Learn to be Constructively Critical
Performance reviews should contain specific information that helps employees improve.
By Jennifer Blanchard | HRTools.com Business Writer
Yes—it’s performance review time. But this year, try something different.
Instead of being “nice” and rating all your employees “fours” and “fives” when “twos” and “threes” are what they really deserve, this year, try and be more critical. Constructively critical, that is.
What Is “Constructive” Criticism?
Simply put: Constructive criticism is criticism that adds value. It’s criticism that helps an employee do a better job and become a better employee. It’s criticism that tells someone, specifically, what they need to do to improve.
Now you’re probably thinking—“I always give my employees constructive criticism!”
But what many managers don’t realize is, while they are often criticizing in a performance review, it’s not always constructive.
Need an example? Pull out last year’s performance reviews and read them over. You’ll probably notice a few things:
- You rated many of your employees higher than they actually deserved
- You gave a lot of comments—many of them critical
- You didn’t go into detail on what the employee could do to improve
Sure, your performance reviews probably had some comments telling employees what they needed to improve on, but were the things you wrote down constructive enough? Can your employees take their performance reviews and use them as action plans for the next year?
If they can’t, you’re not being constructively critical. Or maybe you’re not being constructively critical enough.
Some Examples
You may be upset right now. Angry even. How dare someone tell you that you don’t know how to constructively criticize your employees?!
Still, you probably aren’t being as effective as you could be.
Here are some examples to show you what constructive criticism should look like:
Typical Comment: Heather needs to manage her time better.
Constructive Comment: Heather should take time every morning to write down the three most important tasks she needs to complete that day. This will help her to focus and get things done in a timely manner.
Typical Comment: Ben needs to be more creative. His ideas aren’t original enough.
Constructive Comment: Ben needs to learn how to think outside the box by doing some creativity exercises. I recommend he read “Caffeine for the Creative Mind” by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield.
Typical Comment: Adam often turns in work that has typos and misspellings.
Constructive Comment: Adam needs to carefully proofread his work before he turns it in to ensure there are no typos or misspellings. I also recommend he get better-acquainted with his AP Stylebook.
You always want your performance review comments to be honest and encouraging. You want to make sure you’re not only pointing out the problem, but giving some recommended solutions, as well.
Learning to be Constructively Critical
If you Google “how to give constructive criticism,” you’ll get back tons of articles that tell you to use the “sandwich” method (saying something critical in between two compliments). They’ll tell you to use eye contact and be sure the person is open to receiving the criticism. They’ll give you tips on how to say the critical comments so the employee doesn’t get upset.
But what they won’t tell you is how to be constructively critical.
Sure, anyone can make critical comments. But before you deliver the comments to the employee, you should first learn how to be constructively critical.
Here are some tips to help you be effective at constructive criticism:
- Write down all your initial comments regarding each employee’s work. Put the positive comments into one column and put the negative comments in another column.
- Turn each negative comment into a constructive comment. You want to think about, not just what the comment itself is, but also what the employee can do to improve. (See the examples above.) You want each comment to be an action item.
- Include any tips or recommendations you can offer the employee. Be as specific as possible. If you know of a book or training program that will help the employee improve, write it in your comments.
- Read over all the comments in all of your employee performance appraisals. Did you include everything you possibly could to point the employee in the right direction? Are your comments an action plan for each employee?
With a few adjustments in your word choices and adding in some valuable tips and recommendations, you can get your employees off to a better start for the next year.
<p>Most managers know how to be critical in a performance review. But many don't know how to be <em>constructively</em> critical.</p>