n EVIL HR LADY
DILEMMA OF THE MONTH
negative feedback from
direct reports
by Suzanne Lucas
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN CHASE
I
am a new manager with four direct reports. I
have always had great performance reviews
and am in good standing at my company.
Recently, my boss held a meeting with my direct
reports where they filled out a survey about my
performance as their manager. The results were
not anonymous, and when my boss shared them
with me, he disclosed that “someone” mentioned I
wasn’t allowing my team to learn, but rather I was
micromanaging them. In discussing my frustration
with a peer, she expressed that he is not allowed to
do this; it’s an engagement survey and he does not
operate in an HR role. Can you shed some light?
A
24
comstocksmag.com | October 2018
LET’S DEAL WITH THE “ALLOW” PART
FIRST. There’s no law prohibiting your
manager from soliciting and then giving
you this feedback. Maybe there’s a com-
pany policy, but I doubt it. You say it was an
“engagement” survey and not an HR one,
so you shouldn’t have received this infor-
mation.
But what good is asking employees
questions about their engagement if this
information isn’t acted upon?
So, the company asked your team
members what kept them from being en-
gaged. One of them responded: “My boss
doesn’t let me learn, and instead micro-
manages me.” If no one ever shared this