A client had a really poor experience with feedback in a performance view which was done cursorially, to comply with inner deadlines and boss moving on to new, better role. He was rated “meets” expectations rather than the “exceeds” he expected. Initially he was told this was about the bell-curve, and that he had been rated exceeds. He asked them to un-bell curve it.
That’s when the bosses started to say there were expectations he wasn’t meeting. Their level of clarity and their sense of timing was somewhat lacking. They alienated a valuable person.
This is partly what Margaret Heffernan talks about here.
What you can do
If you do go into a performance feedback cycle, then please do prepare! Your boss will be fighting primacy and recency (the last thing you did and the first thing you did). Neither of which may shed light on the in-betweens where you did your finest work. Furnish them with a list of activities and achievements, reference emails from clients or from bosses congratulating you on projects you’ve completed. Your own testimonial files, if you like – keep them in one note, or tagged in your emails, or ask your preferred AI to sift through your emails to find them.
It’s important to you. It’s less important to them. And you’ll be happier knowing that they made their decisions
More ideas
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