Who dreads mid-year reviews more — employees or managers?
Sure, getting feedback is tough, but giving feedback can be equally challenging, especially when you’ve never been trained to do it properly.
Performance reviews may never be something that your team looks forward to, but they can help your employees (and your business) grow. Here’s how to make sure that happens.
1. Show your managers how to give feedback
Many managers rise through the ranks because they're good at their jobs — not necessarily because they're natural coaches. In fact, I often find that managers avoid feedback conversations simply because they've never been taught how to have them effectively. In preparation for performance reviews, arm them with these resources:
Send the feedback sandwich back to the kitchen
There are dozens of feedback frameworks out there. There’s a good chance that the last one your managers were taught is the feedback sandwich: Praise followed by criticism and then more praise. Some feedback is better than no feedback, but there are a few fatal flaws with this approach.- It dilutes important feedback. Constructive feedback often gets lost between praise, making the message unclear.
- It creates anticipatory anxiety. Regular recipients of this method learn to expect negative feedback whenever praise is given ("Here comes the 'but'...").
- It can feel insincere. When employees recognize the pattern, they may view the praise as merely strategic, undermining trust.
Instead, try the radical candor framework
Radical Candor is a feedback framework developed by Kim Scott, a former executive at Google and Apple. At its core, Radical Candor is built around two key philosophies:- Care Personally. Build genuine relationships with people on your team. You don't need to be everyone’s best friend (nor should you), but you do need to go beyond basic professional courtesy.
- Challenge Directly. Be willing to provide direct, clear feedback about performance issues, even when it's uncomfortable. This means not sugar-coating problems or avoiding difficult conversations.
- Radical Candor: The ideal approach where you care deeply about the person while being honest and direct about performance issues. This creates trust, clarity, and growth.
- Ruinous Empathy: When you care about someone but avoid giving critical feedback for fear of hurting their feelings. This ultimately harms their growth and development.
- Obnoxious Aggression: Providing direct criticism without establishing a foundation of personal care. This comes across as harsh, insensitive, and often demotivating.
- Manipulative Insincerity: Avoiding both real personal connection and honest feedback. This approach prioritizes political maneuvering over authentic leadership.
Before sending your managers into review season, challenge them to identify where they currently fall on the spectrum and what steps they need to take to reach radical candor.
2. Give them performance review examples
Even if your managers excel at giving feedback, they may still encounter some tough conversations during midyear reviews. Prepare them by instructing them on how to navigate these common scenarios.
Example: Employee and manager assessments don’t align
Most reviews involve an employee self-assessment, followed by a manager assessment. They rarely line up perfectly, which can be awkward.It’s important to note that self-perception gaps are normal and don't necessarily indicate arrogance or poor self-awareness. When facing this situation, walk through these steps:
- Ask before you tell. Start by understanding their perspective. Ask open-ended questions like “What specific examples support your self-assessment in this area?" This helps you understand their reasoning.
- Focus on observable behaviors and outcomes. Rather than making subjective judgments about attitude or effort, center the conversation on specific, measurable results and behaviors you've observed. For example, instead of saying, "Your communication skills need improvement," say something like, "In the March client meeting, when you interrupted the client several times, it created tension that affected our ability to close the deal." This shifts the discussion from personal opinion to evidence-based assessment.
- Create a development plan together. Regardless of the gap in perception, work collaboratively on a plan to develop the skills in question.
Example: The employee has a strong emotional reaction to constructive feedback
Feedback can incite strong emotional reactions: anger, tears, or shutting down completely. Here's how to handle the situation effectively:- Pause and create space. If an employee becomes visibly upset, angry, or defensive, first allow a moment of silence. Don't rush to fill the space or immediately continue with more feedback.
- Actively listen. Once they've had a moment to process, ask for their perspective: "I'd like to understand your thoughts on this." Their reaction might reveal important information about their experience, workload, or other factors affecting performance.
- Maintain composure. Keep your own emotions in check, even if their reaction seems disproportionate. Responding with frustration or defensiveness will only escalate the situation.
- Offer a short break if needed. Sometimes, the best approach is to suggest: "Would it be helpful to take a few minutes before we continue?" This allows both parties to reset emotionally and approach the conversation more productively.
- Reframe the purpose. Remind them that feedback is meant to help them grow: "My goal isn't to criticize but to help you succeed in your role. I'm sharing this because I believe in your potential."
- Document the interaction. Note the reaction and how it was addressed, particularly if it's part of a pattern or unusually intense. This documentation is important for tracking performance management.
Remember that emotional reactions, while sometimes uncomfortable, are natural human responses. How you handle these moments can either strengthen trust or damage the manager-employee relationship. The goal is to acknowledge emotions while still ensuring the necessary feedback is communicated effectively.
Example: The manager’s view is skewed by their own bias
When a manager's assessment appears to be influenced by their own biases, it creates a significant challenge for fair performance reviews. Here's how to move forward:Implement structured review processes. Create standardized evaluation criteria that require specific examples for each rating. This helps minimize the impact of subjective impressions and forces managers to justify their assessments with concrete evidence.
- Implement anonymous peer-to-peer feedback. Multiple viewpoints help balance potential biases from any single reviewer.
- Look for patterns across demographics. Analyze performance ratings across different employee groups to identify potential systemic biases. Are certain teams, demographic groups, or personality types consistently rated differently?
- Provide bias awareness training. Educate managers about common biases that affect evaluations, such as:
- Recency bias: Overemphasizing recent events
- Halo/horn effect: Letting one positive/negative trait influence the overall assessment
- Similarity bias: Favoring people similar to themselves
- Confirmation bias: Only noticing evidence that confirms existing impressions
- Contrast effect: Comparing employees to each other instead of to a standard
- Implement appeal process. Provide a structured way for employees to appeal performance ratings if they believe bias has influenced their assessment.
Addressing managerial bias should follow the same guidelines as giving any other kind of feedback. Be caring, honest, prompt, and specific.
3. Give them a pre-review checklist
Maybe the best way to prepare for performance reviews? Don’t wait until the review to give feedback.
Instead of treating mid-year reviews as isolated events, successful companies use them as part of a continuous feedback loop.
Tell your managers to set up weekly or biweekly check-ins with their team members. That way, they can practice giving timely feedback. When the midyear review arrives, employees are prepared to discuss their progress. And “blindsided” leaves your company vocabulary.
To help your managers feel prepared, remind them of the resources they can review:
- Notes from previous one-on-ones
- Input from project managers or team members
- Progress toward established goals
- Specific examples of successes and areas for improvement
Need some help managing your managers?
The more your business grows, the more complicated it gets. In the gap between startup and enterprise organization, HR duties (like performance reviews) often fall on leadership. That leaves you doing less of the work you signed on for.
PRO Resources can help. We specialize in all aspects of running a successful team, including management, compliance, benefits, payroll, and more.
Want an honest performance review of your business? Request a free HR report card. We’ll review your current practices and offer tailored recommendations so you finally reach that “exceed expectations” mark.
About the Author:
Heather Berg was raised in a military family. Traveling the world from a young age, she developed a strong sense of adaptability, which ultimately led her to a career in HR. Today, she holds an SHRM Certification and works at PRO Resources, helping businesses foster a culture of growth, open communication, and proactive coaching.