Express adverse views in a positive way
Employee evaluation becomes very tight when you are writing and delivering the performance report for any under-performer. The reason why managers write performance appraisal is to offer honest and balanced comments that focus on the areas of strength and those that need improvement. An under-performing employee may not understand where he is lacking or may not even know how to improve. The performance review process then enables the manager to address the area of need and the way forward specifically. Writing a negative comment in a positive way gives the employee the clear idea of where he is failing and what to do to improve.
Example of negative comments written out in a positive way
- "The last three reports all contained an unacceptable number of statistical errors. How can we prevent more errors from creeping into reports that you work on in future? Is there a reason why all these mistakes are still occurring? I know you are highly accomplished and can produce highly accurate work."
- "When you engage yourself to do your assigned work, you can be very effective. Unfortunately, too often you come in late and are not fully committed until an hour later after walking around the entire office exchanging pleasantries. For the next three months, focus on your attendance. Plan to be on time and be settled for work by 8:00 am so that you can be the productive employee we hired."
- "You lead team meetings which most times run over the allotted time. In the coming year, focus on improving your time management skills to make sure every session starts and ends as scheduled."
- "Mary has a tendency to make others feel intimidated every time they propose new ideas or ask her for assistance. Mary should work on becoming more professional and welcoming to her co-workers."
- "Lily needs to work on her ability to receive feedback and criticism from her workmates. Most times, she isolates herself and does not take criticism well. For the next three months, Lily should try to be more open to constructive criticism and feedback as well as apply it to increase her work and accuracy. "
- "Kimberly needs to improve on her communication skills within her management team. She is often keeping information to herself without informing the entire team, especially if the information is going to challenge them. She needs to learn how to pass on both the good and the bad news."