I hate performance reviews

The BBQ Pit
1

I recently had to give a performance review that I thought was fair. I went over the stupid form and explained why I had marked each item the way I did. Since we had only been working together for a month, I explained that the review was just a start and from what I could see, they were doing a good job. On a scale of outstanding, exceeds their job description, does their job, or needs improvement, I told this person they were doing their job but that I was impressed so far and expected their rating to be better in the future.

This person lost it. I had never had anyone react that way before and I was shocked. Reviews are done quarterly so it wasn’t like they were going to have to wait a whole year for another review. They aren’t directly tied to salary. So what’s the deal – the person was doing their job and I told them so.

I hate being reviewed and I especially hate giving them. Maybe some people need to be forced to talk to the people that work for them but I’m open with my team. They know where they stand and what to expect.

I wish I could rip up the damn forms and tell HR to stick it.

2

While I can see why you are frustrated, I would take a different message from your experience. No one should lose it for being told that they are doing their job, and that they are obviously positioned to do even better, after a single month. I’d say that you have a potential prima donna on your hands and that the review was a good tool to discover some serious problems with this employee.

Given that there are multiple reviews a year and that each one, individually, is not tied to their pay, this clown was seriously out of line.

(Of course, you could be lying about your actual delivery of the review, but for the purposes of this rant I’m going to assume that you were entirely accurate.)

Yes, reviews (along with job interviews) are a serious downside to any supervisory job, but I wouldn’t get depressed over the review or mad at HR. I’d start looking askance at someone who needs “exceeds expectations” or “outstanding” after a single month on the job.

3

This isn’t quite a hijack, so I only feel a little guilty. About as much as, say, I feel after eating one Cheeto.

I understand why supervisors would hate giving formal evaluations…if I were in their position I’d prefer more continuous feedback… but what I can’t stand is when a supervisor (are we talking about MY supervisor? Oh yes we are) puts them off for weeks or even months because she doesn’t like doing them, under the flimsy excuse of “too much going on.”

Around here, raises may not be pegged to evaluations in terms of how MUCH you get, but they are processed as part of the evaluation paperwork and therefore are delayed when the evaluation itself gets put off. My evaluation was supposed to take place May 1st, and it is now July 10th. That’s more than two months! Whenever she finally gets around to doing it, any raise I receive will be backdated, but I could sure use that money NOW.

Another issue: just like the Oscars, evaluation is supposed to be predicated on one’s performance for the entire previous year, but in reality recent events tend to be fresher in the evaluator’s mind. What if I make some colossal screwup in the next week or so, and it colors my evaluation, when if the eval had been done in a timely manner the screwup would have a much-faded effect on NEXT year’s evaluation? That would really chap my ass.

Plus, I hate having it hanging over my head and just want to get it over with. Sigh.

4

Well, it sounds like a bit of an overreaction, but there are some reasons why the person might have been upset.

First, the way the review summary was set up means that you essentially gave this person a 2 on a 4 point scale. This would be like giving a student a C or C-. A C used to mean “average” or that the student was “just doing his/her job,” but try telling that to a student these days.

This might also have made your comment that you were “impressed” seem a bit anomalous. After all, if you were impressed, why did you give her a low grade?

I think that wherever these scaled types of evaluations are given, there is a sense that anything less than great is cause for concern.

5

From what little you explained, it’s hard to figure out why your employee would react like that.

You did say you’d only been working with that employee for a short time, though, which got me thinking about my own experience with employee reviews.

During the last two years that I worked for The Company From Hell, I had 7 different bosses. The company was grossly mismanaged, repeatedly sold/merged/downsized/reorganized.

I had several “reviews” during that time, and each time the line I got from my boss-of-the-week was about the same as what you say above: “Well, I’ve only just started working with you, but I think you’re OK… Let’s wait and see where things go…”

My reaction was the following (I’m glad this is the pit):

<rant>

A review can affect my career in fundamental ways. Even if the review does not enter into salary evaluation (yeah, right, like I’m going to believe that bullshit when over 50% of my division just got laid off, sometimes for extremely questionable reasons, just to save a dime) it can affect my future status with the company (promotions, etc.) or with other companies (I have quoted good reviews on resumes).

If you don’t know anything about my history or work record you have no fucking business giving me a review. If you are obliged to review me, then you should A) contact my former boss(es) to ask about their experiences B) talk to my fellow employees who have a lot more experience with me than you do C) talk to me about this stuff myself before you finalize your review, so that we come to an understanding about how WE will handle something that affects MY career on a fundamental level.

If you can’t see your way to doing that, then I guess you need to learn more about how to manage others, especially in sensitive career-affecting situations that determine our future working relationship.

Don’t fuck with my job if you can’t do your own right.

</rant>

P.S. The “you” in my rant is my imaginary boss, not you thewiz. I just want to offer another perspective.

P.P.S. During the period that this stuff took place in my career, I created a software product for my company that saved the credibility of a whole division of the company, and did most of the groundwork (internal training, courseware creation, product manuals, marketing collateral and strategy, product development, etc.) that got the first release of that product out the door. I have nothing to show for that now. You can imagine how being told that I was competent but not exceptional might not have sat well…

6

I have to agree with Ren. I haven’t had too many formal reviews myself, but I’ve seen a few exceptional people get completely screwed due to changes in management. I’m not sure what field you’re in, but right now, for example, there is a severe shortage of good programmers. This means that:

  • the best and brightest are working very long hours
  • they often don’t get promoted because there is no one who can take their place. Instead, the company brings in a cadre of imbecile project managers to hound them all day.
  • they’re plagued by dozens of incompetent contractors who are getting paid $100/hour to be about a quarter as effective
  • they’re getting offered $100/hour to leave the company and start contracting

No matter how loyal and hard-working, these people need positive reinforcement to keep going. They’re not getting the bucks, they’re not getting the promotions, they’re not getting the easy life, so they pin everything on the review, the raise and any other praise that comes their way. Like martyrs, they faithfully attack each new challenge, trusting that they will be recognized when the time is right. When a new manager comes in and bases a review on a month of acquaintance, they feel cheated – as though 11 months of blood, sweat and tears has been carelessly tossed away. I know at least two people who have recently left jobs right after their reviews due to insufficient praise or insufficient raise.

7

I sympathize with you completely, here. One of the things that prompted my initial response was that thewiz mentioned that it was a quarterly review. A new boss that walks in to give an annual review after one month has no moral right to give one. S/he should do everything in her/his power to get the departed boss to provide the review material or get the review material from co-workers and users/clients. A quarterly review, however, can be adjusted pretty quickly (you’ve got three more in the next year).

8

It bites to be on either end. It’s hard to do one and sometimes hard to get one. After being on the job for a month? How can you really evaluate? In my job for the state my probationary period was two years. That gives a lot of time for BOTH of us to evaluate the job.

I’m sorry, but just as my employer is evaluating me, I’m evaluating the workplace and her. I’ve told folks that after 6 months I wouldn’t want to work there any longer because of them (my boss) or other employees or because of certain work practices (like expecting me to lie so they could embezzle funds).

I do think evaluations have their place but I do think it should be two sided. If you are evaluating them, they should get to evaluate you.

9

We have yearly performance reviews which are linked to our bonus and pay rise . Last year I got promoted about 9months into the year . At the end of the year I was expecting a good review but when I was called in by my manager ( of 2 months I might add ) I was told I hadn’t being doing the new job for long enough so I got the middle of the road review ( costing me ~$600 once off payment and about 4% in a pay rise ) . I complained that I had obviously performed well in my last position to be promoted and that I had actually covered the position for a year before I was promoted “offically” to the position . I was told that it was company policy and the manager had his hands tied .

I brought this up in a converstaion I was having with a senior manager that I know quite well and he told me that this was a lie and managers made their own call when it came to bonus’s . When I brought this new piece of info. to my manager I was told that he never said this in the first place and I got the review I deserved . I was then taken aside and told that I was being very negative about this whole incident and I wasn’t doing myself any favours by keeping bringing it up .

God I hate my manager/company sometimes !!

10

a) Giving employees feedback, both positive and negative is one of the most important tasks of management. If you are not up to this, you should find another role. A review should contain data, not guesses. If you’d only worked together for a short time, you should have checked with his previous supervisor or at least talked with others he worked with and other leads.

b) If you gave me an “ok” rating when I was doing better than ok, I would’ve been incensed as well, and if you wouldn’t have corrected the oversight, I would have gone over your head to make sure it was corrected. Plus, I would’ve taken immediate steps to be sure you were no longer my supervisor, including a) attempting to have you relieved from your position, b) transferring inside the company, or c) possibly leaving the company.

Now, if the person truly was average then you should stand by the rating. But as you indicated, you did insufficient research for the review, so I have no reason to think your review was accurate.

And don’t kid yourself; reviews are always tied to tangible rewards, whether directly or not. People with good reviews are more likely to get promoted, accepted into new positions, get bigger raises, and get choicer assignments. Reviews become part of the permanent record available to other managers within the company.