Giving a Negative Peer Review

There are few processes in the modern workforce that are met with more derision than performance reviews. As both an employer and employee I can attest to having sat through dozens of them over the years. Truth be told, I have remained somewhat ambivalent towards the effectiveness of the traditional performance review. And by “traditional”, I am referring to the generic top-down evaluative process that many companies employ. To wit, a manager sits down with his subordinate once or twice a year and informs him/her of what they did well and, more likely, what they did wrong. Having said that, many organizations have pivoted away from these types of archaic models and towards a process that is a bit more flexible, organic and (dare I say) democratic.

Peer reviews have existed in academic and medical circles for a long time and were implemented as a method of self-regulation by members within a specific area of study or discipline. In more recent times, peer reviews have been adopted by commercial enterprises as a means of being able to perform a more equitable measure of employee performance and satisfaction. Personally, I have worked for a few companies that have implemented a peer review system and have found the practice to be beneficial to both the workers and the employers. However, it is inevitable that some awkward situations may arise when an employee is asked to review a peer and the feedback is negative. If you’ve ever found yourself in such a situation, you can attest to how difficult it may be to navigate. Here are some pointers:

Be objective

This is possibly the hardest thing for you to judge so do your best to remove any personal feelings from the equation. You need to be ready to defend any positions that you take and be prepared to justify your review to HR or other members of staff. Keep in mind that providing a negative review will probably result in greater scrutiny so you need to be sure that you are providing an honest and justifiable evaluation. Also, remember that this review may have some unpleasant consequences so, if you are writing a particularly negative review, you may want to sleep on it first.

Is it anonymous?

In my experience, most peer reviews that I have participated in have been completely anonymous, which I strongly prefer. Anonymous reviews allow you to be more candid and detailed in your review without any fear of retribution. Additionally, they allow the recipient to receive and interpret the review in a more objective and accepting manner. Whenever you are able to remove any personal feelings or assignments of blame, I have found that the review process flows more smoothly.

Be constructive

When submitting a negative peer review, it is important to have a purpose behind your words. Ultimately, the review process exists as a means of improving all aspects of work life, including performance objectives, compensation and overall happiness. So, when confronted with the authority to review a peer, you need to ensure that the feedback you are offering strives to improve one (or more) of these elements for your colleague. Simply listing a collection of negative behaviours does not achieve the objective of the exercise; take the time to formulate a constructive argument that contributes to the overall improvement of your working space.

Don’t offer solutions

Most peer review programs are set up so that colleagues will have the opportunity to provide feedback to management and human resources. Typically, this feedback is interpreted and delivered as part of a larger performance review process. As such, it is usually the manager who will work with the reviewee on developing a program what will help improve performance (if needed). As such, your role should really be restricted to identifying the issue without offering up any solutions. Truth be told, you probably don’t have visibility into other issues that may be impacting performance so do your best to stick to what you are being asked to do.

Don’t wait to be asked

This may sound a bit confrontational, but you really don’t need to wait for a formal invitation to provide feedback to your colleagues. If something isn’t working well for you, you have every right to approach your colleague to discuss with him/her. As always, providing feedback is most effective when it is given with the intention of improving a situation.