I work for a large company, writing software. My supervisor became a formal supervisor about 2 years ago; before that, he was our team leader. He used to have a few flaws, and one time he acted inconsistently (accepted one of my proposals, then shot it down in front of the group – I think there was a reason but it was never made clear).
But I think he took lessons or read a book around 2020 when he was promoted, and since then he’s done everything the way I would expect him to if he were a competent manager. He’s always available even if his schedule is very full, keeps all the projects moving forward, delegates appropriately, is always upbeat in front of us, answers questions both intelligent and silly, commiserates when we complain about stupid HR stuff and mandatory training about irrelevant subjects, laughs politely at my dad jokes, etc.
HR has mandated a focus-group review of him. As far as I know, this is just a standard HR procedure for (new) managers, part of their ever-expanding checklist of mandatory feel-good objective alignment and self-evaluation form filling, and not because my supervisor did anything wrong.
My understanding is that I will be in a room with 4 or 5 colleagues, where we will discuss our supervisor and aspects he should improve. And this will be communicated to him afterwards, or maybe he’ll be asked to join the group so we can have a group discussion about him, with him.
The problem, of course, is that I have nothing to contribute, and I’m pretty sure my colleagues feel the same. But I’m sure the HR lady won’t find it acceptable if she doesn’t have anything on her form.
Has this happened to any of you ? If so, what did you come up with ?
I have not been in this exact situation but if I were I’d be thinking of staying quiet - as nothing good will come by speaking up. If forced to say something, just say a positive/neutral thing, like you wrote here. Nothing good will come from tearing someone down at work.
Of course you have something to contribute. Feedback doesn’t have to mean negative. It can be positive too (and I would expect a mix of both for most people).
It sounds like you value his work, so you should frame your feedback around how you genuinely think he does. If it helps, think about:
What he does well
What he could improve upon
What else he could be doing which he currently isn’t
Yes, this. If you just give an expanded version of what you said in the OP it sounds like an excellent critique-- your boss had a few flaws to start with as a manager, but educated himself and improved significantly to the point that you’re happy with his management. That shows he was aware of his shortcomings as a supervisor and worked to improve them. That is fantastic feedback. This is a prime opportunity to cement your boss’ relationship with his bosses, and your relationship with him.
“If you’d asked me two years ago, I would have had specific criticisms to offer. But since then, he has been making a deliberate and very appreciated effort to improve his managerial approach, and it’s made a huge difference in our morale and in the team’s effectiveness. My only suggestion is that he continue on the path he’s already on.”
Someone (Dan Rather?) once said that when your boss sits you down and says “I want you to be absolutely frank with me”, alarm bells should go off and you need to lie like hell.
The situation posed by the OP is a bit different but the principle is the same. No good can come of playing this game the way management wants. Think of a way to make a suggestion that comes off as flattering.
I have a very low opinion of our HR department. I have learned the hard way that anything I say to HR can (and will) be used against me, somehow or someway. The less I interact with HR, the better.
For the OP… HR doesn’t care about your supervisor. The real reason for this meeting is that HR is trying to figure out if anyone who reports to him is a “problem employee” for the company.
To make matters even worse, anything you say in this meeting will be heard by your teammates, which is not good for you.
My Wife had a horrible boss, the department went to management and HR. One of my Wifes team members got escorted out of the building by the police for complaining to HR. As a result of this about 4 others resigned including my Wife. The department lost about 100 years of experience and very good people.
Boss was eventually replaced, new boss wants all those people back including my Wife. We talk about it and I give what advise I can (I work in a different department), but it is up to her, not pushing her in any direction.
Then make sure they know your supervisor hasn’t done anything wrong. Hell, make sure HR knows if he did anything specific to become a better manager, training, etc. that they recommend it to other new managers.
I’ll go one step further. According to HR, any issues with your manager is your fault.
Does he bully you? What are YOU doing so he feels he needs to bully you?
Does she not communicate clearly? YOU need to open up the lines of communication.
Do they change what they tell you and not put things into writing so they can always lie about what was said? Are YOU having those conversations to ensure you are both on the same page?
And always assume that confidentiality according to HR mean they will throw you under the bus and tell your manager everything you said without any anonymity.
If I were in a similar situation and HR presses for something negative to say, I would tell them I have nothing to share.
Just tell the truth. If you cannot think of anything to criticize her for, say so.
If the HR lady is good at her job she’ll know what questions to ask to elicit a weakness. Whatever she asks, just tell the truth in a professional manner.
As has been said consistently, unless your boss is horrible and you are actively trying to get him ousted, there is nothing for you to gain by saying anything that is not innocuous. “He/she is fine. I have no complaints. I have everything I need to do my job. Speaking of which, can I get back to it?”
I can only pile on. Nothing good will come of a public flogging (or even a private one), no matter how gentle.
And something I have learned over the years: HR is powerless. They can’t make you say anything, and while they can be most disappointed, it will end at that.
When I was a young’un, I had an HR guy who hated my boss’ boss, repeatedly asking me for criticism of him. After a while of avoiding it, I looked at him and said “Dan, I know you’re trying to get me to give you dirt on Bob, but I’m not going to do that. Not only would it be improper, but I like Bob.”
A weight had lifted, and I honestly don’t think I ever spoke to Dan again.
I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable referring back to historical shortcomings that someone has since overcome and not repeated. I’ve never thought it useful when dealing with my direct reports and wouldn’t feel it was fair to do so for a boss either.
Of course if you are pressured into giving historical criticism that’s a different matter I suppose but it doesn’t seem to fairly represent the job they are doing right now.
I work for a global 100 company. I would never ever in a million years throw out some kind of innocuous negative thing just to be balanced in the interview. It will become a mountain out of a molehill.
Just stick to the facts. You like your boss, they support you, no complaints, feel that you have open and honest communication and any feedback you give the manager responds appropriately. End of story.
Unlikely. First level managers get shat on just as much as individual contributors (to use my old company’s buzz words.) Probably more. Also, at one point upward evaluation was a hot HR thing. It might be here also.
If the OP’s boss is absolutely perfect, then saying so is okay. But I’ve done evaluations of really great people, who got awesome rankings, and I could usually find something that could be better. The negative in the OP was kind of a biggie, but it sounds like that got patched up and if so shouldn’t be brought up.
One thing I liked when I had to do upward evaluations was “if you add something to my plate, please tell me what I should de-prioritize to do it.” Not sure that applies here, but won’t get anyone into trouble.
Now, if the boss were a monster saying so in this process wouldn’t do any good, but that’s not whats going on here.
Use this to talk about things you want to see improve in your department/position. “I would like an opportunity to shadow a manager/executive in order to provide value to the company in the future, should there be an opportunity for upward growth…” Things like that. “I’d like to work with the manager to [work on some project you’ve always wanted to]”.