How to Appeal if you get an Unfair Appraisal
Appraisals and performance reviews are a regular part of many roles. In the current economic climate, employers are looking increasingly at the behavior and performance of their employees, notably to understand how to get a more productive workplace and to ensure that all levels of the workforce are aligned to business strategy. The word ‘objective’ has become a dirty word in some quarters, largely because many employees have been on the receiving end of poorly administered appraisal schemes and badly managed performance reviews.
But the reality is that the performance management concept is here to stay and is likely to become a more significant part of every career. Realistically, employees should not fear or disapprove of objectives. Personal objectives mutually agree expectations on an individual and there is no reason that this shouldn’t work to mutual advantage. The vast majority of people want to do a good job and want to feel that they’re doing a good job in the eyes of their managers. Performance reviews are a regular opportunity to fulfill these ambitions.
Sadly, the process often goes wrong and countless numbers of individuals feel as though they have been unfairly assessed. Very often, these individuals keep it to themselves, quietly festering over a comment or a grade, harboring resentment that, realistically, starts to impact on their ability to do their job properly. There’s no reason that this should ever be the case.
It is important to remember that the accountability for personal development rests with the individual. While many employers are ambitious and innovative about the opportunities that they can offer their workforce, the reality is that nobody will care about your development as much as you, so it is up to you to make sure that things go in the direction that you want them to. Don’t be fooled into thinking that performance appraisals are only for those with ambitions of increased seniority. Businesses are increasingly waking up to the fact that they can and should expect more for the same. It’s commonly called ‘raising the bar’. What was good this year might only be satisfactory next year.
Like any other process, however, it needs to be appropriately managed, and as an individual, there is much that you can do to ensure this happens consistently and fairly.
1. Don’t wait for the appraisal
The process starts at the beginning of the year, not the end. It’s vital that you agree with your manager a clear set of personal job objectives. This cannot include things that you are contracted to do. If your objectives include things like 100% attendance or time keeping, you should resist them and point out to your manage that those are not job objectives. Job objectives should help you understand what it looks like when you do your job well. What are the performance targets that you are expected to meet? What are the behaviors that you are expected to demonstrate? Managers have a responsibility to ensure that staff members understand what is expected of them, but team members have as much responsibility to demonstrate that they do understand. Remember that objectives should be measurable. For each behavior or achievement that is outlined as an objective, there should also be a clear scale of what acceptable, good, very good and outstanding look like. ‘Being helpful’ is not an objective. ‘Demonstrating high levels of customer satisfaction, measured by mystery shopping results’ could be.
2. Gather the evidence
Once you understand your objectives, you need to remember that you should be prepared to provide evidence of your performance. Your manager may be responsible for many different reviews and simply doesn’t have the insight into every individual that is necessary to cover every detail. Keep examples of emails received from happy customers/co-workers. Keep a summary of your performance against targets (where applicable). Ask for written feedback from colleagues or other managers. But don’t keep it to yourself. Find out when your manager expects to prepare your appraisal, and ensure that you provide as much evidence as you can at least 4 weeks beforehand. Where you can save unnecessary rework and effort on your manager’s part, it is likely to secure a more objective review.
3. Is it really unfair?
It might be hard to swallow, but remember that we often think that we’re better than we actually our. We have a unique inward-looking perspective that won’t be shared by others. What is it about the appraisal that you believe to be unfair? Is it something fundamental or is it just some minor wording? Take time to think about whether the review really is unfair or whether you’re pride is just a little bit bruised.
You can help this process by getting a second opinion. Perhaps you could discuss the appraisal with a colleague, HR representative or trade union representative. You need to seek an objective point of view from somebody who will be honest with you, brutally so if necessary.
4. Evidence evidence evidence
If you are going to establish that something is unfair, you will need to be able to prove or demonstrate the reasons for this. Let’s assume that your appraisal says something like ‘Mr Smith shows no flexibility’ then look for examples where you have been flexible. Try and focus on core, strong examples. Starting work five minutes earlier is not a big stretch. Taking on another employee’s work when she was on leave or working longer hours to support a tight deadline show a greater degree of flexibility.
There may be a formal process to appeal against a performance review but it’s better to try and deal with it informally. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be robust. It’s better to record things in writing, even if it means documenting a conversation. You need to clearly state what you found to be unfair, why it was unfair and what you would like the outcome to be. For the latter, be realistic. Is a simple change in wording on a document enough, for example? As hard as it may be, take your manager on the journey with you. Don’t turn it into a fight. Use inclusive language. Say things like ‘how can we address this’ or ‘it would be good if we could’. If you make this personal, you might win the battle, but you’ll probably lose the war.
5. Formal action
If you can’t find resolution through informal, ongoing discussion, you may need to formalize your case. Your HR manager or trade union representative will be able to advise how to do this. You should strongly consider the merit of doing so. If the appraisal has a direct impact on your future career or remuneration it might be necessary to appeal. If it’s just a matter of pride, it might be easier to roll with the punch and consider how better to prevent this happening again.
In actual fact, try not to use words like ‘unfair’. Try to position the appraisal as ‘inaccurate’ or ‘incomplete’. ‘Unfair’ is a fairly emotional, subjective word. You can substantiate inaccuracies. ‘Unfairness’ can be down to personal interpretation.
Don’t be afraid or unwilling to make concessions. Acknowledge where you think certain comments are accurate or appropriate. If you try and make it sound as though you are employee of the year, it might be a stretch too far. Always find out how your appraisal has been bench marked. Were you compared to your peers or simply all other employees at your grade? How was the process managed? This is the most likely area of weakness and one that you will be able to expose. Many businesses set rudimentary, unprofessional targets that make generalizations such as ‘nobody is outstanding’ or ‘at least 25% of employees should be satisfactory’. These aspirations take no account of individual performance and are unlikely to stand up to scrutiny. Focus on how YOUR performance was assessed and how YOUR achievements were considered. Find out what evidence was considered and/or ignored.
It’s worth remembering that the way in which you manage your performance can be assessed as part of your overall suitability as an employee as much as anything else. It’s vital that your conduct remains professional and constructive at all times, even when, emotionally, you may feel very charged about it all. Remember that this is about your career NOT your personality – and if you see it like that, you might find it easier to resolve.
