I just got a fascinating question by email from one of our customers: what happens when an employee gets a “bad review” and rejects it?
From the email I received:
For example, if someone gets a "bad" review, and disputes it saying, "well, all my customers love me and I met all the objectives that were stated. The boss just hates me because I was a whistle-blower, etc…
What should be done? Should the rebuttal be recorded as part of the review, or should it be handled outside of the formal review system? I’m not aware of any best practices around this question, so I thought I’d put it out to you all for comment and discussion.
What do you think?
October 3rd, 2005 at 3:51 pm
Well, in my experience when employees feel strongly about a performance issue (especially when it’s a performance review), they want a forum. And, they often perceive that the forum for the disagreement should be within the same arena as the performance review. That’s why so many companies add a section on a paper performance review for employee comment. The process often includes a “trigger” that when a rebuttal is received, it automatically becomes the topic of a meeting with the manager & employee, often including HR. If that does not resolve the issue, then it gets the ‘one over” treatment where the manager’s manager reviews the records & either looks into it further or decrees the matter closed. HR should be a partner in that–looking for details that help clarify the truth.
As a practical matter, that’s hard to anticipate all those potential issues when you’re building a workflow in a system like PM. And, not responding to an employee rebuttal is not an option—just not good business & also risky. So, I would say that it’s best to keep it outside the system for the time being. Just be sure that everything online is captured offline!
October 4th, 2005 at 8:12 am
I have seen this happen only twice in 30+ years as a leader and HR practitioner. If an employee refuses to sign, the extra time it takes to notate the refusal and have a witness sign can help if the employer/employee relationship becomes contentious later on.
Measures should be in place to preclude refusal. Well-documented feedback throughout the performance cycle is the most effective practice. It helps to have the means in place to monitor whether it is being done and documented.
A refusal is most likely a symptom of deeper trust issues, inadequate manager performance, or both. It should trigger HR and management review.
Since this is a such a rare occurance, it is probably best to leave it outside of the normal performance management system. In an effective system, employees have an opportunity to sign and comment. Allowing sufficient time for the employee to draft the comments and ensuring and communicating that comments are reviewed should reduce the possibility of refusals from very small to zero.
October 4th, 2005 at 11:27 am
At Lawson Software, we did add an Employee Overall Rating section to the form, as well as an overall comments section, so employees could explicitly state whether they agreed or not with the rating and why. If, however, an employee refused to sign the form, the manager would print out a hard copy and note that the employee refused to sign. HR would then file the review in the ee’s file. The System Admin would then go in and move the document forward, noting in the comments section that the employee refused to sign, so the manager wouldn’t be “dinged†for a late review.
This worked well for the few instances where it came up.
October 5th, 2005 at 12:03 am
i think the rebuttal should definitely be recorded. it’s not uncommon that employees and managers have personal conflicts. if i were a 2nd level manager or higher i would definitely want this kind of visibility.