Not always.

Years ago, my VP told me I couldn’t rate two of my team members as “exceeds expectations.” I could only give that rating to one person. I argued and I lost.

I gave the rating to the first person and then provided the VP with a business case to promote the second person. The second person was disappointed she wasn’t rated “exceeds expectations.” She knew she deserved it and so did I.

She got the promotion a few weeks after the performance discussion and was happy to be recognized. But the performance rating that wasn’t what she expected was never forgotten.

So, as you have performance discussions with your manager this year recognize that sometimes that performance rating label isn’t what they really wanted to give you.

Some employers say they don’t have forced performance rating distributions but really, behind the scenes, they do. Disappointing. Frustrating. And it creates distrust in the process.

What’s the solution? (That’s a post I’ll share another day.) What are your ideas on how to solve this?

#performanceratings #performancemanagement #humanresources #leadership