
- Get examples. Ideally your manager will not just make a general statement like “You’re not building a positive relationship with our internal customers”, but will give examples, so that you can see exactly what they are talking about. But if they don’t, ask them for examples. It’s important to do this in a genuine attempt to understand, though. Ask “Obviously that concerns me – can you give me a few examples, so that I can understand better?” It also helps to summarise before responding!
- Respond using evidence. It’s tempting to respond emotionally, but that will get you nowhere and often makes them hold their view even more strongly. If you voice your disagreement by way of “I disagree because I am not like that” – that’s not going to be good enough. Instead, after summarising what they’ve said to show that you are thinking about it, ask “Can I just share what has been happening from my point of view?” This will allow you to give additional evidence, or explain why you did what you did. Your manager is not with you 100% of the time, so they will always have gaps in their awareness of what you’ve been doing – you need to appreciate that and fill out the picture.
- Turn it to the future; turn it to the positive. It also helps once you’ve given the additional information, to ask “If that same situation happened again – how would you prefer me to handle it?” This shows that you are not just trying to argue your way out of the feedback you’ve been given. You are now focusing on the complete picture, and how to do better. Similarly, at the end of your performance review, you can create a positive finale by summarising the main points in a fully positive way. “So the positive feedback from this review, and that I should continue doing – are a, b, and c. And the things I will work on for the future are building a strong positive relationship with our internal clients, and (other positive behaviour). The list of positives will lift the tone of the review completely!
- It sounds like it was a surprise. Ideally your manager should not have surprised you at your performance review. You need to make the point that you are slightly taken aback, that this is the first time you’ve heard that feedback and that you would like to get more regular feedback in real time in the future so that you can address it more proactively. That said, do bear in mind that you may well have been given the feedback previously and that you just didn’t really hear it. Avoid this situation in the future by also being alert to the comments and the feedback your manager has made – you may well be able to spot problems brewing by listening more carefully. If your manager is prone to giving feedback that surprises you – start being proactive. If you think there is an issue, take the initiative and ask them on a regular basis – perhaps build it into your weekly updates, or find an informal time to have short reviews. You’ll get better quality feedback if you give them time to think – so alert them ahead of time that you’d like them to talk about this.
Performance Reviews are also your meeting. If an issue gets raised, you should already be aware of it. If nothing has been raised before your meeting, it may be useful to ask your manager ahead of time if there are any issues you can think about before you meet. But even if you are surprised by feedback – there are ways of responding that make people think positively about how you handled it!