Most people are not comfortable being judged themselves and therefore tend to err on the side of caution when they have to put their personal assessment of a colleague in writing.  What they don't realize is that an excess of diplomacy can actually produce consequences just as damaging as those created by an unduly harsh approach.  By squandering an opportunity to deliver meaningful criticism, they deprive both themselves and the employees they are evaluating of any practical benefits.  They turn the process into an exercise in futility, and a time-consuming one at that.

- Kelly Robertson, V.P. of Sales for Art Merchandising

As we start the new year, performance reviews are in full swing at companies of all shapes and sizes and in all industries.  One thing they (unfortunately) tend to have in common is the fact that they are often dreaded by both employees and managers.  Why have performance reviews gotten such a bad rap?  As Kelly Robertson suggests, a lot of the difficulty stems from how hard it is to walk the fine line between being to harsh and being too lenient.  While no employee wants to hear a review filled to the brim with harsh criticism (and no manager should want to give one), a review that does not give honest guidance also does not challenge the employee or fill him or her with a sense of much-needed purpose and drive.  

Over the next weeks, we'll visit tips for making the most out of performance reviews.  Want additional help on conducting performance reviews for your company?  We can help guide you with a range of services and products from performance review templates to ongoing quality assurance evaluations that give you and your employees clear cut expectations and scores to use during review time.