WWYD- employee getting friends in company to write super positive reviews...

[NewbieManager]

Am doing year end reviews for my team and got very long/detailed and extremely positive feedback for one of my employees... ostensibly from a stakeholder but I think she’s written it herself (I have no proof, but has her long winded style)

She’s good, but not THAT good, and we are right on the fence about giving a higher rating (that triggers payrise etc)

Context: these 2 are best of pals, and when I asked my team member for names to approach re feedback she gave this one first. I said her (likely colluder) was a bit junior and could I have some additional names which sparked a storm of protest...

I’m annoyed as believe it’s dishonest/playing me for a fool, and want to put her back to the ‘average’ rating

Has anyone seen this before.? WWYD? V interested in HR opinions...

I’m a bit wary of kicking up too much stink as new in company but think this crosses a line...

How long has this person reported to you? If it's less than 6 months it probably isn't long enough to fairly appraise their performance.

Depending on your company's policy / procedure, you should have the final decision in their rating. Good practice is for the employee not to have any surprises about their performance at review time, ie any aspect of their performance that give you concern should be covered during the year, not left to the last minute. If this has been done, their colleague's review is one contribution but not the conclusive justification for their rating.

Can you ask who has provided the reference and then ask them directly if this is their honest feedback?

@daisychain01: thanks, it’s 7-8 months

I have an issue that she is resistant to any constructive feedback, and tends to over assess her work/impact

It’s the underhandedness that gets to me...

As her manager, you should reach out to her stakeholders and ask them for feedback. Find other people she I treats with and ask them. Perhaps have a one to one with the author of the feedback as well if you suspect that she has written it herself. I would find it difficult to acuse her of foul play as that might be difficult to prove but do make sure you have sufficient evidence for your rating if you decide to give with average and review it with your boss and HR if necessary.

Go with your own judgement, I work somewhere that does peer feedback and to be honest how other departments assess you doesn't mean much. Yes you want collaborative working between teams but I've found the most efficient workers who add a lot of value to the company aren't necessarily getting the glowing feedback from others. They might push back on unreasonable deadlines or not entertain time wasting ideas. On the other hand the chatty Cathys who are lovely people to spend time with can get praise about their friendly nature and willingness to help etc. All important in a team its not their actual job skills being highlighted.

The fact she kicked off about the people being asked says a lot.

Escalate to HR and ask to have her investigated if she refuses to name who the feedback was from.

Talk to the person who apparently wrote it, ask for some clarification on the areas you disagree with. It's possible they've seen something you haven't.

Is it odd that she put forward the names for reviews? Wouldn't it be more appropriate and useful for the LM to decide who were the most relevant?

How do you rate her, is she rated against her peers, do all the managers get together and rate all employees or is the decision directly up to you with no input from any other managers?

If it's a joint decision then you could put it out to the group and get feedback there too, our panel would be very open and honest, we'd discuss things like friends doing feedback etc.

@BecomeStronger

Is it odd that she put forward the names for reviews? Wouldn't it be more appropriate and useful for the LM to decide who were the most relevant?

^This. It’s your company’s processes that are the problem here.

@BecomeStronger

Is it odd that she put forward the names for reviews? Wouldn't it be more appropriate and useful for the LM to decide who were the most relevant?

This is how it is done at my place of work.

Presumably to reduce the risk of situations like this arising.

Has she been set SMART Objectives which she has seen and agreed with? This should be your starting point as her manager, for them to provide evidence during review of deliverables and achievements to the set Objectives.

We don't do 360 feedback because it's too context specific (a snapshot in time) and fraught with subjectivity and opinion, which is never as objective as tangible deliverables against set Objectives.

360 feedback is useful to demonstrate the person has social collaborative skills, able to relate to stakeholders, but often poorly written and inconclusive if reviewers haven't been trained in how feedback is given. Typically 3-5 reviews are required, 1 person's opinion is inadequate.

I would suggest you get names of people from your employee, and email them with the following headings for them to return their response:

Relationship of reviewer to employee (peer, customer, internal stakeholder etc)

Duration of collaboration (1 year project holds more weight than a couple of phone calls and an email - unless the person has pulled a miracle out of the bag, over and above the call of duty and at break-neck speed).

What has this person done well?

What aspects of improvement can be suggested?

All above with specific examples. You are under no obligation contractually to base your final decision on any reviews. It is good practice to build trust, if you share the reviews with your employee at review and comment on them. Improvements in particular should be highlighted in a constructive way and used as development opportunities not a stick to beat them with. Agree any training they need.

@Parkandride

Go with your own judgement, I work somewhere that does peer feedback and to be honest how other departments assess you doesn't mean much. Yes you want collaborative working between teams but I've found the most efficient workers who add a lot of value to the company aren't necessarily getting the glowing feedback from others. They might push back on unreasonable deadlines or not entertain time wasting ideas. On the other hand the chatty Cathys who are lovely people to spend time with can get praise about their friendly nature and willingness to help etc. All important in a team its not their actual job skills being highlighted.

The fact she kicked off about the people being asked says a lot.

Thanks

I shared with my manager & she has asked me to get more specifics from the friend (examples) so we can see if genuine feedback or not

I think I will be choosing the feedback givers myself in future! This situation arose as the people I picked did not respond on time

@LilyLongJohn

How do you rate her, is she rated against her peers, do all the managers get together and rate all employees or is the decision directly up to you with no input from any other managers?

If it's a joint decision then you could put it out to the group and get feedback there too, our panel would be very open and honest, we'd discuss things like friends doing feedback etc.

It’s a joint decision, & I’m pretty aligned with my boss thank god

She’s good : on border of better (exceptional - top 20pc of employees). Problem is she seems to think she’s outstanding (top 1%) and I definitely don’t!

I need more clarity on skills/what did differently...

@daisychain01: thank you so much

I normally email to ask whats working well/where to improve.

The headings you have given are v useful, I will add those

• relationship
• scale/duration

& insisting on examples

I have been advised by my manager to get examples & specifics on the feedback given

Am going to get other feedback too

Am not enthusiastic about sharing the feedback direct with her ... will find out company policy!

I have concerns about 2 things you've mentioned (both of which could make you vulnerable to accusations of hiding key information from your employee)

I think I will be choosing the feedback givers myself in future!

You are disempowering and micromanaging this situation. If you show a low level of trust in your employee, they will resent this, it will be counterproductive towards your relationship. Remember the employment contract is built on core tenets of "Trust and Confidence"

Am not enthusiastic about sharing the feedback direct with her ... will find out company policy!

Think about the implications ....How would you like it if your manager refused to tell you what was being said behind your back after you removed the opportunity for them to input into who should review their performance. Wouldn't you feel undermined and marginalised to have no visibility through the process?

Dont be surprised if you lose staff like this....

@daisychain01: as I suspect her of writing her own 'feedback', emailing it to a pal & this being 'objective' feedback, my trust has taken a knock until I get to the bottom of this

I agree that micromanaging/removing visibility will not help the situation - but this is MY emotion talking, I feel that if my suspicions are incorrect its underhand and disrespectful of the company's way of working...

I will have to find a way to manage this with transparency though - good shout