The annual review reveals more about the manager’s performance than the employee’s performance (part 4)

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In my previous articles (here, here and here), I discuss how the annual review process reveals more about the manager than the employee. The annual review’s text may be about the employee’s performance, but what really is powerful about the performance review is the subtext – what the review reveals about the manager’s practices as a manager.

Here are some more examples of what you can see in a performance review and what it says about the manager:

1. The incident that defines the whole year

Annual reviews were developed to review the whole year. Yet many reviews boil down to a particular incident during the course of the year. Both the manager and the employee may recount the incident, and use this as the basis for the employee’s performance. It might be interesting to see what the incident is. Did the employee disagree with the manager? Was the employee supported by the manager through the incident, or left hung out to dry? When this is observed, know that employees will work extra hard to avoid “the incident”, or work hard to re-define “the incident.” In any case, it should be rare, not common, that a single event could define someone’s work, and if that’s the case, it should be reflected in their goals.

2. Bias

Many employees fear that their manager has a bias toward or against various members of the team. The annual review is a great place to test this thesis. Does the manager reveal in the comments a preference to one employee over another? Is one employee looking for attention and another basking in it? One can read for tone as well as content to reveal the answer to these questions.

3. The lack of performance-based language

The Manager by Designsm blog writes frequently about using behavior-based language, also known as performance-based language (read here for a primer on how to tell if you are using performance-based/behavior-based language). The annual review should be a bastion of performance-based language, yet it is often the opposite. “Michael is the best!” “Andrea is a real go-getter!” “Pete doesn’t have what it takes,” “Aaron needs a better attitude.” These are generalizations and value judgments that reveal that the manager does not think in behavior-based terms, which indicates that the employee is probably being evaluated on impressions rather than performance.

4. The difficult review discussion

External to the actual form, do you have managers who dread the review period, talk about “difficult” reviews, and otherwise find the process difficult and cumbersome? This teaches you that the manager could be letting the management tasks slide until the review period comes along. There will be a lot of pent-up angst when this happens, and the review discussions will be necessarily difficult if you are trying to resolve a year’s worth of issues in one discussion. Remember, it is supposed to be a re-view, not a view into the employee’s performance.

5. The wildly variant employee ability across time

In this situation, the employee is a “star performer” one year, and a “weak performer” another year. What changed? It could be the employee, but if you assume that, you’re going to be right only some of the time. Other things probably have changed – the manager and/or the work challenge. If an employee was great on one team and terrible on another team, is it really the employee? If the employee was supported, had good processes and reasonable expectations, and they did well, that’s great. If the same employee joins a team with no processes, unreasonable work expectations, and a difficult political environment, we have just learned the difference of the managers (and the manager of managers), not the employee.

6. Only things the manager observes

A manager often comments on the review the things about the employee they have directly observed. This is generally a good idea, because the rest is hearsay. But what if we learn through the comments what it is that the manager has directly observed? If the manager only comments about the behavior of the employee during 1:1 discussions, team meetings, and emails/status reports to the manager, then we know that the manager is evaluating only employee behaviors in the context of interacting with the manager. You can forget about the work output, how the employee interacts with colleagues and customers, and other areas of performance. But if that employee is quiet during the team meeting, then it will appear on the review.

7. Relying on what “others” say

Similarly, a manager may focus on what others say to rate the employee. This could come from the boss’s boss, other team members, or the prior manager. If there is a dearth of other areas that are examined about the employee’s work output and ability to produce results, then this should be a cause of concern that the manager is more focused on political aspects of the work environment (“what are others saying”) and less on the work output and ongoing behaviors (“what did the employee do.”)

So for the budding Management Designers out there, how do you use the Annual Review to understand the management behaviors? Or are you leaving this rich artifact on the table and relying on other channels to learn about your managers?

Let me know your stories of how managers reveal their management practices on performance reviews.

 Related Articles:

The annual review reveals more about the manager’s performance than the employee’s performance (part 1)

The annual review reveals more about the manager’s performance than the employee’s performance (part 2)

The annual review reveals more about the manager’s performance than the employee’s performance (part 3)

 

 

Let’s look at what a well-conducted annual review looks like

Why the annual performance review is often toxic

The myth of “one good thing, one bad thing” on a performance review

Behavior-based language primer for managers: How to tell if you are using behavior-based language

Behavior-based language primer for managers: Avoid using value judgments

 

 

 

 

 

Specific phrases and examples for how to ask for feedback from your employees

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My previous articles outlined the steps a manager can take to request feedback from employees.

In today’s article, I provide some specific phrases and examples for what a manager can say to employees to request feedback on how the team is managed.

1. Introduce your expectation that you will receive feedback

“I want to be a great manager to this team, and in order to get to that point, I need your help and guidance in providing me your feedback and ideas for how this team is managed.”

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How to ask for feedback from your employees on your management skills (part 3)

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This is the final part of a three part series on how managers can ask for feedback on how they manage. Managers get spotty feedback on how they manage, and employees are perhaps the best source of feedback, but it can be tricky.  In my previous articles, I outlined how the manager can set up the conversation, and how to handle the actual conversation.   In today’s article I discuss how to take this feedback conversation to the next level.

Here are the tips!

1. Help the employee provide better feedback

It’s a little “meta” to give feedback on giving feedback, but since employees are not necessarily skilled at it (nor are managers), coaching in this area in private and in a structured conversation isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  First, if the feedback is artfully given (behavior-based, not generalizing, no value judgments), then reinforce that this feedback was given well.  If the feedback is not artfully given, you need to clarify what you are looking for, and provide examples.  For example, if an employee gives you the un-artful feedback that “You are a terrible manager,” ask, “Can you give me examples from your experience that led you to this conclusion?”  Then if the employee provides examples, then say, “That’s what I need, specific examples so I can take action.”  If you give un-artful feedback on un-artful feedback, i.e., “Your feedback sucks,” then the conversation will not go well.

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How to ask for feedback from your employees on your management skills (part 2)

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This is the second part of a three part series on how managers can ask for feedback on how they manage. Managers get spotty feedback on how they manage, and employees are perhaps the best source of feedback, but it can be tricky.  In my previous article, I outlined how the manager can set up the conversation, in today’s article I dive deeper into the actual feedback conversation initiated by the employee.  Chin up and get ready for the feedback!

1. Don’t actually recriminate

The employee gives you feedback and you don’t agree.  This is kind of an obvious point, but if you don’t like what the employee says, or don’t agree with it, you now have to follow your own rules and not react negatively to what the employee has to say. Don’t be surprised, either. You asked for it, now you have to take it.  Swallow your pride, no matter how much you disagree or didn’t want to hear what you just asked to hear.  All of your other interactions and discussions have to be separated from this feedback.  The better you can do this, the more you will create trust on your team.

2. Avoid debates

When asking for feedback, that’s what you get, feedback.  If you then start to try to convince the employee that your actions are correct, and either debate or react as though the employee is wrong, you’ve just trained the employee to not give you feedback, and perhaps not share anything with you.  You asked for the feedback, now take it.  You don’t have to do anything differently based on the feedback if you don’t agree with it.  You should take it into account, and allow this other opinion improve your decisions and approach.

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How to ask for feedback from your employees on your management skills (part 1)

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I’ve been exploring how managers receive feedback on their management skills.  The situation is not good, because most channels of feedback are not specific, not immediate, and the quality of the feedback is low or not related to management skills.  With no feedback on how they’re doing as a manager, it makes sense that many managers struggle and do more harm than good!

However, as explored in the previous article, the managers’ employees may be a resource for providing feedback that is specific, immediate, and – potentially – of good quality.  It takes work to get this set up, and for this to be successful.  This is the first in a three part series on how managers can ask for feedback on how they manage.     Today’s theme: Getting ready.

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