Customer Reviews

Perfect Phrases for Documenting Employee Performance Problems (Perfect Phrases Series)

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I can only assume that the other reviewers have not cleared these phrases with any HR department--or that they are friends of the author. The classic text by James Neal IS useful, so if you are looking for phrases, consider it. I will use this one as a source for examples of dangerous appraisal comments.

Let's say you receive your performance appraisal--the one on which your pay is based. You aren't getting a raise this year and you wonder why. How would you like to see some of Ms. Bruce's phrases on your appraisal? "Is clumsy." "Has an angry personality." "Celebrates seldom." "Has skewed logic." "Is a turn-off to fellow employees." "Does not appear to have adequate support system at home." "Has come to work bruised or badly shaken emotionally." Does not know how to brainstorm, in fact brain drizzles."

I sincerely thought this was meant to be a joke book when I first read it. Many of the opinions (compared to behavioral observations) could never be proven--and even if they could, would not be valid for a performance appraisal. Furthermore, consider how unprofessional a supervisor or manager would sound using terminology like this in something that might end up in court or an employment hearing some day: "Gets way too emotional." "Puts the kibosh on positive attitudes." "Acts very suspicious of everyone, almost paranoid." "Is sometimes difficult to understand because of heavy accent or language barriers." "Would not be found guilty of integrity if it were a crime." And those are supposed to be, as the cover says, ready-to-use phrases for addressing all performance issues?

Ms. Bruce is knowledgable and capable, so I am surprised at this material. If you purchase it, do not assume all or even most of the phrases will do anything more than result in a negative evaluation for YOU. You might end up with an appraisal that says, "Is more comfortable in the victim role," "Is slow moving," "Does not read newspapers or magazines," or even, "does not appear underchallenged."

Perfect Phrases for Documenting Employee Performance Problems provide terminology and limited guidance for writing employee performance evaluations.

Perfect Phrases for Documenting Employee Performance Problems provides negative examples of terminology used to document and correct inadequate performance. While this book provides sound guidance on delivering evaluations, many of the proposed "perfect" phrases fail to indicate performance problems in an appropriate or constructive manner. The majority of the proposed phrases defy legal expectations, best practices, and even the advice provided in the book itself. Although it suggests providing concrete, specific examples of an actual behavior requiring correction, with clear steps to achieve improvement, phrases are frequently inappropriate for inclusion in a performance evaluation. For example, "Doesn't seem to really like people," "Evidently has low self-esteem," and "Will not admit to being depressed often" are of questionable suitability for a performance evaluation and appear to be almost completely subjective. In many instances, these unquantifiable phrases border on obnoxious and condescending, as indicated by "Does not know how to effectively brain storm, instead `brain drizzles'" and "Needs to take a class on delegating." Similarly, phrases often employ jargon and complex concepts that confuse the issue, such as, "Needs to read Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ and Working with Emotional Intelligence, both authored by Daniel Goleman" and "Is a Theory X worker." Finally, some leave no opportunity for improvement, are ambiguous, contradictory, and frequently appear wholly irrelevant, including "Has mismatched pieces of clothing," "Doesn't care that GED is the only educational credential he or she has," and "Cannot accept colors, fashions, trends, or styles outside the norm." While there are certainly a handful of applicable phrases, these "perfect" phrases are far from it and should be considered carefully before use.

Perfect Phrases fails to provide meaningful suggestions, and its use will probably result in headaches and lawsuits. Skip Perfect Phrases, and instead consider Effective Phrases for Performance Appraisals, and select a performance review book to supplement the vocabulary with appropriate evaluation strategies.

I have to write performance reviews a lot. I always need new ideas.Very helpful.I have to write performance reviews a lot. I always need new ideas.Very helpful.

Anne Bruce does it again! This is a book every leader, at all levels, should be using!

Anne has done a fantastic job with her latest book! It is a must have for any supervisor - be it a large corporation, or a small company. It's well written, to the point and extremely useful. It allows the reader to quickly access key phrases and effectively document employee performance issues. Thanks for the help Anne!

From my viewpoint, as a retired Manager, I would recommend that an organization put this book in the hands of all of their employees. Even those employees who have not previously shown aspirations for managerial achievement may feel inspired to use the book as a guideline for self improvement.

Overthehill Manager

This book is a must for any manager who does performance reviews. It's easy: just open this book, find a section that fits your situation, and choose the words and phrases that say what you want to say. The author is an expert on working with employees; this book is a perfect addition to two of her earlier books -- Motivating Employees and Building a High Morale Workplace.

This is just what I needed. You can't very well call a lazy slob a lazy slob on a performance review but now I can...in a nice way. This book has provided me with positive ways to turn problem employees into productive, happy workers just by PROPERLY identifying their weak points.

I've given copies of this book to more than a dozen of my managers. Thanks McGraw-Hill for NOT making this topic more complicated than it needs to be and for giving the manager in today's real-world workplace the benefit of the doubt when it comes to performance in their own area of expertise.

Even for an entrepreneur who doesn't have any full-time employees to speak of, this book is inspirational. Reading, for example, the 20 gold points of the Ritz-Carlton hotel organization offers up an ideal to emulate and would help any business-owner understand why some organizations are simply more pleasurable to deal with than others. I found several useful nuggets to incorporate into my own business environment. Definitely worth adding to the business bookshelf.