The sad truth about some underperforming employees is that managers do not hold themselves accountable for that performance. When employees fail or perform poorly, the manager has an arsenal of reasons why and none of them point the blame to themselves. Sometimes, of course, the reason does fall on the employee. However, more often than not, poor performance is traced back to poor management.
Common reasons managers use to explain away failing or underperforming employees are:
- Doesn’t understand the work
- No drive to succeed
- Can’t set priorities
- Isn’t coachable
- Won’t take direction
- Skills are no longer relevant
- Not engaged
Have you ever received a performance review that left you wondering where your boss was during the review period? In other words, their recollection of your contributions is very different from what you remembered.
Perhaps your manager gives you a low score on initiative. You are confident you are a hard worker, often arriving at work before your boss and there long after she leaves. You step up in ways that go above and beyond, such as checking in with her frequently and identifying opportunities that make her life easier. Furthermore, you deliver your objectives on time or early and receive solid feedback.
Yet, no matter what you do, she is convinced you aren’t showing initiative. Does this sound a bit familiar? The shocking reason you are failing at work and risk losing your job is because of the story your manager tells themselves about your performance. They have convinced themselves you are an underperforming employee who doesn’t perform. As long as that is their truth, you will always fail in their eyes.
You Are Failing at Work Because of Confirmation Bias
When your boss creates a story about your performance, they actively look for situations where you don’t measure up in a particular area. Additionally, they ignore when you excel in that same area to prove their story is accurate. They’ve made up their mind about your performance, and that is called confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias refers to searching for evidence that backs up our opinion rather than looking at the whole picture. It causes selective observation because we overlook other information and instead focus on things that fit our viewpoint. Confirmation bias shows up most commonly in performance management, promotions, and the allocation of work assignments.
Most managers default to confirmation bias because of their strong desire to confirm their assessment of your performance. They are overly confident in their ability to assess talent. Additionally, they aren’t as aware of your day to day activities as they should be. To save face and look good, they throw words around to appear smart, in touch, or needed. Unfortunately, these attempts to make themselves look better result in you looking awful.
Here’s What to Do When Reality Doesn’t Match Your Boss’s Story
There you go, arriving early and staying late. You work through the day with very few breaks or idle time. As far as you know, you are doing the right things at the right time. You may go so far as to say you are going above and beyond. Then reality slaps you on the face when your manager sits down to review your performance, and their assessment is very different than yours.
Mentally prepare and remain calm
Remind yourself that the review is one person’s perspective. Performance discussions are a way for you to receive feedback on how you performed and areas of opportunity. Performance reviews are not an evaluation of your self-worth and aren’t indicative of how you would perform in a different role or organization. While you may feel blindsided, stay calm, listen, and absorb what they are saying. More importantly, don’t become defensive.
Soberly look at yourself in the mirror
Most of us have a hard time admitting when we are struggling or that our performance is failing. Spend time reflecting on the feedback to get clear on whether or not it is valid. If the performance feedback is correct, and you want to continue in your role, take the necessary action to improve.
Think and act but don’t react
Anytime you receive performance discussions, emotions will quickly surface. Reacting with an outburst will only make matters worse. Take time to listen to your manager’s feedback and ask for a day or two to develop a plan of action to address the issues. Demonstrating the desire to come up with solutions will win points with your boss. If you can remain calm, soliciting ideas from them would help as well.
Perspective is subjective, and confirmation bias could be at play
If you disagree with your manager’s assessment, you can dispute them. Acknowledge the valid points and be civil and polite when offering a differing view of your performance. Be prepared with situations that highlight why your perspectives don’t match. Consider asking peers for their perspective if you don’t already have their feedback. The goal is to gather honest feedback to assess if the boss is correct. Additionally, try to identify areas of your performance that might be blind spots for you.
Request an improvement strategy
Ask your manager for an improvement plan when you receive a poor performance review. Make sure the plan is specific with goals, objectives, and timelines. You and your manager need to be aligned on the specific ways to improve your work performance, and the time improvement needs to be seen. The more detailed your plan is, the clearer it will be that you successfully achieved it.
Look for training and education
Ask your manager for training or education suggestions to help you improve your work performance. Search the internet because there are a ton of free training and education courses available online. Additionally, ask your boss if there are internal training resources available to address your problem areas. Here again, this demonstrates your commitment to your work performance.
Communicate and follow-up
After getting a poor performance review, especially when you disagree with it, ask your manager if you can schedule regular check-ins. The check-in will allow you to calibrate your progress and obtain feedback on your performance’s current state. You don’t want six months or longer to go by before a re-evaluation. Having informal and frequent meetings shows you are interested in improving your work performance. It also allows you to get a more positive review during the next cycle.
There will be times when your manager’s perspective of your job performance differs from yours. When that happens to you, be proactive in improving and evaluating your performance. When you are an active participant in your job performance, you save yourself many headaches and hassles in the long run. Even more, when you are proactive in your job performance, you minimize confirmation bias because your success stays top of mind.
