Bad job evaluations becoming more costly for workers
By Anita Bruzzese
Performance evaluations have often been derided by managers and employees alike as being unfair, dysfunctional and morale-busting. But in this tough economy, it could just be they become more popular than ever as employers position themselves to not only get rid of "dead wood" in their employment ranks, but as a way to justify the trimming of employee numbers.
"I think we're going to see a real blooming in corrective actions on the part of employers," says John Robinson, an employment lawyer with Fowler White Boggs in Tampa, Fla. "Employers are in a 'what have you done for me lately' mood."
That means that if you've been showing up late for work for 10 years and no one has said anything, you may be in for a rude awakening in your next performance evaluation. Your behavior may be cited as unacceptable and you will be placed on probation and told to improve your performance or even possibly face being fired, Robinson says.
At the same time, Robinson says workplaces may see more managers write up employees for various infractions, ranging from unmet project deadlines to not getting along with co-workers. This is to avoid the dreaded "naked file," which is an employee's personnel file void of any reports citing unacceptable behavior — something needed if a company wants to let an employee go and not face future legal actions for an unfair dismissal.
"If you don't write it down, it just becomes the employer's word against the employee's," Robinson says. "But performance evaluations and reviews can be used as ammo against people."
What should employees do if they receive an unfavorable report or performance evaluation? Robinson advises:
Robinson also warns workers to be cautious if the boss wants to do a review "out of cycle" — before the usual evaluation time. "It's usually not good news when that happens," he says.
Robert Hruzek, a project manager for a large global engineering firm in Houston, says that he remembers early in his career when he made mistakes that came back to haunt him during a performance evaluation. Looking back on the experience, he says he was "embarrassed and ashamed" when he received the negative comments from his boss.
"Work started at 7 a.m., but I thought it started at 8 a.m., so I would come meandering in about that time," Hruzek says. "I was not very well prepared."
After being offered a token pay raise based on what he now calls his "ridiculous amount" of tardiness, Hruzek decided to stick it out and try and improve his performance. "On reflection, I could see that the boss was right about me. I could have given up and gotten another job. Instead, I decided to stick it out and start showing up on time."
Still, Hruzek says that times are much tougher now and he agrees with Robinson that employees who have bad habits such as tardiness or absenteeism might not be given another chance.
Robinson notes: "In this environment, companies are looking for the key players that can give them a winning team. The others may be more expendable."
