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The
management literature is full of advice for those who want
to deliver effective performance reviews. The usual
mantra? Use review sessions to set clear expectations and
goals but never forget to praise good work and to listen
closely to employee concerns.
So with
all the good intentions, why do so many surveys find that
employees are so miserable? A Towers and Perrin survey of
1,100 people from 1,004 companies, for instance, found
fully a third felt “intensely negative” about their jobs
and exhausted, confused and unsupported in their offices.
The
disconnect is real, says consultant Beverly Kaye, coauthor
with Sharon Jordan-Evans of the book Love It, Don’t
Leave It: 26 Ways to Get What You Want at Work (Berrett-Koehler,
2003). But it’s not because managers deliver such bad
reviews. Rather, those on the receiving end of the review
aren’t using the session to talk about what they want and
need.
The
following advice will help you get more of what you want
out of your next review.
Ask
yourself what you really want.
If you
want to get something out of a review, Kaye says, don’t
expect your manager to guess what it is; she will usually
guess wrong. Instead, enter the review session with very
clear ideas about what you want and how to ask for
it—whether it’s a job shift, a training program, a
sabbatical or a request for a change in your boss’s
behavior.
“The
biggest mistake is not taking the time to plan,” says
Kaye. “Think of it as interviewing yourself: What do I
want to accomplish? What’s my agenda? What am I willing to
say, and who will I have to convince?”
Managers,
for their part, need to coach employees to understand that
declaring “I’m feeling dissatisfied” won’t get much
reaction, Kaye says, whereas offering a set of proposals
to help solve a problem will get an immediate response.
A common
misunderstanding managers have as review time approaches,
she says, is that employees will ask only for money and
promotion, when in fact what the employee is really
looking for is validation and respect. Too often employees
think money is the only thing to ask for, too.
The
problem, Kaye suggests, is that appreciation, dignity and
respect are nebulous in contrast with money, which is
quantifiable. The best approach is to make a list of what
appreciation would look like on the job, she says.
“Let’s say
you get reviews that say you are doing great, but most of
the year you feel ignored and overlooked,” says Kaye.
“Then be prepared to tell the boss you would like to have
a note when you do something she likes.” If that isn’t her
style, tell her you would like to have a cup of coffee
every month and be told specifically what you have done
well lately.
“Stress
the specifics,” says Kaye. “Don’t settle for ‘You are good
at your job.’ Tell her that you want to hear specifically
that it worked well when you did X or Y.”
Make the
proposal.
Employee
surveys repeatedly find that employees feel “stuck” at
work and believe that managers have not invested in their
development. Kaye argues that employees need to research
useful developmental assignments or training programs, and
then be prepared to articulate how the assignment or
program will prepare them for a desired job.
If an
employee plans to request a job shift, he should find a
replacement and work out a transition plan before
presenting it to his boss. But while walking into the
performance review with a well-researched, well-rehearsed
plan for change is great, Kaye says, employees also need
to remember to come equipped with several alternative
plans for achieving their goals.
“The
biggest mistake is coming with demands,” says Kaye.
“Instead, go in and say, ‘Here’s my problem, and here are
three ideas I have for fixing it.’ This way, you are
giving the boss space.”
Close the
deal.
One of the simplest—and most overlooked—aspects of any
employee request is laying out to the boss what’s in it
for him, says Kaye.
Explain
how your getting cross-training or taking a course, for
instance, can help your boss and your unit be more
effective. You also need to address the business case:
What current business need will this change address?
Be
prepared to help the boss figure out what barriers may
stand in the way of satisfying the request—whether they
are people or budget problems or timing factors—and be
ready to offer solutions.
“You
probably have a pretty good idea of what might stand in
the way—it’s why you haven’t asked for it before,” says
Kaye. “But if you’ve spent that much time thinking about
the problems, you can probably figure out some other ideas
for solving them, too.”
(Angelia Herrin is executive director of new business
development at Harvard Business School Publishing and a
journalism instructor at Harvard Extension School.) |
