How to Respond to a Bad
Review
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Office Coach is copyrighted to Marie G. McIntyre. All rights reserved.
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www.yourofficecoach.com.
Getting a bad performance review can make you feel angry, unappreciated,
defeated, and hopeless. But it’s not the end of the world. And the way
you respond to the current review can make all the difference in the
next one. Even if you feel that your appraisal is inaccurate and your
boss is completely wrong, you will still benefit by reacting in a
mature, adult manner. Here are some suggestions for dealing with a bad
review.
1.
Assess your boss’s power to affect your life.
Getting a good review is essentially about pleasing your boss. And
whether it’s important to please your boss depends upon your goals. If
you want her to promote you or expand your responsibilities, then
pleasing your manager is very important, even if she’s a complete dolt.
But if you are planning to quit in the next few months, her opinion may
not really matter (and you don’t need to read the rest of this). If
your manager’s opinion can affect your future, however, then you need to
handle this interaction well.
2.
Avoid
knee-jerk emotional reactions.
Your manager probably expects you to become defensive, argumentative,
and difficult so surprise him by staying calm and reasonable. Getting
angry or upset will not accomplish anything.
3.
Listen to the reasons.
Even though you may not agree with them, you still need to understand
the reasons why your performance was viewed negatively. If you
understand your manager’s view, then you will be in a better position to
change her perceptions in the future.
4.
Ask
questions to clarify.
Unless you understand exactly what your boss is displeased about, you
will find it difficult to change his opinion. Therefore, you need to
explore anything that is not clear. However, the questions you ask need
to be phrased positively. Bad question: “How did you come to such a
stupid conclusion?” Good question: “What could I have done to prevent
the problem?”
5.
Focus
on the future.
Avoid getting sucked into pointless debates about past events.
Discussion about the past is only useful if it helps you clarify future
expectations. Here’s a future-focused question that can short-circuit
debates about past problems: “What specifically can I do differently
this year to get a better review next year?”
6.
Present your views calmly and logically.
You do not have to sit back and take criticism that you feel is
undeserved. But you should give your opinion in a calm, adult manner,
focusing on facts and observations. Angry, emotional reactions will
only reinforce your boss’s negative opinion.
7.
Agree
on how success will be achieved.
Most importantly, at the end of this discussion you need to have a clear
understanding of your manager’s expectations (assuming you have
concluded that this matters to you). At the end of the meeting,
summarize your understanding of what you must do to get a better
review.
8.
Request positive feedback.
Some bosses are better at criticizing than expressing appreciation. If
you work for one of these discouraging managers, don’t hesitate to
politely solicit some positive feedback. After discussing how you might
improve, it’s perfectly appropriate to say, “Now that we’ve agreed on my
development plan, could you tell me what aspects of my work went well
this year?”
9.
Set a
time to discuss progress.
Although the last thing you may want to do is have another discussion,
you need to know whether your manager’s perceptions are actually
changing. If so, you’ll know that you’re on the right track. So go
ahead and ask your boss to put a follow-up meeting on the calendar.
Continue these until the problem appears to be solved.
10.
Ask
for a formal mid-year review.
If the follow-up meetings go well, you may want to ask for a formal
mid-year review – that is, a six-month appraisal that actually goes in
your personnel file. That way, your improvement will be on the record
before the next review cycle. Check with your HR department to see if
this is allowed.
11.
Assess risks and benefits of protesting.
If you deeply disagree with your boss’s assessment, you always have the
right to protest. Most simply, you can write your views in the Employee
Comments section of the appraisal form. To lodge a more serious
protest, you can go to human resources or the next level of management.
Before deciding to protest, however, carefully weigh the possible risks
and benefits of doing so. It’s a safe bet that your manager won’t be
happy about it.
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