Employee Performance Communications:
A Better Way to Deliver Bad News

Description:
In an ideal world, a subordinate would accept critical feedback from a manager with an open mind. He or she would ask a few clarifying questions, promise to work on certain performance areas, and show signs of improvement over time. But things don't always turn out that way. Fearing that the employee will become angry and defensive, the boss all too often inadvertently sabotages the meeting by preparing for it in a way that stifles honest discussion.

This unintentional--indeed, unconscious--stress-induced habit makes it difficult to deliver corrective feedback effectively. Instead professor Jean-Francois Manzoni says that by changing the mind-set with which they develop and deliver negative feedback, managers can increase their odds of having productive conversations without damaging relationships.

Manzoni describes two behavioral phenomena that color the feedback process--the fundamental attribution error and the false consensus effect. Managers tend to frame difficult situations and decisions in a way that is narrow (alternatives aren't considered) and binary (there are only two possible outcomes--win or lose). And during the feedback discussion, managers' framing of the issues often remains frozen. Manzoni says that bosses need to consider an employee's circumstances rather than just attribute weak performance to a person's disposition.
 

Subjects Covered:
Corporate culture, Employee attitude, Employee development, Employee empowerment, Employee morale, Employee problems, Employees, Human behavior, Human resources management, Interpersonal behavior, Management styles, Managerial skills, Managers, Organizational behavior & leadership, Organizational development.

This article appears in the September 2002 issue of the Harvard Business Review.  Cornerstone Business Solutions will be pleased to furnish you a reprint that we purchase if you kindly notify us by telephone at (505) 325-4900.