Ace Your Performance Evaluation
& Make Sure Gender Bias Doesn’t Come Into Play
Performance evaluations are a regular part of the work experience for most employees. They are an opportunity for employees to receive feedback on their performance and to set goals for the future. Performance evaluations can also be used to make decisions about raises, promotions, and other benefits.
Performance evaluation season can be nerve-wracking - getting a bit anxious is a normal reaction anytime you’re being evaluated. However, it doesn’t have to be a scary experience and instead can be a valuable tool and an opportunity for you to demonstrate your value to the organization.
Performance evaluations can be especially stressful for women in the workplace. Women often face unique challenges (gender bias) when it comes to advocating for ourselves and highlighting their accomplishments. However, with a little preparation and confidence, you can ace your performance evaluation and make a positive impression on your manager. Continue reading to learn how to walk into this meeting standing a little bit taller with a plan to navigate any potential gender bias.
What does a performance evaluation have to do with negotiation?
Performance evaluations might feel like it’s one sided - you walk into a room and you’re simply receiving an evaluation from your managers. However, there are subtle ways that you can signal your value to the organization and remind them of your contributions during your performance evaluation. You have more influence in this situation than you might think.
Remember that the definition of negotiation is when two or more parties are coming to an agreement. In the case of a performance evaluation, the parties are coming to an agreement on your contributions, and in some cases, your eligibility for a promotion or a raise. This negotiation might be much more subtle and nuanced than a salary negotiation, for example, but it’s important that you go into it with the mindset that this is a negotiation in which you also have the power to influence their thinking.
The research shows that women are less likely to see a situation as negotiable. Other research shows that mindset in a negotiation has a major impact on the outcome of a negotiation. For these reasons, it’s important to go into a performance evaluation with the mindset that the outcome is negotiable and that you have power in the situation.
(For my mini online course, the Fundamentals of Negotiation for Women (FNW) Express, the first module includes an entire section on assessing your mindset.Check if out!)
Self Promotion is Essential for Performance Evaluations, but Harder for Women
There are plenty of articles and social media posts that talk about the need for women to be confident and encourage women to self-promote at work. However, this content often fall short in three major ways:
The content doesn’t talk about the potential backlash of self-promotion for women.
I wrote a bit about gender bias in negotiations in a previous blog post, “The #1 Reason Women Don’t Want to Negotiate”. In the post, I discuss the research that shows that women are expected to be “community-minded” and take care of others. Anytime they violate that stereotype, e.g., advocate for themselves, they run the risk of being perceived more negatively. This is a contributing factor in inequities in women’s career advancement and salary raises.
Simply telling women “be more confident” is lazy advice. It also has the potential to do more harm than good if women are self-promoting in a way that triggers gender bias.
2. The content doesn’t talk about the root causes or major contributors for why women are “not confident”.
Over a lifetime, women are frequently rewarded when they are nurturing towards others and punished when they advocate for themselves, and this external feedback can lead to an internalization of this gender bias in the form of hesitating to self-promote.
This isn’t a failure to be confident - I would argue that it’s a survival technique responding to the external feedback they’ve received all their lives.
Women have received so much implicit and explicit feedback when self-promoting, that the most common fear I hear from my clients who want to negotiate is, “I don’t want them to think I’m greedy”. Men can self-advocate without worrying about this bias. (This is where I insert a joke about the confidence of a mediocre man.)
*By the way, the research is conducted on a gender binary so you will read me referring to this research on a binary.
3. The content often unintentionally blames women
Encouraging women to “be more confident” also sends the unspoken message - that if you don’t achieve a promotion or raise because you weren’t confident, then it’s your fault. This line of thinking subtly places the blame for societal inequalities on women, without acknowledging that women hesitating to self-promote is a survival adaptation in a world full of gender bias. This is why in all my published material, I start with empathy and an understanding of why it is so hard for women to self-promote instead of blindly telling women to “be more confident.”
How to Prepare for Performance Evaluations to Mitigate Bias
When looking at the research as a whole, we know that women have to be particularly strategic during performance evaluations in order to receive a fair evaluation. If women hit the wrong tone, their evaluator (no matter the evaluator’s gender, by the way) might perceive them as “full of themselves” or “entitled”. This perception may influence the final evaluation outcome.
Follow these three guidelines in preparation for your performance evaluation to mitigate gender bias and to ensure you are being treated fairly:
Understand the process
Sometimes being evaluated is so stressful that we want to just get it done and over with. But blindly jumping off a cliff and hoping for the best is often how my clients end up feeling resentment after-the-fact, with no real paths to changing the outcome. At this point it’s too late so don’t let this be you. Being in denial like a chicken with its head in the ground won’t help you. Be proactive by learning about the evaluation process in your organization:
Who is conducting it?
What is the timeline?
What criteria are they using for evaluation? etc.
Research shows that women tend to get worse negotiation outcomes when there is informational uncertainty so make sure to gain a full understanding of the process. Ask questions and follow-up questions until you get the full picture.
2. Use Data
In preparation for your performance evaluation, gather as much objective data as possible. This might come in the form of cost savings for a project budget, sales numbers, client relationships, etc.
The use of data in a performance evaluation might be common advice, but it’s particularly important for women because it objectively demonstrates contributions without a women having to self-promote, thus avoiding the violation of the stereotype.
Example 1: Instead of “I’m a top performer”, a woman might say, “Here is my rating of 96 out of 100, which puts me in the top 3% of performers according to the most recent quarterly report.”
Example 2: Instead of “I have built great relationships with my clients”, a woman might show an email from a client that says, “Thanks so much for your work on this! We couldn’t have reached our goals without you! It’s such a pleasure to work with you!”
Data can include emails, project reports, feedback from colleagues, or even awards and recognition. Having tangible proof of your achievements will make your case for a positive evaluation much stronger and help you avoid gender bias.
3. Frame your contributions as in the best interest of others.
By highlighting your contributions to help your colleagues, your manager, or your organization, you avoid gender bias because it leans into the expectation that women should be community-minded.
Example 1: Instead of “I completed the project on time”, a woman might say, “My contributions were essential in ensuring that the project was completed on time in alignment of the organization’s goals.”
Example 2: Instead of “I created a coverage calendar”, a woman might say, “I created a coverage calendar to ensure that colleagues were able to arrange their PTO, spend time with their families, and promote a culture of well-being on the team.”
These examples are framed in the service of others in order to avoid gender bias.
(Side note: Does it make you angry or annoyed that you have to do this much strategic thinking when men do not? Yes, I get it. It’s not fair, but it is the reality. I hope some day, we won’t have to do all this extra work for a fair evaluation!)
How to Respond During the Performance Evaluation Meeting
During a performance evaluation meeting, be prepared to receive feedback, both positive and negative. However, you’re not just receiving feedback; you will also have an opportunity to respond. Listen attentively to your manager's feedback and ask clarifying questions if necessary. Managers like to know that you’re listening to feedback so here are a few ways to respond during the performance evaluation meeting.
Responding to Positive Feedback
To positive feedback, first demonstrate appreciation for the recognition. This can sound like:
“I really appreciate hearing that” or
“Thanks! I’m really proud of the work we did on that project”
Then connect the feedback to a continued commitment to the organization such as:
“I look forward to the next evaluation as I continue to grow in my role”
“I’m so glad I can continue to be a part of the team to nurture this client relationship”
2. Responding to Critical Feedback
When receiving critical feedback, show that you are open to feedback and willing to learn from your mistakes. This can come in the form of:
Asking clarifying questions on any feedback that you do not understand
Asking for suggestions on how to handle a situation differently in the future
Using your facial expressions and body language to demonstrate you’re listening intently
End by thanking them for the feedback and that you look forward to implementing it moving forward. This will be a lot easier if you remind yourself that one piece of critical feedback does not define you.
3. Responding to Inaccurate Feedback
One thing that can trigger an angry or emotional response is what Doug Stone and Sheila Heen call a Truth Trigger in their book, Thanks for the Feedback. When someone provides feedback that we think is misrepresentative of what actually occurred, we might get emotional and defensive. This is a normal reaction to have. However, in these situations, it’s important to correct the record and defend yourself without sounding defensive. You can do this by following these steps:
Start with acknowledgement or appreciation. This can sound like “Thanks for sharing that” or “it’s interesting to hear your perspective”. This does not mean you are agreeing with how they see things. Instead, it sets the tone for a productive conversation. When you demonstrate you are listening, they are more likely to listen to you as well.
You can then either disagree and say “Is it okay if I share my perspective on the situation with you?” or you can make it sound like you are agreeing while getting them to see the inaccuracies (sneaky, huh?).
For Example:
The manager says “you did not deliver this project by the deadline”
Instead of saying: “But that wasn’t my fault! The client changed his mind so many times and asked for deliverables out of scope of the project”
You can try saying: "I agree that it’s incredibly difficult to stick to timelines when working with a client who changes their mind so many times. We all know how difficult it can be to manage expectations when they ask for deliverables outside of the scope of the project. I would love to hear from you suggestions on how to manage the client while also sticking to deadlines.”
The last line is particularly effective because it puts the responsibility back on the manager. In this situation, they will hopefully either give you clear examples of how to handle the situation (in which case, you can grow your own skill set) or may admit that it was in fact the client’s fault for missing the deadlines, and you’ve successfully defended yourself without sounding defensive.
This tactic is not particularly easy to implement without practice, so I recommend scripting out as much of this as possible in advance. If you need further help, reach out to me for a consultation.
What To Do After the Performance Evaluation
Here are a few tips for what to do after your performance evaluation:
Review your feedback. Take some time to review your manager's feedback. Identify areas where you can improve and develop a plan for improvement.
Set goals. Set specific goals for yourself based on your manager's feedback. Track your progress towards your goals. This will help you to stay on track and to achieve your goals.
Communicate with your manager. Keep your manager updated on your progress. This will show them that you are taking their feedback seriously.
Some Pro Tips to Follow Throughout the Year
With so many responsibilities, it’s hard to think in advance of all your career goals throughout the year. Oftentimes, performance evaluations sneak up on us. But if you want to be super strategic, here are a few pro tips to follow throughout the year.
Don't just rely on your memory to recall your accomplishments, Keep a file on your computer where you save them throughout the year.
Meet with your manager regularly. Meeting with your manager regularly will give you the opportunity to discuss your performance and receive feedback regularly. It also reduces the high-stakes nature of annual performance evaluations if you already have a sense of how you are performing and have been demonstrating growth throughout the year.
Be proactive. Don't wait for your manager to come to you with feedback. Be proactive and ask for feedback on a regular basis.
For example, a client of mine was excelling in her role and was told “I feel pretty confident that you will get this promotion to VP at the next cycle.” However, I’ve had too many conversations with clients where they are given loose promises by their manager, only to be disappointed when they were told they “weren’t ready yet” or “maybe next year”. I coached my client to ask her manager at the next check-in, “What can I do between now and the performance evaluation to solidify the promotion?” This forced her manager to articulate concrete steps in advance of the promotion cycle and also virtually locked her manager in on the promise to promote her. It would be much harder now for the manager to give a vague “maybe next year” after this conversation.
If things go terribly wrong
If the performance evaluation goes terribly wrong, and you feel that you are under-appreciated and undervalued, be polite but seriously consider if it’s time to move on. If you are one to give too many chances to other people, practice the art of closing this chapter and opening a new one.
This can be hard to do because humans have status quo bias - a tendency to let inertia pull you forward and stick to your current situation. Fear of the unknown might prevent you from making any proactive moves.
However, employment is a partnership – both parties need to feel they are getting their needs met and valued. If you aren’t feeling that, prepare your exit strategy before you get to the point of resentment and it starts affecting your work performance and your mental health.
Don’t Forget to Celebrate
Given the gender bias that can come into play in a performance evaluation, it can be frustrating that women have to do more preparation. But until we live in a more equitable world, make sure you’re doing what you can to position yourself strategically and get what you’re worth.
Once your performance evaluation is complete, take some time to celebrate your successes. Acknowledge your accomplishments and reward yourself for your hard work. This will help you to stay motivated and continue to achieve great things in your career. Remember, you deserve to be recognized for your contributions. By following these tips, you can ace your performance evaluation and set yourself up for success in the workplace.
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About the Author:
Joan is a negotiation coach and trainer. She served as a research fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program and started multiple negotiation coaching programs at Harvard.
