Performance Review and the frustration behind them

In the workforce, there’s nothing that can causes so much fear and dread on the managers side and so much anger and resentment on the employees side than a performance review.

We have all gone through these year-end reviews. If it is for ourselves or we were the manager giving the review. Most employees today are doing the jobs of 3-4 people. This can cause stress, burn out, and eventually quitting from discontent.

So why do most performance reviews cause aggravation? Here are the top ways you can ensure your next performance with your employees will be a total catastrophe:

• Being too vague

I enjoy the managers that have 10 minute performance reviews with their employees, usually in the last month of the year — after being harassed by HR to get them done. Most of these meetings are usually called on the spur of the moment: “Hey George, could you stop in my office for a sec?” They are as brief and never give you specific feedback. There is always a lot of “you’re doing good work” and “keep it up”.

•  Everything is perfect

That is until it’s not and you’re fired. I have heard of a lot of complaints from laid off workers who never saw it coming and then are bitter when they are confronted because they are apparently no longer getting the job done according to expectations. They point to a series of outstanding annual performance evaluations and then suddenly being called into the managers office to be let go.

• Recent events

If you had mistake(s) happen to you recently and these mistake(s) ends up being the entire topic of your performance review even if you did a great job the entire year. Some managers seem to have no long term memory, so they only base their observations on the most recent events and the observations from others to form their opinion.

• No preparation

Some managers like to do meetings “on the fly.”  The worst part of this approach is that it typically means the manager has not given any thought to how the employee has preformed in the last year and what they are required to do to improve. Even worse are managers who simply cut and paste what was on last year’s performance review.

• They never happen

The managers who never plans performance reviews are typically not planners. They typically have problems down the road unable to plan the simplest of meetings.

• No recognition for doing the work of multiple people

This is more than just saying thanks, it is important to remember that things are changing in the job market. Most industries have dramatically cut headcount. The remaining people have been asked to take on the responsibilities. This the world of technology certification and experience are key players. You need to make sure that both are recognized and rewarded.