The Truth About Performance Evaluations

This Element is an excerpt from The Truth About Managing People (9780132346030) by Stephen P. Robbins. Available in print and digital formats.

The secret to doing performance evaluations: how to make them more effective and less painful.

A number of years ago, Holiday Inn built an advertising campaign around the slogan "The best surprise is NO surprise!" That slogan would also make good advice to managers when it comes to giving annual performance reviews. Few managers enjoy doing this. Why? There seem to be at least three reasons....