During the Employee Performance Review Meeting
Be positive:
When the focus is on possible improvements, it seems only natural to be looking for what the employee is doing wrong now. Again, remember to balance your comments with feedback about what the employee is doing well. Itīs all too easy to overemphasize the negative and pull down the entire tone of the review.
Differing opinions:
What if the employee disagrees with your assessment? Give the employee the opportunity to explain his or her opinion, and see if you canīt come to some sort of consensus. This is a time where it might be helpful to return to the job description - does the employee have a different interpretation of a specific responsibility? Keep talking, and do your best to keep the conversation calm, focused on performance issues, and respectful.
Differing goals:
Goals are another area where your discussion might run aground. Does the employee feel that any mention of improvement is a statement of wrongdoing? There is always room for improvement - improvements keep the job interesting and the workplace efficient.
