7 Tips to Deal With a Bad Performance Review

Home
>
Careers, Jobs & Employment
>
7 Tips to Deal With a Bad Performance Review

7 Tips to Deal With a Bad Performance Review

Q. "I wasn't happy with my last performance review. Should I dispute the review? Write a letter for my file? Talk to a lawyer? Or just let it go?"

A. Most professionals feel you should offer some kind of response. But whether to respond, and the way to respond, will depend on your company's culture, the unwritten message and your own career goals.

1. Assess your report in light of the company's culture.

In some cultures, anything but glowing praise will be viewed as negative. In others, tough reviews are the norm.

Often your boss will be expected to come up with at least one point of constructive criticism. After all, nobody walks on water. But if you're being attacked or unfairly criticized, you must explore further.

Sometimes you'll win more points by taking the review in stride than by fighting. But in some cultures, a single negative review means you need to start job-hunting right away.

2. Calculate your boss's strategy.

Sometimes your performance report has nothing to do with you or your performance. Your boss might honestly want to see you leave the company or make sure the next promotion goes to someone else.

Your boss may be a new hire who is still learning your company's culture. She may bring only good intentions.

Or maybe your boss wants to get your attention: he's dropped hints and you've ignored them. Or he wants to help you progress but doesn't know how to communicate tactfully.

3. Listen for unwritten messages.

Does your company have a category where a low score means you're headed for disaster? Does your boss try to tell you, "It's a great review!" when you know otherwise?

Suppose you've been getting terrific reviews - and now you get slammed with a truckload of criticism. Maybe you really did have a bad year. Or maybe there's an agenda you need to understand.

4. Get the facts without getting defensive.

Ask your boss to explain each criticism.

For example, if your boss said your project was delivered late, get dates and times. If you're criticized for interpersonal skills, ask for specific instances.

But give your boss a chance to save face.

Anyone can make mistakes. An overworked, harried boss can skimp on her own data collection. You can say, without confrontation, "My records show I managed six projects, not four. Can we go over this point?"

5. Delay your response.

Ask for a second meeting, explaining calmly that you need time to think. Use the time to collect your backup file. Consider a consultation with an outsider: career coach, consultant, human resources professor - even a lawyer if the situation warrants.

Do not discuss your report or your decision to seek help with your peers. Ever.

6. Back up a rebuttal with facts, not emotion.

Assemble your own evidence of performance. Collect letters of appreciation, dates and times of project completion, statistics showing how you helped the company.

Often simply placing a rebuttal letter in your own file will defuse the impact of a negative evaluation. When you've had a strong track record, your company will ignore an occasional negative, unless there's a new agenda.

Your boss may be ordered to grade on the curve, i.e., assign some employees the "low" category even if everyone's doing great. And, being human, he may assign those ratings to those who are least likely to speak up. A strong, carefully written rebuttal will clarify your strength of purpose.

7. Avoid jumping to conclusions - or to a new job.

When clients ask, "Should I look for a new job?" my answer will be, "When you work for any organization, keep yourself marketable. Maintain your network. Identify reputable recruiters and build ties with them."

It's rarely a good idea to share your career change plans with your colleagues or boss until you have a written offer in hand. And it's rarely a good idea to accept a counter-offer from your present company. (Over half the workers who accept a counter-offer are gone within six months, one way or another.)

But if your company wants to send a "Go Away!" message, they may be happy to give you a good reference that reflects your real contribution.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps midlife professionals create small, medium and huge career changes, start a business or start over.

Free Report: Ten secrets of managing a major life change.
Mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com
Contact cathy@cathygoodwin.com or call 505-534-4294

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

President-elect promised change, picking insiders (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama promised the voters change, but he has started his Cabinet selection process by naming several Washington insiders to top posts.

Fed sees economic woes persisting into next year (AP)

AP - Pounded by a fierce financial crisis, the country is sinking deeper into economic despair and is likely to be in the hole well into next year, forcing more Americans into the ranks of the unemployed.

Detroit automakers' rescue stalls in Senate (AP)

AP - A plan to give troubled U.S. automakers billions of dollars in government-backed loans is on life support, leaving the fate of hundreds of thousands of workers and Detroit's once-venerable car companies hanging in the balance.

Recession fears send world markets down (AP)

AP - European and Asian stock markets tumbled Thursday after recession fears sent Wall Street plunging the day before.

Dems look to stop endangered species rule changes (AP)

AP - With the Bush administration on the verge of relaxing regulations protecting endangered species, Democratic leaders are looking at ways to overturn any last-minute rule changes.

Astronauts vow remaining tool bag won't drift away (AP)

AP - Astronauts vowed to double-check, even triple-check, to make sure a bag of tools is properly tied down during a spacewalk Thursday so it doesn't float away like one did earlier this week.

China to overhaul battered dairy industry (AP)

AP - China announced a complete overhaul of its dairy industry Thursday to improve safety at every step Â— from cow breeding to milk sales Â— saying its worst food quality scandal in years had revealed "major problems" in quality control.

Lawyer: Michael Jackson to testify in London (AP)

AP - Michael Jackson's lawyer says the pop star has agreed to come to London to respond to a Bahraini sheik's $7 million lawsuit.

Ind. inmates sneak through ceiling to have sex (AP)

AP - Three male and three female inmates at a southern Indiana jail face charges that they devised a way to sneak between cell blocks to help pass their time behind bars by having sex.

NFL reinstates Cowboy CB Adam 'Pacman' Jones (AP)

AP - The NFL is giving Adam "Pacman" Jones another chance. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday the suspended cornerback has been reinstated by league commissioner Roger Goodell, but he must miss two more games Â— this Sunday and the following game on Thanksgiving. He'll be back Dec. 7 at Pittsburgh.

Recession blues play on (Reuters)

Reuters - World economic misery spread on Thursday with forecasts of a global recession running well into 2009, Japan's exports to Asia falling for the first time in six years and job losses mounting.

Obama taps Arizona governor for homeland security: report (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's top choice to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources.

Global stocks at 5-1/2 year lows (Reuters)

Reuters - World stocks dropped to 5-1/2 year lows and oil hit 22-month troughs as investors reacted to dire Federal Reserve warnings on the economy and fears about the viability of major U.S. auto makers and bank giant Citigroup.

Prospect for auto bailout dims (Reuters)

Reuters - Chances dimmed that a last-minute plan being crafted by Republican senators, with White House support, to provide $25 billion to bail out U.S. automakers would receive enough backing from Democrats to pass before the end of this week.

U.S. pact can pass Iraqi parliament: minister (Reuters)

Reuters - A pact allowing U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years has a chance of being approved by parliament despite some heated opposition, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday.

California court to hear gay marriage ban case (Reuters)

Reuters - California's Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage and let the ban stand in the meantime.

Woman posed as teen online in suicide case: attorney (Reuters)

Reuters - A Missouri woman established a fake identity online to torment a vulnerable teenage girl who later committed suicide, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday in a trial that is being closely watched by the burgeoning social networking industry.

Pakistan protests over U.S. missile strikes (Reuters)

Reuters - Pakistan summoned U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson on Thursday to protest over missile strikes launched by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets in Pakistan.

Governments scramble to protect jobs as losses mount (AFP)

AFP - Governments scrambled to cushion the impact of the finance crisis Thursday with France launching a sovereign wealth fund and China unveiling a jobs protection plan as the car industry made huge new cuts.

Russia to send more warships to battle Somali pirates (AFP)

AFP - Russia announced Thursday it would send more warships to combat piracy in the waters around Somalia, as the Saudi owners of the Sirius Star negotiated with the pirates holding their oil tanker.

7 Tips to Deal With a Bad Performance Review

Careers, Jobs & Employment Careers, Jobs & Employment