Is it acceptable to mention "body language" in a formal review?

[DisneyBamaFan]

...But the bottom line for me is, if it's not part of your job description of written performance expectations, it cannot be held against you in your performance review.

I have also been a manager for over 20 years and couldn't disagree more. Your attitude does not have to be listed as a part of your job description, nor does your ability to work well within a team. Body language is a very important part of that - more important than most people realize.

You ever meet someone that you like or dislike, and you can't quite put your finger on the reason? It is usually tied to their body language.

As an employee, I want to be the best that I can be at EVERYTHING, not just those things listed in my job description. If my boss has a few ideas that might help me, I am all ears. Criticism opens doors into self-awareness, if we let it. As a manager, I want my employees to grow every year that they work for me. They cannot do that unless I pay attention to everything that they do well, and those things that they need to improve upon. And, in my experience, people don't change unless they get a strong message. A performance review is a great time for a message like that.

Of course, my employees are never surprised by something in their review. Any negative criticism will have been mentioned when noticed, and then only appear in the review if it is still a problem at that time (or was a problem for most of the year)...

 

[bearynice]

I would approach it by pushing for specifics more. If you can't get any, then you need to contest this. Future reviewers will have access to this review, and it will prejudice how they look at you. It is unrealistic to list something as a problem without giving you so much as one example of it, or any advice on how to improve it.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I would approach it by pushing for specifics more. If you can't get any, then you need to contest this. Future reviewers will have access to this review, and it will prejudice how they look at you. It is unrealistic to list something as a problem without giving you so much as one example of it, or any advice on how to improve it.

Agreed - the person giving the review needs some training. To offer criticism without details or a plan to improve is a waste of time...

 

[horseshowmom]

If they can't give you specific examples with suggestions for improvement, it should not be a part of the review.

 

[SundancePass]

Here is something that, to me, is completely true. Words are only about 7% of "communication".

One study at UCLA indicated that up to 93 percent of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues. Another study indicated that the impact of a performance was determined 7 percent by the words used, 38 percent by voice quality, and 55 percent by the nonverbal communication.

Source: http://humanresources.about.com/od/interpersonalcommunicatio1/a/nonverbal_com.htm


So nonverbal cues or "body languaage" makes up 55% of "communication". I do not agree with your Supervisor not giving you a specific example nor do I agree that you did not know of it before your review. Plus the size of your company needs to be considered as well. If there are only 10 of you in the company, this reviewer badly needs training that may not be available because of cost. If you are part of a global corporation, shame on them.....they should have better training.

However, as one cannot talk about "attitude" in a review only "behavior", I agree with one of the PP that this person could be doing you a huge favor as there is something that drives him nuts in your nonvrbal communication.

Please try to get to the bottom of it as I don't think you have any idea of what he was talking about. Good luck!

 

[Calliaz]

I teach business communications in college and we cover body language as something very important to how we communicate a message. If I had an employee that rolled her eyes when asked to perform a task or crossed her arms and huffed when asked a question it would be a performance issue. An employee's tone is important and body language helps set that tone.

The biggest concern here is that examples were not provided along with methods of improvement. You cannot be expected to change without additional information. This would cause me to believe that the manager may not be 100% honest in the evaluation. I would insist on specific information for purposes of improvement.

 

[Quiksilvr]

When I was in an outside sales position, body language was definitely part of the review process. The firm wants to make sure that you're broadcasting the best possible image of the company and its products. Because your superiors and coworkers are not always with you when you're doing the outside work, all they have to go on is how you present yourself when they see you or interact with you.

I remember after a particular stressful period being informed that I needed to stop walking around the office looking like my dog just died. It was a bit inelegant, but my boss had a point. I was one of the faces of the company; I had to at least act the part. Of course, little did my boss know that every time I left the building for a client meeting I "turned it on", but how was he supposed to know that? It's not like he was coming to the meetings with me.

I think projecting confidence and self assurance also helps in my current position. A lot of my colleagues are timid wallflowers, so people who can really put on the "sales schtick" really make a difference, especially when the partners think about who they can send to a client.

I guess the point of all that is that even though it can feel offensive that someone mentions body language, it's definitely a valid concern for a lot of companies. You describe your position as one with little client contact, but even so, I think I would wager significant money that a solid performer who projects confidence will be treated significantly better by upper management than a solid performer who projects insecurity. Your boss is just trying to help you out.

 

[bookgirl]

It is appropriate if it is part of your job description. One of our descriptors under good teamwork is that we smile and greet other workers when we enter the library.

 

[Mickeyistheman]

I also just wanted to add a few more things on here. I think it also depends on what exactly your company is about and also the size.

I have worked in sales and with people my entire life and I enjoy working with and talking to people. I have come across several co workers that were not fit for the job at hand. They were nervous or scared and didnt' know how to talk to people so body language had a lot to do in our reviews since we dealt with the public on a day to day basis.

If you don't and your supervisor says you cross your arms too much ( if that is what he gives as an explanation ) then work on that.

But if you don't deal directly with the public and are on the phone most of the time, then body language should not be that big of a deal. No offense but so what you don't smile and laugh all the time, I don't and I loved my job.

Not everyone has the best of days either and sometimes you don't want to converse with others in the office as well. They can't hold that against you. Again, there are many factors here that we don't know about.

Good Luck and please let us know what happens!

 

[declansdad]

I teach business communications in college and we cover body language as something very important to how we communicate a message. If I had an employee that rolled her eyes when asked to perform a task or crossed her arms and huffed when asked a question it would be a performance issue. An employee's tone is important and body language helps set that tone.

The biggest concern here is that examples were not provided along with methods of improvement. You cannot be expected to change without additional information. This would cause me to believe that the manager may not be 100% honest in the evaluation. I would insist on specific information for purposes of improvement.

I teach communication as well and I couldn't agree more. You are also correct in stating that the supervisor needs to give concrete examples of the "poor" body language and how it could be improved.

Regardless of how we deal with customers body language is important, even on the phone. And for those who say i don't deal with customers, we all deal with customers. Our superiors and co-workers are sometimes our customers.

 

[pisco]

I have also been a manager for over 20 years and couldn't disagree more. Your attitude does not have to be listed as a part of your job description, nor does your ability to work well within a team. Body language is a very important part of that - more important than most people realize.

You ever meet someone that you like or dislike, and you can't quite put your finger on the reason? It is usually tied to their body language.

As an employee, I want to be the best that I can be at EVERYTHING, not just those things listed in my job description. If my boss has a few ideas that might help me, I am all ears. Criticism opens doors into self-awareness, if we let it. As a manager, I want my employees to grow every year that they work for me. They cannot do that unless I pay attention to everything that they do well, and those things that they need to improve upon. And, in my experience, people don't change unless they get a strong message. A performance review is a great time for a message like that.

Of course, my employees are never surprised by something in their review. Any negative criticism will have been mentioned when noticed, and then only appear in the review if it is still a problem at that time (or was a problem for most of the year)...

I don't disagree with anything you have to say about assessing all aspects of an employee and that attitude does play a big part in it. My position in this case is that since the OP was given a poor review and that body language was mentioned as a part of that it was incumbent on the reviewer to provide specific examples of the poor body language and how it negatively affected that persons performance. Without such specifics I feel that it is not a valid metric in evaluating the persons performance.

It certainly would be appropriate to mention as part of an over all discussion of attitude and perception within by coworkers as part of goal setting for the future. But for me, when I hear managers throwing out subjective items like this without any concrete examples to support the assertion I feel like they are looking for reasons to justify their poor review rather than giving the review entirely on merit.

Of course as an outside observer I could have it completely wrong and the manager may have a valid complaint that they are incapable of articulating.