Your performance review is a chance for the management to surprise you with all that is wrong with you and between you and your boss, regardless of your actual job performance!Anonymous.
Clients often call me to complain when they suddenly feel blindsided in their Annual Performance Review (APR)often distraught and angry. In a typical complaint their refrain is how their boss told them in oral conversations throughout the year how well they were doing, often giving them kudos for a task well done. And, suddenly, when the APR discussion takes place they are surprised by all the things that were wrong in how they performed and all the improvement they must immediately make to even avoid being put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). In most of these cases they walk away with no increase in pay, let alone any promise for moving them to the next level of their pay grade, which they believed they had earned before walking into that APR session. The mismatch of expectations could not be starker!
In a recent such case a mid-level client (a director) called me devastated when his boss surprised him with a negative review despite his signing-up for nearly tripling the product revenues for a new product for which my client was responsible. Although it was early in the game, during the three months since he had signed up for such an aggressive revenue goal my client was not only on track to deliver that objective, but had actually exceeded the run-rate during those three months. And, that was no accident: my client had worked hard to penetrate new customers and worked very hard to build that products momentum.
He had also finessed an important meeting with the CEO of a partner company with my clients boss two skip-levels up (companys EVP), who was excited about the new partnership, opening new doors for my clients products and company. So, despite all of these stellar accomplishments my client was surprisedactually, shockedwhen his boss delivered him a poor performance review and insisted that he needed to improve his performance if he has any desire to move up to the next level. Although the discussion did not culminate in a PIP, my client walked away feeling as if it rose to that level.
When I asked my client what specifically was discussed to improve his leadership performance beyond what he had already been commended for throughout the year, his boss told invoked some vague items such as communication, executive presence, and relationships. So, I asked my client what that all meant in terms of changed behaviors that he must exhibit and the changes he must make to pass the muster, he could not tell me. He responded about his loss of actionable insights on these items by rationalizing how surprised he was with this APR outcome and how he started defending his performance by brining up all the great things he had accomplished during that review period. He also kept reminding his boss about the positive statements the boss had made throughout the year when my client had overcome challenging situations. Yet, the boss was unmoved, as if those exchanges had never even taken place. Soon the allotted time for the review was over. My client walked away stunned from that frustrating meeting shaking his head and without having any understanding of what else he needed to do to get himself a performance rating deserving of his next promotion.
Such APR encounters happen more often than Id like to count. So, what can you do to deal with such arbitrary or capricious treatment, especially when you know that you have done wellthrough your boss oral feedback and from others throughout the yearand that you deserve a fair acknowledgement of it when it really matters? Here is my list:
1.Prepare a clear plan of actionDevelopment Planfor the year ahead and have concrete milestones and objectives that are derived from the top-down Annual Business Plans and any other concomitant goals your boss my have, stemming from these plans.
2.Get an agreement with your boss on the criteria on which your performance would be rated. Most companies have a well-laid APR document that clearly states the different categories of skills that get rated. So, using that template ask your boss if they see any areas that may need attention as you commit to the business objectives that are clearly measurable: Release of three new products; revenue increase of 75%; hiring three new employees, one with a PhD, etc.
3.If you have your own agenda for growth and you need company resources to achieve some goals along those needs you must bring them up as a part of your own development plan. For example, if you want to get certified as a Project Manager and get that coveted PMI Certification you must get your boss to agree to sponsor that training and certification on company time and resources. If you think that these improvements in your performance are deserving of your next promotion get an agreement from your boss at this time so that if you meet all these requirements your boss must consider you for that next promotion. It may even help to have the competency grid available for your current and next level from HR to nail this down further.
4.As you navigate through the year when your bossor anyone else of significancekudos you for a job well done you must document that acknowledgment with an email or a cc to your boss so that it is available to you at the APR time. Make this message as a benign acknowledgement of what they orally said and show your gratitude for their spontaneous acknowledgement. Such emails carry even more impact when you attribute that success to a team effort and send a copy of this email to the participated team members.
5.If your boss brings up some new area of improvement as the year progresses, again, it is a good idea to document that in an email and seeking their guidance on how to improve in that area with specifics. It is even better to fold that added development area in the original Development Plan that you signed up for at the beginning of the cycle.
6.If you have taken care of your Plan as detailed above (1-5) then it is going to be difficult for your boss to wiggle out of that framework and surprise you with something that will set you back at the APR time. Yet, do not be surprised if your boss still blindsides you with new areas where you came up short in your performance (re-read the quote at the top of this blog). When this happens and if these gaps are serious enough for them to deny you what is otherwise owedand already agreedto you it is best to just listen to the APR narrative that your boss as now prepared, take notes, and not argue about any of the items in that session. This is because your emotional state of mind is likely to militate against a productive discussion; having an emotional response to such a negative APR despite your successes throughout the year may vitiate your chances to remedy the negativity of the review. Do NOT secretly audio record this session; just take manual notes.
7.The best way to respond to surprises during an APR, especially after doing all the groundwork listed above, is to ask for a follow-up meeting after you have first just listened to what was said and then going back after reflecting on this critical discussion. In preparation for the follow-up meeting you must round up all the supporting evidence of your performance and the emails you sent (#4). Prepare a script for your response and make it logically tenable by going through the sequence outlined in #1 through #5.
8.Revisit the areas of discord from the initial APR discussion, when the boss brought up new areas of your shortcomings (communication, executive presence, and other such nebulous items) asking for specifics and putting them on the spot. Ask for examples of good models in such areas and request your boss to contrast them against your own behaviors. Explain to them that this is the way you learn how to change and as a leader it is their responsibility to guide you on how you need to improve your skills so that you come through for them. Do not let them get away with vague responses such as reading some HBR article or watching a YouTube video. If they invoke some memory of an event many months back ask them why they did not catch you right then and there, so that you could have dealt with it with specificity and alacrity.
9.Most bosses are not prepared for having a rational conversation around such topics. This is because their strategy is to find things wrong with you despite your otherwise good work. They are very comfortable making sweeping generalizations about vague topics such as communication and executive presence. But, when you press them for details and ask them to guide you constructively for improvement they often come up short. Now you have them cornered; do not back down when you reach this happy state in your follow-up session. Your objective in this session is to either walk away with a constructive development plan or to make your boss uncomfortable about their arbitrary assessment of your performance. Either way, you win!
10.After the follow-up meeting document the discussion objectively and get your boss to agree to how you viewed the APRs conclusion. In case your boss fights you get HR involved to participate in the process. Generally, bosses do not like this involvement, especially when you have done your part so well and have documented your own track!
Do not be intimidated or daunted by the APR process, especially when it ends up treating you unfairly. By following these steps you are likely to put your capricious boss on notice and get them in line to do a fair review the next time around.
Good luck!
| About Author | |
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Dilip has distinguished himself as LinkedIn’s #1 career coach from among a global pool of over 1,000 peers ever since LinkedIn started ranking them professionally (LinkedIn selected 23 categories of professionals for this ranking and published this ranking from 2006 until 2012). Having worked with over 6,000 clients from all walks of professions and having worked with nearly the entire spectrum of age groups—from high-school graduates about to enter college to those in their 70s, not knowing what to do with their retirement—Dilip has developed a unique approach to bringing meaning to their professional and personal lives. Dilip’s professional success lies in his ability to codify what he has learned in his own varied life (he has changed careers four times and is currently in his fifth) and from those of his clients, and to apply the essence of that learning to each coaching situation. After getting his B.Tech. (Honors) from IIT-Bombay and Master’s in electrical engineering(MSEE) from Stanford University, Dilip worked at various organizations, starting as an individual contributor and then progressing to head an engineering organization of a division of a high-tech company, with $2B in sales, in California’s Silicon Valley. His current interest in coaching resulted from his career experiences spanning nearly four decades, at four very diverse organizations–and industries, including a major conglomerate in India, and from what it takes to re-invent oneself time and again, especially after a lay-off and with constraints that are beyond your control. During the 45-plus years since his graduation, Dilip has reinvented himself time and again to explore new career horizons. When he left the corporate world, as head of engineering of a technology company, he started his own technology consulting business, helping high-tech and biotech companies streamline their product development processes. Dilip’s third career was working as a marketing consultant helping Fortune-500 companies dramatically improve their sales, based on a novel concept. It is during this work that Dilip realized that the greatest challenge most corporations face is available leadership resources and effectiveness; too many followers looking up to rudderless leadership. Dilip then decided to work with corporations helping them understand the leadership process and how to increase leadership effectiveness at every level. Soon afterwards, when the job-market tanked in Silicon Valley in 2001, Dilip changed his career track yet again and decided to work initially with many high-tech refugees, who wanted expert guidance in their reinvention and reemployment. Quickly, Dilip expanded his practice to help professionals from all walks of life. Now in his fifth career, Dilip works with professionals in the Silicon Valley and around the world helping with reinvention to get their dream jobs or vocations. As a career counselor and life coach, Dilip’s focus has been career transitions for professionals at all levels and engaging them in a purposeful pursuit. Working with them, he has developed many groundbreaking approaches to career transition that are now published in five books, his weekly blogs, and hundreds of articles. He has worked with those looking for a change in their careers–re-invention–and jobs at levels ranging from CEOs to hospital orderlies. He has developed numerous seminars and workshops to complement his individual coaching for helping others with making career and life transitions. Dilip’s central theme in his practice is to help clients discover their latent genius and then build a value proposition around it to articulate a strong verbal brand. Throughout this journey, Dilip has come up with many groundbreaking practices such as an Inductive Résumé and the Genius Extraction Tool. Dilip owns two patents, has two publications in the Harvard Business Review and has led a CEO roundtable for Chief Executive on Customer Loyalty. Both Amazon and B&N list numerous reviews on his five books. Dilip is also listed in Who’s Who, has appeared several times on CNN Headline News/Comcast Local Edition, as well as in the San Francisco Chronicle in its career columns. Dilip is a contributing writer to several publications. Dilip is a sought-after speaker at public and private forums on jobs, careers, leadership challenges, and how to be an effective leader. |
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