"So, You're Telling Me I'm Not A Rock Star?" — When Feedback Goes Wrong

By Joseph Bisson and Daniel Krowinski

You’re about to begin a meeting with your boss to discuss your annual appraisal/ evaluation, and you are hopeful that you’ll get that promotion or bonus this time around. You’re a little bit anxious, but then you remind yourself how well you’ve been performing. In fact, you’ve never been told anything negative about your job performance for as long as you can remember. Your boss’ demeanor seems off for someone who should be about to give you good news, and then he says it: “Sorry, but you just haven’t been performing to standards; I’m not going to put you in for promotion this year.” You think to yourself, why am I only now getting negative feedback when it’s too late to do anything about it? The feedback system just failed you.