Review Time!

I would guess that for most of you, annual performance review time is here. My review is scheduled for this Friday. As my manager was informing me of the impending review last week, I was reminded of the review experiences I've had throughout my career.

I have been fortunate that in almost 30 years worth of performance reviews, I've only had one review where I was given an overall rating of "unsatisfactory" or "needs improvement." And that leads me to the subject of this blog entry. Managers, supervisors and those who wish to manage people someday take note:

There should never be a negative surprise at review time. Let me repeat that, with emphasis:

THERE SHOULD NEVER BE A NEGATIVE SURPRISE AT REVIEW TIME!

Employees typically know prior to their review if they have met the goals outlined for them in the previous year. They know if they were timely on assignments and if they put in the number of hours expected of them. They know if they have helped or hindered their company with their performance. They know if their coworkers respect them.

So if employees know all of these things, what should they find out during their review?

My opinion on this is simple. Employees should receive confirmation of their performance during their review. If you've ever walked into your annual review meeting worrying about how your performance was going to be rated, then your manager or supervisor is not doing his job.

Review time is not the time to surprise an employee with the knowledge that their performance is unacceptable. A good manager gives continuous performance feedback throughout the year, both positive and negative. By doing so, employees can focus on correcting those items that need improvement as well as continuing in the knowledge that they are on track in other areas.

Surprises during a review should be positive. They should reinforce areas of strength so that employees know they are doing something right. Now that does not mean that a review should be all roses. If you've been duly warned and instructed about areas that need improvement, then it should come as no surprise when those shortcomings are documented in your review.

I'll never forget the only bad review I ever received. It was over fifteen years ago, yet I can remember every detail of the meeting as if it just happened. My immediate supervisor did a great job of giving me continuous feedback that year, as I wrote above. So when my review with her was held, there were no surprises on what was written in my review folder.

However, when I later met with my second level manager to complete the review, virtually every positive comment my supervisor had written had been redlined and replaced with negative comments about my performance. Not only was I dumbfounded, angry and confused, but my supervisor was clearly embarrassed for me as well.

I have to admit that I did not handle this news well. I challenged the manager as to why I was just hearing these negative comments for the first time, when everything I had heard throughout the previous year had been positive. The answer was that he had kept these comments to himself and did not share them with my supervisor until it was time to approve my formal review. And to top it off, the changes were not due to any documented facts or from any input from my coworkers or customers, they were simply his opinion.

I almost quit right then and there. But I knew deep inside that this was an anomaly; and that I should be as positive as possible. So I took the comments in stride, I apologized to the manager for not having met his expectations, and promised to work on those areas the next year.

After the meeting, my supervisor was almost in tears. She said she had been just as blindsided by what had just happened as I had been. She also promised to make sure that it did not happen again. And it didn't.

I can't be the only person who's had this experience because I constantly hear from friends and coworkers about how nervous they are about their review. So I offer this advice to each of you when you receive your review this year: If you have negative surprises in your review, challenge your management to be more proactive in 2009. If you don't know your performance is unacceptable, then how can you be expected to improve?

I don't expect any negative surprises this Friday when I have my review. I'll let you know Monday if that was the case.