Please share these important ideas with the managers and supervisors in your organization to help them speak more confidently with employees about performance.






Every performance evaluation system has its own set of ratings and descriptors, and every supervisor has come across or will come across one of those uncomfortable situations where the employee thinks he or she deserves a different rating than the one chosen by the supervisor. This can be especially true at the top of the rating scale that describes behavior as ?exceeds standard? as the highest with ?meets standard? as the next highest rating.

While evaluation systems attempt to define the differences between performance, these labels carry connotations that affect the feelings and perceptions of the employee as much or more than they actually describe the behavior or ability.

For example, when it comes to timeliness, what would it take for an employee to be better than ?standard?? If the employee shows up on time every day, asks for overtime in advance, and returns from breaks promptly, is the employee meeting the standard or exceeding it?

Some supervisors might wonder what difference it really makes. They say, ?Just give the employee the higher rating.? But that can have consequences as the employee will use one higher rating to justify higher ratings in other, perhaps more important or significant, performance categories.

As a supervisor, you can and must address these semantic and perception issues prior to the evaluation conversation. It is during this time that you can help the employee understand the subtle differences in the rating categories. Dialogue between supervisor and employee is vital and must be an important part of the process if the performance evaluation tool is to be used effectively.

Recently a supervisor defined exemplary performance as ?Tiger Woods-like.? There is only one Tiger Woods, and highest ratings should be given out carefully. Without an explanation, one might wonder if Tiger Woods, according to the supervisor, would be rated as ?standard? or ?exceeds standard? in the area of timeliness if Tiger showed up on time, asked for overtime in advance, and returned from breaks promptly.

*This article was written by Dr. Steven W. Green, partner in the Management Education Group, Inc.

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Learn more about performance ratings in Marnie Green's book, Painless Performance Evaluations: A Practical Approach to Managing Day to Day Employee Performance. Now in its second printing in less than six months!