WorkLifeBridge

Managers love to review the star employees in their organizations, especially in good times when they can afford to reward them in every way. You call the person into your office, greet them with a broad smile, lavish praise and congratulations on them, and hand them generous raises and bonuses.

The problem is that there are only so many stars in any organizations, and often the rewards you can give even your stars fall far short of what you would like to give them or what you think they deserve.

As a result, many managers delay, postpone, and avoid performance reviews any way they can. According to a recent BusinessWeek survey, more than 70% of managers admit they have a hard time giving reviews to under-performing employees. It’s not unusual for employees to complain that their managers are months and sometimes more behind in performance reviews, and often the employees themselves are too unsure of themselves or worried about their relationship with the boss to bring it up. But don’t kid yourself, they are thinking about it.

In addition, many managers, when faced with under-performing employees, can’t bring themselves to give bad reviews, and as a consequence give bland, watered-down reviews that lead employees into thinking everything is going fine. As a result, employees have no sense of where they need to improve their performance, and often communication starts to deteriorate between the employees and their managers. Ultimately, with nothing negative in the under-performing employee’s file, organizations can find themselves sued for discrimination or wrongful dismissal if they ever need to let these employees go.

Thus, whether you are the bearer of happy tidings or bad news, it is crucial to be as straightforward and accurate in performance reviews as you can be, and to face your employees in a constructive, timely, and matter-of-fact manner. Remember that your goal is both to evaluate and guide them, and in the process to advance the interests of your employees, your team, and your entire organization. Here are a few suggestions to make the process more productive:

1. Hold the performance reviews on time - they are part of your commitment to your employees.
2. Have the employees complete an assessment of their own work ahead of time and start the review process by hearing from them. They might already be aware of their shortcomings, which will make your job easier. If they are not, you will know at the outset what perceptions you are dealing with.
3. Don’t argue with your employees’ perceptions. Listen to them and make sure you’ve understood them and acknowledged them.
4. Present your assessment of their performance in terms of your observations of their work rather than the conclusions you’ve derived from those observations. Describe what you see in simple, straightforward terms, as much on a factual level as you can.
5. Expect an emotional response to your factual statements - after all, your review is likely to touch on sensitive ground regarding how your employees feel about yourself and your work. Be prepared to acknowledge the feelings that your employees express without backing down from your factual assessment.
6. Focus the discussion on their goals and interests as well as the expectations that you have in order to create a constructive conversation that looks forward to their future performance rather than just discusses the past.

This is the time of year when many organizations hold company parties, providing important opportunities for people to network and get to know each other in a more informal setting. People from different departments and management levels get to rub elbows socially, with the goal of breaking down some barriers and building morale. Unfortunately, as the evening wears on and the alcohol flows, people sometimes forget that while the party conveys a different atmosphere than the office, they are still with people from their place of work, and that there are consequences to things they say and do at the party.

Of course, the best way to avoid those consequences is to behave yourself during the party. As an article on the Quintessential Careers web site points out, office parties can both advance and cripple your career. After all, where else but the office party can you find the CEO and the mail room clerk bellied up to the bar together, as a recent Monster.com advice column reminds us. This creates opportunities for friendly conversation but also the danger of unfiltered commentary, since consumption of alcohol is acceptable at roughly 70% of holiday office parties.

Since your behavior at an office party can help or kill your career, you definitely don’t want to be the person who got so drunk at the office party that they groped a co-worker, told off the boss, or passed out under the buffet table, since on Monday morning you still have to try to work with those people. And chances are you want to avoid having to write a letter of apology (or of resignation), the week after, as discussed in this NPR Morning Edition commentary.

But sometimes despite what you know you should be doing and the advice of many sages, you still do things you regret later. You might have said things you shouldn’t have said to the wrong people, you might have acted like a fool, or done something very inappropriate. Now it’s Monday morning, and you have to salvage your career. Damage may already have been done, but it’s your behavior on Monday and beyond that can determine whether the damage is fleeting or will kill your career at the company.

My first advice is to not go it alone: seek advice from people you trust within the company who might be able to paint a more accurate picture for you about what exactly happened and who else was involved. Things might not be as embarrassing as your remember them to be, or they might be worse, and have a couple of other perspectives on the matter can be helpful. Then you need to decide whether the event will blow over on its own or needs to be addressed. In some corporate cultures, it may be better to leave things unsaid, whereas in others you might need to bring the matter up explicitly.

If you do need to bring it up, figure out who you have to talk to and how public or private to make your communication. This will largely depend on the nature of what you have done and the circumstances surrounding it. When you do communicate, first listen to what people are saying so you know what their concerns are and what you need to address. It’s also important to encapsulate the event by framing it as an unusual, one-time occurrence that is less representative of you as a person and more of the particular circumstances of the moment. People may not be quick to forget, but they do recognize your humanity and are likely to forgive your transgressions, so long as you take appropriate responsibility for your actions and carry yourself with respect for yourself and for others going forward.

For additional thoughts on surviving the holiday office party, check out the following articles:

• “How to Survive Your Office Holiday Party” posted at ClubPlanet.com
• “Annual Holiday Party Hangover Checklist” at FYI: Central Ohio Employment Law Update
• Part II - Employer Liability at Office Holiday Parties - Beyond Sexual Harassment via Connecticut Employment Law Blog

In the meantime, happy holidays!

From time to time, we’ll be rounding up the latest workplace-related stories for your reading pleasure. Here are today’s recommendations:

PhysOrg.com reports on a recent study that examines the influence of beauty, status and sex on job negotiations in “Hiring practices are influenced by beauty“.

Small Business Trends asks the provocative question, “Are Your Employees’ Hours Quality Time or Quantity Time?” How might you answer that about your own workplace?

George’s Employment Blawg takes a look at a harsh realization: “Much Employee Creativity Unused on Job“.

Online Guide to Mediation, a blog published by OptionBridge partner Diane Levin, looks at a new social networking web site that helps employees join forces to effect workplace change, among other things.

PersonnelToday.com lists the “Top 10 management issues companies get wrong“.

Finally, Life at Work, a New Zealand blog that takes an irreverent look at workplace issues from the perspective of an employment lawyer, asks, “Exactly why did you leave your last job?“

For many people, asking for raises at work is very difficult. Many people simply don’t ask, hoping that their efforts will be noticed on their own, and as a result, they can find themselves grossly underpaid. As the Evil HR Lady points out, no one cares as much about your career as you do, and it is up to you to take the initiative regarding your compensation.

So why is money so hard to talk about? For one, many people have been brought up to think that asking for more is unbecoming or rude. This is especially true for women, according to Women Don’t Ask, a book that explores negotiation and the gender divide, and, as a result, women on average earn less and advance their careers more slowly than the men around them.

Many people are also concerned about appearing greedy or damaging the relationship with their manager. The fear of rejection also looms big, since their self esteem is on the line. Managers also make this discussion difficult through their own discomfort with the subject. At the root of much of this mutual discomfort is a perception that this discussion is adversarial — a win-lose scenario in which one’s gain is the other’s loss.

While there is some truth there, in that the pool of available money is limited, both the company and the employee have far more complex interests other than just the money, and by focusing on those greater interests, it is possible to have a collaborative discussion about compensation.

In addition to greater financial rewards, employees want appreciation, career advancement, challenging responsibilities, learning opportunities, and autonomy. Employers want to retain and develop employees, and want people to take initiative and mentor others.

By enlarging the discussion beyond just the money, but not ignoring it either, it is possible to engage in a mutually beneficial conversation that nets the employee a higher salary while providing the company with a happier, more productive, and more capable worker.

Here are three basic things you can do to help create a collaborative approach:

1. Prepare extensively for your negotiation.  Make sure you understand your own interests as well as those of your boss, and think about much more than just the money. Research objective standards you can apply to convince the other person, and think up at least a couple of different options that would make you happy. Research and understand your alternatives to a negotiated agreement. This way you will neither say something foolish out of fear or confusion, and your confidence in your negotiation will improve.
2. Listen more than you talk. Ask your boss open-ended questions and listen to the responses you get as you try to identify interests.
3. Negotiate the relationship concurrently with the outcome. You can’t afford a short-term win that will damage the relationship going forward. The key here is to be respectful, and to really understand where the other person is coming from.

A 2006 book, The Female Brain, made the controversial claim that women speak almost three times as many words per day as men. Despite the fact that linguists swiftly debunked this claim, it and other gender myths persist.

A recent article from the New York Times, “The Feminine Critique“, examines the pervasive nature of gender stereotyping, which can affect our ability to accurately perceive men and women on issues that range from the expression of anger to salary negotiations — any of which can hold serious consequences for the workplace.

Says one researcher, “Most of what we learn shows that the problem is with the perception, not with the woman,” he said, “and that it is not the problem of an individual, it’s a problem of a corporation.”

The good news is that while we may be susceptible to stereotypes, we can overcome them, as we discussed here in October. But it requires a commitment and a willingness to face them. And you can begin by asking, what is your organization doing to counter stereotypes?

Most of us aren’t trained psychologists. But many of us would welcome the opportunity to learn from the insights psychologists have into human behavior — particularly when it comes to our jobs and the people we work with. Especially if those insights were provided in language that a layperson can understand in a well-organized format that’s easy to use and readily accessible from any computer screen.

The American Psychological Association Online offers visitors to its web site exactly that in a special section on workplace issues. Here you can find a wealth of great articles that include:

• “Telecommuting has mostly positive consequences for employees and employers, say researchers“
• “Tips for women negotiating salaries“
• “What makes a good leadership: the assertiveness quotient“

Click here to explore the APA’s library of articles on workplace topics.