{"id":12673,"date":"2023-12-10T17:07:54","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T22:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hottopic.guizable.xyz\/?p=10871"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:10:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T01:10:38","slug":"what-are-the-benefits-of-turning-annual-performance-reviews-into-humble-encounters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/?p=12673","title":{"rendered":"What Are The Benefits Of Turning Annual Performance Reviews Into Humble Encounters?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turning annual performance reviews into \u2018humble encounters\u2019 yields dividends for employees and managers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every year, employees worldwide enter annual performance reviews with mixed feelings. Do employees enter these conversations with enthusiasm to learn new things? Rarely. Are managers eager to have these conversations and coach their employees on how they can improve in the coming year? No.<\/p>\n

These meetings are typically experienced as difficult conversations<\/a>. Opportunities for learning and relationship-building are often missed.<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, employees would learn and improve from the feedback their manager provides in the annual review. But there are at least two obstacles that can stand in the way of that best-case scenario.<\/p>\n

It can be hard to hear painful truths. Critical feedback can trigger defensive reactions<\/a>: That\u2019s wrong. Who are you to say? This is a disaster, and I\u2019ll never be able to improve.<\/p>\n

And, even if employees are receptive to the intended message, they may have trouble understanding the information<\/a> and face difficulties implementing the feedback to improve their performance.<\/p>\n

In an effort to get through, managers may try to soften their delivery. For example, they may use the much-maligned \u201cfeedback sandwich<\/a>,\u201d which bookends a critique between two compliments. But this tactic can obscure truthful and useful information, resulting in confusion, misunderstandings and worse.<\/p>\n

We study organizational behavior<\/a> and are especially interested in<\/a> how people interact and communicate at work. Drawing from our research on humility and feedback, we suggest a new way for managers to approach performance reviews: Create what we call \u201chumble encounters.\u201d<\/p>\n

By expressing humility<\/a>, managers can transform performance reviews from monologues into dialogues, with greater learning and improvement as a result. Our studies indicate that when a team member expresses humility to a co-worker, it leads their partner to feel greater \u201cpsychological safety<\/a>\u201d \u2013 more comfortable sharing candid opinions and concerns without worrying about backlash or negative consequences. This, in turn, helps improve performance in the team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Creating humble encounters<\/h2>\n

Humility has a few key ingredients<\/a>: You must be willing to view yourself accurately, as you really are. But that\u2019s not enough to create a humble encounter. You must also show that you are teachable by exhibiting openness to feedback, ideas and suggestions. Finally, it\u2019s critical that you acknowledge and express appreciation for the contributions that others make.<\/p>\n

So, how might a manager do all this in a performance review?<\/p>\n

You can signal that you\u2019re willing to view yourself accurately by sharing personal experiences of dealing with challenges: \u201cI also struggled with this issue when I first entered the company.\u201d By sharing your own challenges and how you worked through them, you signal that you\u2019re aware of your own weaknesses and vulnerabilities, as well as your strengths and achievements.<\/p>\n

You can signal teachability by demonstrating that you\u2019re open to learning from others. Managers can use what organizational culture experts Edgar and Peter Schein<\/a> call \u201chumble inquiry<\/a>\u201d \u2013 asking questions you don\u2019t already know the answer to, listening intentionally and responding with curiosity.<\/p>\n

Be mindful of assumptions implicitly conveyed to the listener by how you phrase your questions. Negative assumption questions<\/a>
\n\u2013 like \u201cWhat triggers you to argue with your co-workers?\u201d \u2013 presuppose a problem. The employee might be surprised by this question and the assumption behind it because they don\u2019t remember the last time they argued with someone at work. A negative-assumption question can help clarify undesirable behaviors if they are indeed happening, but at the same time it can signal distrust<\/a> and hinder the receptivity of the receiver.<\/p>\n

Another way to express humility is by good listening<\/a>. It includes three crucial elements<\/a>: paying attention to the speaker, showing positive intentions toward the speaker, and demonstrating that you understand their message. Managers who listen well to their employees elicit better performance and establish stronger relationships<\/a> with them.<\/p>\n

Spotlighting an employee\u2019s strengths and contributions is active acknowledgment of the employee\u2019s value without the manager devaluing their own. During the annual review, it\u2019s possible to recognize an employee\u2019s strengths while still providing developmental feedback.<\/p>\n

Managers should provide support by conveying a sense of care, understanding and validation<\/a>:
\n\u201cI\u2019m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations, and I know you can reach them<\/a>.\u201d Using language that communicates support fosters trust and a sense of belonging, thus breaking down walls of defensiveness.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Humble encounters enable growth<\/h2>\n

By modeling humility, managers provide employees with two key, seemingly contradictory signals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They show relational acceptance \u2013 a signal that they accept the employee as they are, thereby calming feelings of threat and defensiveness. At the same time, they also communicate an expectation of change. Learning and improvement are not only possible but necessary for the employee to reach their full potential in the job.<\/p>\n

In response to managers\u2019 humility, employees will reciprocate humble behaviors<\/a>, showing more willingness to view themselves accurately, be teachable and appreciate others\u2019 contributions.<\/p>\n

Managers might be concerned that expressing humility might signal weakness. However, research shows that this is not the case. When leaders are perceived to be humble, they are also seen as effective, competent and charismatic<\/a>. Therefore, being a humble leader has benefits not only for employees, but also for the leader\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n

Humble encounters can transform annual reviews into a more positive and enriching experience for both managers and employees. By enacting the three key aspects of humility \u2013 a willingness to view yourself accurately, teachability and appreciation for others\u2019 contributions \u2013 you can both change your employees\u2019 learning curve and strengthen your relationship with them.\"The<\/p>\n

Michal Lehmann<\/a>, Carnegie Mellon University<\/a><\/em> and Taya Cohen<\/a>, Carnegie Mellon University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Michal Lehmann<\/a>, Postdoctoral Fellow in Organizational Behavior and Theory, Carnegie Mellon University<\/a><\/em> and Taya Cohen<\/a>, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Business Ethics, Carnegie Mellon University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every product is selected by editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turning annual performance reviews into \u2018humble encounters\u2019 yields dividends for employees and managers. Every year, employees worldwide enter annual performance…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[360,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-latest-news","entry","double"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17593,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions\/17593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/TAR\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}