How to Respond to a Performance Review: 9 Tips Employees Need to Know

Dec 8

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It’s easy to receive a glowing performance review. You bask in your boss’ admiration and collect rewards.

But let’s say you’re surprised with a poor review:

Do you fight?
Do you flee?
And what if tears start to flow?

Receiving a bad, or even tepid, performance review can be one of the most painful experiences in your career. Here are 8 tips you need to know to handle your review with poise and efficacy.

It’s not school anymore

For many of us, we’ve spent more than 15 years in school. As a result, we may believe that receiving a performance review is similar to receiving a report card. But we shouldn’t think that way, and here’s why:

Not everyone gets As and Bs. Most schools are known for their generous grading policies; in other words, rarely do students get a C or less. In the work world, most companies grade employees on a curve: someone will get the dreaded “below average” or even “bottom 20% percent.” If you’re expecting a top 5% commendation at work — all the time — you’re in for a rude awakening.
Your superpowers at school may be less potent at work. Students are often prized for their memorization and test-taking skills. However, memorization and test-taking skills are less important at work. Because high-achieving graduates may not have the right work skills, they can be surprised to hear their performance is lacking.

Don’t take it personally

How can we not take it personally? Performance reviews are supposed to reflect our job performance.

However, scientific studies have shown that only 21% of your overall performance reviews reflect your performance, at best. What accounts for the remaining 79% of your performance review score? The remaining 79% percent includes things like:

Reviewer differences. For instance, peers are less likely to grade others harshly especially if they are friends. Or experienced professionals are more likely to grade critically because they’ve seen more instances of stellar work.
Criteria differences. When designating one a stellar communicator, one reviewer may choose a verbose extrovert while another may prefer a succinct yet precise introvert instead.
Perspective differences. Reviewer A may believe an individual demonstrates leadership, but Reviewer B may not. The only difference? B doesn’t attend the same meetings as A — the critical meetings where the individual, in question, does exhibit leadership behavior.

On a side note, performance ratings can feel deeply flawed. However, it’s better to have an imperfect metric than no more metric at all because we have to start somewhere. And for many of us, we simply don’t have the choice to protest and opt-out of performance ratings completely.

Feel the emotion

You shouldn’t feel guilty if you’re disappointed, shocked, or angry by your review.

It’s natural to feel upset. We all want to do well and get recognized.

Ask for time to reply

If you don’t know what to say or flooded with emotion, you can ask your boss for time. You can simply say any of the following:

“Can I have time to digest the review? I’m a bit disappointed by the outcome, and I need time to process my thoughts.”
“Can we break for now? I’m a bit shocked by the review. I’d like to reflect upon it before discussing. Can we meet on Monday?”

Craft your response and ask questions if it’s appropriate

Here are some follow-up questions you can ask:

“You noted here that I ___. Do you have specific examples?”
“I see that you said I could do better with ___ deliverable. Do you have an example where you thought it was done well?”
“You wanted me to improve my communication skills. How would you go about doing that, if you were in my shoes?”

Get a 2nd opinion

A disappointing review may lead you to some mixed emotions about your boss, your company, and the work that you do.

In other words, you may be ready to retaliate or seek vengeance.

Before you react and do something you may regret, review your intended comments or reply with a trusted friend, co-worker, or spouse. They are likely to give you an even-keeled perspective that saves you from doing something catastrophic.

Let it go

Whether the poor review is warranted or not, holding a grudge against your boss or company will only ruin your mood.

Learn to let go. The sooner you move forward, the happier you’ll be.

Develop a plan

Even if you disagree with your review, you’ll benefit from a plan. There are two reasons why:

We can all improve

Even if you’re a 10, you can be an 11. And you’ll find out that being an 11 is often worth it.

Signal that you care about your boss’ feedback

The most powerful signal to show that you’ve understood, internalized, and cared about the feedback is taking concrete actions to improve. Start by:

Developing an improvement plan
Sharing that plan with your boss
Providing regular updates to your boss on how you’re progressing

Words are easy, so saying you’re going to improve is not enough. Behaviors are hard, and once you commit to changing, others will begin to get convinced.

One more thing that’s optional, but strongly recommended, is to share a modified version of your plan with your peers. They can give advice or even hold you accountable.

An additional benefit: they can sing your praises. By sharing their beliefs on how much you’ve improved, your colleagues will be helpful allies in changing your boss’ perception.

Rehearse & role play, if necessary

If it’s necessary, rehearse how you would respond to your boss, ideally with a friend.

It’ll make a sensitive and important conversation go more smoothly. It’ll also give you a chance to practice answers to important follow-up questions.