Dubai: If done poorly, a performance appraisal can turn into an unpleasant meeting between the boss and the employee. It can result in one where both the manager and the staff don't feel quite at ease about each other's comments and feedback, or not quite happy about the new goals and objectives.
Experts say a poorly delivered performance review can easily demotivate an employee, who may retaliate by intentionally delivering bad results. Given that is the case, it is therefore important that the manager keep in mind a set of objectives as they conduct periodic appraisals.
As Hazel Cowling of biz-group puts it, a manager should focus on "discovering" how the employee can contribute to achieving the overall targets for the organisation, while satisfying their personal career objectives in the process. "The journey to success should always be mutually beneficial."
But what makes the evaluation process more challenging to the manager is dealing with employees who have been performing badly. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, but if someone has been under-performing, inevitably the manager has to give some negative comments.
In this case, the manager should approach any tricky feedback as a chance to make someone's life better rather than upset them. The classic "feedback sandwich" also proves useful, according to Andrew McNeilis of Talent2 International EMEA.
Counter-productive
"Start with a good piece of praise then give the negative and end on a positive. Is this helpful? No manager likes upsetting someone, however, avoiding addressing poor performance is totally counter-productive," he says.
When providing proof, the manager should always highlight the patterns in poor performance. "If you just cite specific examples, you could end up in a forty-minute pointless debate. If you begin with the end in mind, you are giving negative feedback to help, not to hurt someone."
"Never deflect. Never say ‘personally I think you are okay but others asked me to raise this…' That's a weak option. Tough love is better. Say it calmly, take ownership of the criticism and remember Sara [hock, anger, rejection, acceptance[. You would do more offence by not addressing the poor performance. I have always said the wrong time to find out you were not very good at your job is in the exit interview," McNeilis adds.
