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3 Phrases to Avoid During Employee Performance Reviews

As a manager, you have a challenging job – you have to motivate and inspire your employees to do their very best work while ensuring that lower performing workers understand what they need to do to improve. What should you do or say to help your subordinates? We’ve compiled a list of phrases not to say during an employee review to guide you in managing your employees.

“If You Don’t Do X, You’ll Be Fired!”
Let’s say your subordinate Jim seems to have problems turning in his reports in a timely fashion. If you tell him he’ll be let go from the company if he doesn’t shape up, the news will leave him panicky. He might start turning in his reports on time, but maybe they’ll be sloppy and full of errors.

The better way to handle this situation is to say, “Jim, I’ve noticed you haven’t been turning your reports in when they’re due. What can we do to change that?” Work on a sensible, realistic plan with Jim to ensure he turns in his work on time, so he feels as though you’re trying to help him do a better job rather than terrify him.

“Why Can’t You Be More Like Y?”
We’ll go back to the example of Jim for a moment. Jim works with Sam, who’s a model employee. It’s tempting to compare Jim to Sam, and it’s even more tempting to share this comparison with Jim in hopes that he’ll be more like Sam.

However, all that comparison does is make Jim jealous of Sam. He’ll start to see Sam as a competitor, rather than a teammate. Instead of comparing Jim to other employees, judge his performance on how well it measures up to the company’s goals and mission.

“I Don’t Like Your Personality”
As a manager, your job isn’t to evaluate your employees’ personalities. Maybe Jim isn’t the most sociable of all of your employees. Your job isn’t to make him into the life of the party; rather, you must ensure that he is fulfilling his role properly.

The only time personality or character traits should become an issue in an evaluation is when they negatively affect an employee’s performance. If Jim’s anti-social tendencies prevent him from effectively communicating with his coworkers and projects suffer as a result, that’s a problem you need to address.

Ask the Right Questions with 360 Review
If you want to ask the right questions and provide the best feedback, 360 degree evaluation tools are the best solution. Grapevine Evaluations offers customizable surveys that are easy to implement, so you can give your employees the most meaningful and actionable assessment possible.

Grapevine Evaluations are trusted by such companies as Pandora, Macy’s, and Thomson Reuters.

Get Our Free Survey Templates
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