Really sticky situation at work

[Anonymous]

I am new to a middle management role. I have been meeting with everyone in my group to find out what they work on, and apprise myself of issues that might come up in the future. One individual brought up a bad evaluation they received multiple years ago that was completely unexpected and not well justified. The compensation that year was consistent with the bad review. Management was also in flux at that time. This individual didn't contest the review out of insecurity and shock but it has been eating at them for years. My experience with this individual's work has been very positive and past evaluations other than this one, support that. I want to make this right going forward but also need to handle it sensitively since they feel silly about not having brought it up immediately and letting it fester like this. I don't have a lot of power here. Any thoughts? Do I need to be direct with our superviser about it?

[Anonymous]

What sort of resolution are you hoping for?

[Anonymous]

What exactly are you expected to do about it? Change a years-old evaluation and compensate for an underwhelming bonus? There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It was years ago. All you can do is give the person a fair evaluation from now on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What sort of resolution are you hoping for?

Really all I want is to make this person feel that management appreciates them. I guess ideally, an apology from our boss (who was not the reviewer) and a slightly bigger than normal raise. But I'm open to suggestions on what make this person feel able to move on from this. -OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exactly are you expected to do about it? Change a years-old evaluation and compensate for an underwhelming bonus? There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It was years ago. All you can do is give the person a fair evaluation from now on.

+1. What is this person asking you to do?

On the one hand, it is good that you are approachable enough that this person finally felt comfortable speaking up. On the other hand, I think it would be out of place for you to do anything about it, beyond thanking him/her for explaining the evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sort of resolution are you hoping for?

Really all I want is to make this person feel that management appreciates them. I guess ideally, an apology from our boss (who was not the reviewer) and a slightly bigger than normal raise. But I'm open to suggestions on what make this person feel able to move on from this. -OP

I don't think that's really going to happen, OP, so I would suggest focusing on things you can control. For instance, perhaps commit to providing more written feedback to the employee so they a) won't be surprised by a negative review out of nowhere and b) may feel more confident that they could dispute such a negative review if all the interim feedback has been positive. Or let the employee know that you don't believe a performance review should ever be the first place an employee would hear negative feedback and that this won't happen in the future.

Trying to get someone in management to apologize for a years old situation they weren't even involved in is going to seem like a large overreaction from a new manager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sort of resolution are you hoping for?

Really all I want is to make this person feel that management appreciates them. I guess ideally, an apology from our boss (who was not the reviewer) and a slightly bigger than normal raise. But I'm open to suggestions on what make this person feel able to move on from this. -OP

Nobody in a management position will ever admit to that. Unless the person who wrote the review personally admits that the review was not accurate, there is no recourse that can be taken short of a lawsuit by the employee. And even then, without proof, the suit would be tossed.

[Anonymous]

I think the best you can try to do for this person is a slightly larger than normal raise when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sort of resolution are you hoping for?

Really all I want is to make this person feel that management appreciates them. I guess ideally, an apology from our boss (who was not the reviewer) and a slightly bigger than normal raise. But I'm open to suggestions on what make this person feel able to move on from this. -OP

Nobody in a management position will ever admit to that. Unless the person who wrote the review personally admits that the review was not accurate, there is no recourse that can be taken short of a lawsuit by the employee. And even then, without proof, the suit would be tossed.

Nobody wants a lawsuit. Like I said, I want this person to be able to move on from this. And I appreciate the advice that will keep me from looking like I'm over reacting. I could go to the reviewer and ask them to explain it, but I think I can't do that without violating the confidence of the person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sort of resolution are you hoping for?

Really all I want is to make this person feel that management appreciates them. I guess ideally, an apology from our boss (who was not the reviewer) and a slightly bigger than normal raise. But I'm open to suggestions on what make this person feel able to move on from this. -OP

Nobody in a management position will ever admit to that. Unless the person who wrote the review personally admits that the review was not accurate, there is no recourse that can be taken short of a lawsuit by the employee. And even then, without proof, the suit would be tossed.

Nobody wants a lawsuit. Like I said, I want this person to be able to move on from this. And I appreciate the advice that will keep me from looking like I'm over reacting. I could go to the reviewer and ask them to explain it, but I think I can't do that without violating the confidence of the person.

Are you really sure this person is asking you to rectify the problem of the past review? It would be more reasonable of them to ask how you would address this kind of problem were it to recur in the future (or how would you prevent this from happening in the future). As a manager, that's what I would assume the person was really looking for. You're as new to them as they are to you and they probably just want some reassurance that you don't operate the way the previous manager did, giving out bad reviews/raises without any warning or justification.

[Anonymous]

Hmm ^^ it's a good question what they want me to do. They made it clear that this has been plaguing them. I do think the slightly bigger raise would do it but I just give inputs, I'm not the decision point there. But maybe that's where I will focus my energy. Also I want this person to know I am making a good faith effort even if little is achieved. As pps have said, knowing it won't happen again should go a long way towards rectifying. Thanks again, helps to talk this out anonymously!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm ^^ it's a good question what they want me to do. They made it clear that this has been plaguing them. I do think the slightly bigger raise would do it but I just give inputs, I'm not the decision point there. But maybe that's where I will focus my energy. Also I want this person to know I am making a good faith effort even if little is achieved. As pps have said, knowing it won't happen again should go a long way towards rectifying. Thanks again, helps to talk this out anonymously!

I would assume that the employee has moved on and just declare your intent to manage honestly and fairly and advocate for all your team members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am new to a middle management role. I have been meeting with everyone in my group to find out what they work on, and apprise myself of issues that might come up in the future. One individual brought up a bad evaluation they received multiple years ago that was completely unexpected and not well justified. The compensation that year was consistent with the bad review. Management was also in flux at that time. This individual didn't contest the review out of insecurity and shock but it has been eating at them for years. My experience with this individual's work has been very positive and past evaluations other than this one, support that. I want to make this right going forward but also need to handle it sensitively since they feel silly about not having brought it up immediately and letting it fester like this. I don't have a lot of power here. Any thoughts? Do I need to be direct with our superviser about it?

OP, if it is eating away at them so, have you ever asked yourself, "Why are they still at the company and bringing it up with you?" If they are that unhappy, I would think they'd find an opportunity with another company. I would not bring this matter to your supervisor. You have no control over a situation which occurred years ago and it may likely tarnish your reputation acting on behalf of this employee. I would not be surprised if this employee is depressing to be around and not well liked. They need to move on figuratively or literally. I got a bad evaluation once from the president of my company years ago, who I reported to at the time. He retired and I'm still here.

[Anonymous]

I have a similar situation. I am the supervisor of a team of federal contractor staff who were with a different contractor a few years ago. The team came over when my company won the bid but the old supervisor did not. I do not have any access to former employer's records so can't do anything about the past.

I agree with the PP's who say you won't be able to change what has happened in the past and no one is going to have management issue an apology. That just does not happen. For one thing, an official apoology opens them up to a potential employment suit for unfair practices especially if the employee belongs to any protected class (woman or protected minority).

What I think you can do is talk to the employee, explain that you can't change the review but you have been happy with his/her work and you can assure them that you will not take that review into account for current and future reviews. Ensure them that their record with you is clean and good and that moving forward they have a clean slate based on their good performance from recent years and reviews. It should be sufficient for them that that is in the past and not held against them.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, this seems like a problem employee. I would tread very carefully. And forget about trying to force an apology out of someone who wasn't even involved (????) in the situation--you are going to get bounced out of your job if you don't tighten up, and quick.