Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
Key Takeaways
- Earlier than you reply to a foul efficiency evaluate, cease and actually hearken to what your supervisor is saying. You may hear with out agreeing to every thing within the evaluate.
- Assess your organization’s evaluate tradition; do they prioritize growth after a poor evaluate, or is it step one to your exit?
- Launch what I name an “inside PR marketing campaign.” It’d really feel unnatural and uncomfortable to speak about your accomplishments at first, however inside visibility is vital.
- Learn the writing on the wall. If your organization has a historical past of shedding its workers after a foul evaluate, put together your self upfront.
A senior director of engineering got here to me after receiving a foul efficiency evaluate. He had acquired suggestions that he wasn’t strategic sufficient, didn’t talk at a excessive sufficient stage and wanted to study to delegate. After years of getting nice opinions, he felt blindsided.
Throughout my profession teaching executives managing hundreds of direct and oblique studies, I’ve realized {that a} efficiency evaluate isn’t essentially a mirrored image of your efficiency however of your PR expertise. And as of late, your boss most likely has much less visibility into your work than ever. Gallup studies that, as of 2025, the common variety of folks reporting to a supervisor is roughly 12. Crew sizes have grown practically 50% since Gallup started measuring in 2013, when the common was simply eight.
Should you just lately acquired a foul evaluate, the steps you’re taking subsequent matter far more than the evaluate itself.
1. Hear earlier than you reply
Your first job in the course of the evaluate is to hear. It’s straightforward to turn out to be defensive when somebody criticizes your work, however defensiveness can verify the reviewer’s conclusions about you.
As an alternative, reply with a line like: “Thanks for sharing this suggestions.” Since I coach a whole lot of tech shoppers who like numbers, I remind them that suggestions is information. Your job is to determine flip that information into insights and motion.
You may hear with out agreeing with every thing within the evaluate. You may request time to return with examples that guarantee your supervisor sees your full contributions. This may sound one thing like, “I plan to get again to you subsequent week with my response to the evaluate.” There’s an enormous distinction between arguing with a evaluate within the second and presenting proof per week later.
2. Diagnose your organization’s evaluate tradition
Earlier than you determine on a response technique, it’s worthwhile to know what sort of firm you’re working at. I’ve seen firsthand that some corporations really put money into growing leaders after a foul evaluate, whereas others difficulty a foul evaluate as a proper discover that they’re going to fireplace you.
How do you inform the distinction? Mirror on what occurred to the previous couple of individuals who acquired unhealthy opinions. It’s also possible to ask your HR enterprise companion instantly whether or not there’s a practical path to the opposite aspect of this evaluate. It sounds apparent, however HR will typically let you know the reality. You probably have a peer you belief, you may as well disclose your considerations to them and examine notes. Your boss’s nonverbal indicators in the course of the dialog provides you with info as effectively. Collectively, this information will let you know whether or not to put money into rebuilding or begin planning your exit.
When the senior director I’m working with probed additional, he realized that his firm frequently gave robust opinions however didn’t at all times hearth folks afterward. As an alternative, the folks he talked to stated management was really invested in growth. Studying this knowledgeable our technique.
3. Launch an inside PR marketing campaign
With the senior director, we first needed to perceive why executives noticed him this fashion. It turned out that he had been on the firm for greater than a decade and had been promoted a number of instances, so executives nonetheless noticed the engineering supervisor he was once quite than the senior director he had turn out to be. This sample is widespread amongst leaders who’ve grown their scope, together with a consumer I’m at the moment teaching who’s navigating the strain of turning into his former friends’ boss.
A part of the repair was how he confirmed up. One other half was how executives perceived him. Due to this, we ran what I name an inside PR marketing campaign. Each three to 4 weeks, we recognized one factor he had achieved and mentioned a solution to publicize his progress to his boss, his boss’s boss and the C-suite. Selling himself felt unnatural given his technical background, so we practiced small steps first, like sharing updates in Microsoft Groups and through electronic mail. For instance, he broadcast to his colleagues that his workforce had recognized main bugs main as much as a serious software program launch. Previously, he would have simply assumed that everybody would discover.
Honestly, most shoppers resist this type of promotional marketing campaign at first. It might really feel like bragging, they usually consider their work will communicate for itself. However in my expertise, it not often does. Think about your boss has seven direct studies, and every of them has seven of their very own. That makes you simply one in all 49 voices competing for the eye of a pacesetter whose consideration assets are restricted. A scarcity of inside visibility can be an enormous purpose excessive performers get handed over for promotions.
Six months later, at his subsequent evaluate, he acquired an “exceeds expectations” ranking. He was additionally tapped to guide a particular undertaking out of the country that was a excessive precedence for the CEO, all as a result of he had rebuilt belief at each stage, from his boss to the senior government workforce.
4. Learn the writing on the wall
Typically a foul evaluate means the corporate has already made up its thoughts. I labored with a C-suite government at an organization with a monitor document of laying folks off shortly after giving them unhealthy efficiency opinions. In contrast to the senior director, he didn’t really feel like he may flip round this notion earlier than the corporate acted.
He determined to launch a stealth job search. Concurrently, he made certain his work was hermetic, assuming his boss was on the lookout for any purpose to terminate him. This required working tougher than ever whereas making use of for positions and interviewing on the aspect. He landed a brand new position in 4 months, forward of his subsequent evaluate, when he believed the corporate would transfer to terminate him.
(You probably have repeated experiences like this throughout corporations, it could level to a deeper query about whether or not you retain touchdown within the flawed management roles.)
Remaining ideas on recovering from a foul efficiency evaluate
You may recuperate from a foul evaluate, and higher but, typically forestall one. Your purpose is to be sure you’re by no means stunned once more. Whereas it’s your boss’s job to give you suggestions, it’s additionally your job to hunt it out. I encourage shoppers to ask for suggestions typically, and to ask greater than as soon as. Clarifying that you really want essential suggestions, not simply reward, is what makes the behavior work. If you construct common suggestions into your strategy, the formal evaluate tends to turn out to be a recap of conversations you’ve already had. You’ve bought this!
Key Takeaways
- Earlier than you reply to a foul efficiency evaluate, cease and actually hearken to what your supervisor is saying. You may hear with out agreeing to every thing within the evaluate.
- Assess your organization’s evaluate tradition; do they prioritize growth after a poor evaluate, or is it step one to your exit?
- Launch what I name an “inside PR marketing campaign.” It’d really feel unnatural and uncomfortable to speak about your accomplishments at first, however inside visibility is vital.
- Learn the writing on the wall. If your organization has a historical past of shedding its workers after a foul evaluate, put together your self upfront.
A senior director of engineering got here to me after receiving a foul efficiency evaluate. He had acquired suggestions that he wasn’t strategic sufficient, didn’t talk at a excessive sufficient stage and wanted to study to delegate. After years of getting nice opinions, he felt blindsided.
Throughout my profession teaching executives managing hundreds of direct and oblique studies, I’ve realized {that a} efficiency evaluate isn’t essentially a mirrored image of your efficiency however of your PR expertise. And as of late, your boss most likely has much less visibility into your work than ever. Gallup studies that, as of 2025, the common variety of folks reporting to a supervisor is roughly 12. Crew sizes have grown practically 50% since Gallup started measuring in 2013, when the common was simply eight.
Should you just lately acquired a foul evaluate, the steps you’re taking subsequent matter far more than the evaluate itself.
