60 minutes (40 minutes for small-group work; 20 minutes for debriefing)
Work L–M P, O, D, M
1. To examine different perspectives on the same situation
2. To identify feelings associated with your own perspective
3. To examine the ways your implicit values and/or assumptions influence your perception of the employee performance evaluation process
• Performance Scenarios Handout for each participant team
1. Place participants in teams of 3–4. Give each participant a copy of the “Performace Scenarios” handout. Assign each team five scenarios.
2. Ask the group to discuss each scenario, using the following questions:
• How might you feel if you were in this situation as the evaluator? As the employee being evaluated?
• What assumptions might you make?
• What expectations would you have?
• What factors contribute to your feelings, assumptions, and expectations?
• How might these factors influence your evaluation?
• How might these factors influence what you communicate—verbally and nonverbally?
Note: These scenarios can be adapted or new ones created to reflect issues pertinent to the organization where the training occurs.
1. Which scenarios were easiest to discuss? Which were the hardest? Why?
2. Were there specific scenarios that generated strong feelings for you? Why?
3. What personal values do you hold that affected your responses to any of the scenarios? To the small-group discussion?
4. What have you learned?
5. How can you apply information from this experience to your work life?
1. Dominant cultural values will affect the perceptions, expectations, and anxieties of both the evaluator and the individual being evaluated.
2. It is important for individuals to understand their own values and how those values may influence their assumptions and expectations regarding performance evaluations.
3. Those who are not part of the dominant culture may experience tension and even some resistance to evaluation of their job performance by someone who is part of the dominant culture. Individuals may be apprehensive or nervous, fearing criticism, judgment, or embarrassment.
4. Evaluators may worry about being accurate and fair. They may have concerns about creating conflict or hurting someone’s feelings.
5. Considering these differences and their possible impact on the performance review process can help to facilitate a more productive evaluation practice.
Adapted from “Understanding Diversity Blind Spots in the Performance Review” by Anita Rowe.
1. A young male employee is being evaluated by an older female supervisor.
2. An American-born manager is being evaluated by a German-born supervisor.
3. A female engineer with multiple sclerosis is being evaluated by a younger, able-bodied male executive.
4. A male Latino employee, with fifteen years’ service, is being evaluated by a female manager who has recently been hired to run the department.
5. A Japanese accountant is being evaluated by a supervisor who was responsible for reassigning another Japanese accountant to a less-respected position.
6. A young female computer programmer is being evaluated by an older male supervisor who has recently been assigned to this department.
7. A Dutch career specialist is being evaluated by the owner of an employment agency that specializes in placement of professional women.
8. A U.S.-born teen, working in a coffee shop, is being evaluated by a Russian-born supervisor.
9. A U.S. manager is evaluating employees in a newly opened retail store in Japan.
10. An older female supervisor is temporarily assigned to the production floor of an aircraft plant. Her assignment is to evaluate the individual contributions of each employee.
11. A female employee, working with a “green card,” is being evaluated by an older American-born manager.
12. A middle-aged male engineer is being evaluated by a younger supervisor from the company that has recently merged with his organization.
13. A newly hired personnel manager is evaluating an intact work team in a health-care facility.
14. In a dot-com acquisition, the new department manager is providing yearly performance feedback to program designers.
15. A new supervisor with an MBA from a prestigious university is evaluating a supervisor with fifteen years’ experience but no college degree.
Adapted from “Understanding Diversity Blind Spots in the Performance Review” by Anita Rowe.