Cubicle Confidential

How do you feel when you hear the phrase “performance feedback?” If that makes a chill run down your spine, you’re not alone.
This week, we hear from listeners who are grieving over giving or receiving performance evaluations at work. Tune in to hear Mary and Chris’s suggestions to take the pain out of feedback.
Round and Round in Galveston just received their first 360 performance review. The feedback report was mixed – with three people saying they were easy to work with while two others felt they were uncommunicative and distant. Based on this information, their boss said they need to do a better job of connecting with people. Without knowing the source of the feedback or why it was said, they feel like there isn’t much they can do about it. Could this be more of a popularity contest than a review? What should they do with this feedback?
Catch 22 in South Carolina works for a company with a stacked rating system where they must rank 10% of their direct reports as exceptional, 80% somewhere in the middle, and 10% assigned to the bottom. The problem is that their team doesn’t align with the mandated bell curve as they have more than 10% as exceptional no one falls close to being in the bottom 10%. Senior management takes note of managers who don’t follow the curve allotment, which means they would be risking their own raise and any chance of promotion if they don’t rate them as instructed. On the flip side, they may lose people if they follow the rating scale. Is there any way out of this strict system? Help!
Tomato, Tomato in Topeka is an HR professional responsible for compiling feedback and scrubbing the sources to keep it anonymous. An issue arises when several of the raters have very different views of the junior consultants. Raters can give wildly different ratings on the same traits being evaluated. Someone could get a “5” in “demonstrates good judgment” from one person and get a “1” from another. They suspect this is due to rater problems and not employee problems since they know some of these raters, and, well, they wouldn’t know good judgment if they were dating it. Is there a way to get better, more consistent ratings from the raters?
We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...
#performancemanagement #feedback #careeradvice

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Mary is shifting the power of this episode...
And she’s making Chris answer three questions he’s never seen before with an added twist!
Chris DeSantis is going up against ChatGPT in this Man vs. Machine duel.
Who do you think will give better advice? The man or the machine?! Does Artificial Intelligence have the power to run us out of business?
Tune in to hear Chris’ and ChatGPT’s answers to these questions:
New Guard in Northern Ireland recently landed her dream job in the childcare field. The organization used to only have a small group of older staff (average age around 60) until they hired three new younger staff members. An unspoken divide has emerged between the “old guard” and the “new guard.” How can they honor the decades of experiences brought in by those who are their senior while encouraging change to meet the needs of 21st-century workplaces?
Vigilant in Virginia serves as an Executive Assistant for the Vice President/Chief of Staff. They’re preparing for their annual performance review with their Advancer boss after their first full year at the organization. They’re feeling anxious since they’re a Harmonizer. How can the Advancer and Harmonizer meet in the middle – especially during a performance review?
Upset Apple Cart in Alexandria volunteers at a local non-profit that helps feed the food insecure. Most of the regular volunteers are retired women, but the non-profit has had a recent influx of retired older men join their ranks. The men constantly disparage the way they do things and have turned this well-oiled machine into an unpleasant clunker. She doesn’t want to quit volunteering but doesn’t know how to keep these old guys from upsetting the entire apple cart. What to do?!

We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...

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Research repeatedly shows that having friends at work can boost employee engagement, productivity, and happiness. In a recent study, most people say having a best friend at work makes work more enjoyable.

We see coworkers nearly every day, collaborate with them on important projects, maybe even share inside jokes about our boss—but do we consider these people friends? Should we? In this episode, Mary & Chris answer listeners’ questions about navigating workplace friendships.

Alone But Not Lonely in Louisiana wonders why she needs to have work friends. She’d much rather stay in her remote cocoon rather than mingle with people in the office. Are there benefits to making friends at work?

What Would Chandler Do...has just been promoted. He is now the boss of his friends. The problem? He wants to keep his friendships intact and doesn’t know how to navigate being their manager and their friend.

Out of the Closet and into the Frying Pan has a crush on a same sex coworker. Should she make a move? She doesn’t know her coworker’s sexual orientation or if this coworker knows hers. How should she proceed? Or should she?

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We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...

Thanks for listening! Connect with us on LinkedIn!

The ability to engage in “healthy” conflict at work is essential for promoting and encouraging diverse viewpoints. But how much conflict is too much? And what if your team doesn’t ever disagree with each other? Is that just as bad? In this episode, Chris De Santis and Mary Abbajay tackle listeners' questions about how to disagree without being disagreeable...

Put a Lid on It in New Hampshire has an employee who likes to argue about everything with everyone. His constant contentiousness and criticisms are driving his boss and his coworkers crazy. What can be done? How should his manager approach this situation?

Spine Free Zone in Manhattan has the opposite problem. She finds herself leading a team of “yes-men” and it is driving her crazy. She wants her team to engage in more healthy debate—so how does she get them to see the value of sharing different viewpoints?

Six to One Odds in KansasCity is one of six partners in a law firm. She has been tasked to lead the firm in its ESG efforts. The problem? She is the sole black woman in a sea of white male partners who are resisting all her ideas. How can she get them to stop arguing with her and start supporting her?

Show us your love. Please give us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts.

We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...

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Do you know the number one aspect of creating high-performance organizations?
If you said trust, you nailed it!
This week, we hear from listeners who want to earn trust or learn to trust. Tune in to hear Mary and Chris’ advice on creating a culture of trust in the workplace.
Catering To My Needs in Portland is the first to admit they’re a micromanager. Paying attention to details has gotten them to where they are now. Their recent promotion means they’ll do more managing and less “doing”. Quite frankly, they don’t trust the people reporting to them to produce the same quality work that they did. How can they learn to let go and still maintain control from on high?
Fool Me Once in Fremont works in accounts payable and is tired of getting thrown under the bus by a senior manager in another department. Out of the blue, that same senior manager wants our listener to co-lead a corporate-level process improvement initiative to streamline invoicing. It’s an opportunity to be seen by the higher-ups but knowing this manager’s history, they fear they could end up just being the fall guy. Can they say yes and if so, how do they avoid the bus?
Faking It in Phoenix has been asked to go to college campuses to do recruiting. They have been paired with someone they find arrogant, loud, and inappropriate. The problem is that the other guy acts all charming around potential recruits, but when they’re not in front of recruits, he’s a total jerk. They’re supposed to look like teammates, but our listener has a hard time pretending to like this guy. Any advice on how to get past his obnoxiousness?
We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email us: at [email protected] or tweet us: @cubicleconfide1. All names will be changed to protect the guilty and innocent...

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