Don’t Say This When Addressing Performance Problems
Try This Instead…
The traditional method of providing constructive criticism/feedback would sound something like this:
“John, we need to talk about how things are going. You made some careless errors on the last several reports you handed in. You factored in the production labor costs incorrectly. I had to get other staff to rerun the numbers and as a result Tammy had to drop her own work to fix the mistakes you made. Now I feel I need to go through your month end reports with a fine tooth comb before I pass them onto the CFO, etc.…”.
Or
“Ann, we need to have a discussion to clarify your role and responsibilities. I’ve noticed the following issues: You are missing deadlines, not keeping people in the loop when deadlines are not going to be met and not demonstrating a sense of urgency to get the press releases out on time. From my perspective it appears that you don’t have good time management skills based on not accomplishing key tasks within specified time-frames. On top of all this your attitude seems really lax when you do miss deadlines. What is going on with you?…” 
What the managers have said in the examples above seems accurate. Most managers have been taught to create a bullet-proof case revolving around a list of the employee’s shortcomings. After all, you have to prove to the employee that they are under-performing. Is it any wonder that most feedback recipients get defensive and feedback providers find difficultly in achieving anything remotely resembling a productive outcome, never mind gaining agreement on what needs to change?
Through the Eyes of the Employee
Can you think back to a time when a manager talked to you about a performance issue and did so without any finesse at all? From the employee’s perspective when their manager does initiate a performance discussion it can come across as finger pointing, fault finding and disciplinary. Poorly crafted and delivered messages can trigger feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness for the employee. This is particularly true if this is the first time the employee is hearing the information. The traditional approach to giving feedback often comes across in a harsh, “this is what is wrong with you” tone.
Expect a Defensive Reaction
Once employees are confronted with this type of information the natural response is to blame others, fixate on the details, make excuses, try to explain why the feedback is incorrect, etc. All of this adds up to an uncomfortable and often confrontational exchange between the manager and employee. Once a manager has been through this process once or twice it becomes easier to just avoid addressing employee performance issues altogether. Let’s just say there is no real mystery for why managers tend to steer clear of giving feedback and why employees don’t like being on the receiving end! The fact of the matter is that there is a better way to introduce feedback to employees.
The key is to use words to describe what you want to have happen.
I’m not sure where this quote originates so I cannot provide the proper credit, but I thought it was impactful: “A good leader can describe what successful performance looks like”. If you are familiar with Marshall Goldsmith’s work you’re likely familiar with the term “feedforward”, which means describing what you want to see for future. See this short video, How to Begin a Performance Conversation (and how not to), for specific language to introduce feedback in a helpful coaching type style.
Photo of pen on paper by Damon Duncan. Licensed under CC.
Hi Jamie – really good post. In our experience this common problem comes from the general lack of EI skills that most people, especially managers, have in the workplace.
Most managers don't understand that “performance” reviews of any type generally put most people in a fight or flight mode. Most people have already emotionally triggered themselves in anticipation of the “criticism.” Managers need to understand that these scenarios are emotionally loaded from the outset.
In addition to your excellent points that managers need to create a compelling (and specific) vision and expectation of the future (NLPers call this “future pacing”) emotionally it also reassures the recipient ( Ah – I will be working here in the future) and lets the person move out of the protective mode into a more engaged and (hopefully) creative mode of what's possible next!
Best, Louise
Hi Louise, Thanks for reading the post and for your thoughtful comment. Your comment resonates because I’ve been following NeuroLeadership, the work originating from David Rock, around understanding how our brain works and leadership. What I like about this work is that it’s based on brain science. Hard to argue with that! You’re spot on when you say that criticism, even when it’s well intended, backfires because of our built in fight or flight response. In Rock’s book, Quite Leadership, he highlights a study that found only 1 in 13 people respond well to criticism. So the odds that those conversations ever go well are miniscule. Makes me wonder who that one person is! Just checked out Future Pacing as it’s the first time I’ve heard the term; thanks for making this connection. For anyone interested in NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming Technique) Future Pacing a good starting place is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Pacing Much more effective than looking at shortcomings from the past which leads to blame and defensiveness. People are always looking to the future…follows the work around Appreciative Inquiry.
Jamie, Nice article/video. Some very good examples of non productive comments managers make and alternative ways to get better employee results. As you note below, criticism, creates a defensive reasoning cycle that goes nowhere. I've seen research (I think from CCL) that we need 3 pieces of authentic positive feedback to hear one piece of critical feedback.