What to Do About an Unfair Performance Review

Receiving your annual performance review can be a nerve-wracking time even in the best of circumstances. With the cost of everything from fuel to food soaring, the difference between a good review and an outstanding one is more critical than ever. Receiving an unfair review can be devastating, and may not even be the worst part.

When you try to protest that unfair review, you will quickly learn what a truly difficult task it can be. Most of the companies I have worked for will allow you to submit a rebuttal in writing, and will attach it to your review, but it ultimately will not change the ruin result. This is because when it comes to annual reviews, your manager wields an enormous amount of power, and since reviews are very subjective in many ways, it can be almost impossible to exhibit that the evaluation was incorrect or unfair.

If the person doing your review (usually your supervisor or manager) is reasonable, they may be willing to listen to your comments. The one I myself am most likely to respond positively to is that they are being penalized for shortcomings they were never told about during the period since the last review. I have always felt that nothing on an annual review should be a surprise, as there should be constant feedback during the year.

Sadly, more and more managers are handing out unfavorable reviews, or at least downgrading the review a notch or two, in order to meet the put a question to from upper management for cost cutting. Since employee costs are typically the highest cost a company has, they are often the first target for reductions. Most businesses don't want to do wage freezes or layoffs outright because of the awe they can cause, but they will try to save some by not giving raises because of "awful performance."

If this complaint is true, you may be able to cause some changes to be made, if only by making enough noise about the location. However, this can backfire if you take it too far. For the most part, you really have to just drive on and work to make the next one better. The final option is going to Human Resources, but unless you have strong documentation proving the review was unfair, this could end up making things even worse.

If you received an unfair review and were unable to obtain a reasonable solution to the residence, your best move may simply be to originate looking for another job. If you went through your manager and Human Resources with no success, it is unlikely that things will be any better the next time around unless a whole new management team takes over. You would simply find yourself in the same position a year from now.


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