Navigating the Politics of an Unfair Performance Review

Posts have appeared on how to respond to negative performance reviews. These discussions have centered mainly on situations in which there are clearly performance gaps on the part of the subordinate. However, as many working people know, there is a political aspect to consider in a negative review. What if you have honestly reflected on your performance, listened carefully to your manager, and you believe that his or her review is not fair?

Several years ago, I got one of the best pieces of advice, ever, from a friend. I had been asked out by my male boss – yecch – and had politely turned him down. I told a friend, a social psychology professor, about it. Very luckily for me, she was doing research at the time on sexual harassment. I still remember her immediate comment: “You know what you have to do now.” I replied, “Uh, no… what?” She told me that I had to carefully document my performance — every day – so that if, and when, my boss retaliated against me for refusing his advances by writing a negative performance review, I could rebut it.

I took her advice to heart, and every day kept a log of my work. The year proceeded with no warning that my work wasn’t good. But I did, in fact, get a negative review from him. I carefully, in objective, emotion-free language, rebutted each one of my boss’s points. For example, one piece of feedback was that my written reports took “several drafts” before they were acceptable. I was very easily able to document – with photocopies of his comments on each report draft — that of the several reports I’d written that year, each one had taken a maximum of two drafts to complete.

My reply to the review received some attention from senior management, which was helpful. And very fortuitously, my boss was cycling off his assignment in my department and I had a new supervisor. She held off on overtly supporting my “side” of the review. This was understandable, since she was new to the organization and we had not yet established a working relationship. But, she essentially was convinced enough to give me a fresh start. Without expressing any negative expectations or concern that I would not perform well, she treated me like every other able performer. I did very good work under her, and was rewarded with a plum assignment that gained me visibility throughout my division.

Of course, you should do your best to facilitate a good working relationship with a boss—this can involve asking for feedback, building trust by initiating candid dialogue, and, of course, performing well. However, sometimes you may have the bad luck to work for an unsupportive or even hostile boss who (for a variety of reasons) assesses your performance unfairly. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Be on the alert for signs of a less than constructive working relationship with a manager. E.g., your boss dismisses your questions; spends more time giving pointers to colleagues than s/he does with you; answers your questions about your work or assignments in a less than straightforward manner; is unappreciative or dismissive of skills you have that s/he may not share.
Document your performance carefully
Groom supporters from amongst the ranks of your colleagues – help them out; share ideas; and ensure that they see you as a valuable resource.
Create “chatter” about yourself that will help astute senior managers see your manager’s perspective as an outlier. You can do this by cc’ing senior managers on particularly good work.
Form relationships with those from a variety of functional areas in your organization.
Research indicates that the more functionally diverse employees’ networks are, the more likely these employees are to be successful. More specifically, by doing so you may gain mentors or sponsors who can provide political “cover” if your relationship with your boss sours.
Keep your options open. Maintain your connection with external professional groups, keep up networking activities, and maintain an updated resume. If your unsupportive boss’s behavior is a reflection of a poorly managed or even “toxic” environment, you should consider finding a job in another organization.

While many managers are well-meaning, you may have the bad luck to work for an unethical one. If you do, follow these basic pointers and you should be able to keep your head above water.