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Feedback Performance Evaluations Condescending Treatment Motivation

In my performance review, my manager said I am the weakest link in the chain and that I need to show more energy and motivation. I do not want to be terminated, but I am not sure of what to do now. What do you think?



Advising someone to show more energy and motivation may be useful feedback if you are a cheerleader, but it is definitely skimpy advice when applied to more conventional jobs.

You should meet with your manager to get a clear picture of the specific behaviors that point to questionable energy and motivation on your part. The next step is to jointly develop a plan to make the necessary adjustments and corrections to bring your performance up to par.

This plan should include the specific steps you will take, the priorities of such steps, the anticipated timetables and deadlines, and the role to be played by your manager. You should establish some formal dates to meet with him, along with the understanding that you will be meeting with him informally at numerous points along the way.

By the way, the notion of being the weakest link in the chain is actually an outmoded concept. The more current metaphor is that an organization is more like a rope of interwoven fibers, the weakest of which still cannot snap it. This raises a question about the fiber of a manager who gives skimpy feedback to an employee.



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