SEVENTH IN A SERIES
Employees who are clear about how they’re doing, what they need to improve, what opportunities lie ahead, and how to get there, are more likely to become the best professionals they can be. This benefits them and their organization.
Unfortunately, research shows that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) employees, particularly women of color, often face significant barriers to receiving promotions and fair evaluations.
Effective Feedback
To address these issues, organizations need to first focus on effective feedback.
Women and people of color frequently receive two types of detrimental feedback: vague feedback that hinders growth, or biased feedback rooted in stereotypes. For instance, Latinx women might be labeled as “too feisty,” while Asian employees might be deemed “not assertive enough” for management roles. Such feedback does not cultivate growth and often stems from managers’ discomfort withproviding feedback across lines of difference.
Research indicates that men receive more candid and constructive feedback, compared to their female peers—which correlates with differences in advancement. All employees benefit from specific and actionable feedback, but the lack of it disproportionately affects women and people of color. Biased feedback, such as tone policing—where the manner of communication is criticized, rather than the content—also hampers development.
To ensure feedback is beneficial, managers should first examine their intentions to ensure they are genuine. Even then, the focus should be on the substance of the feedback, not the style. Adopting a feedback framework like the Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI) model can help ensure that feedback is specific, actionable, and growth-oriented.
Fair Performance Evaluations
Performance evaluations often suffer from biases, with research showing that 55-71% of a performance rating is influenced by the unique rating patterns of the evaluator, known as the Idiosyncratic Rater Effect. This means ratings often reflect more about the rater than the ratee, leading to unfair evaluations, especially for women and people of color. It is challenging to eliminate this Idiosyncratic Rater Effect entirely. However, certain strategies can mitigate its impact:
- Base Evaluations on Specific Goals: By tying evaluations to specific, objective goals, evaluations become more about whether an employee met these goals, rather than subjective criteria.
- Use Multiple Reviews for Advancement Decisions: Relying on a number of performance reviews rather than a single review can provide a more balanced assessment.
- Normalize Continuous Feedback: Regular, ongoing feedback helps provide a more accurate picture of an employee’s performance over time.
- Implement 360-Degree Evaluations: Collecting feedback from multiple sources can help dilute individual biases and offer a more comprehensive view of performance.
Transparent Pathways for Advancement
A lack of clear advancement opportunities is a top reason employees leave their jobs. Promotions, pay raises, and other incentives should have well-defined pathways. This includes ensuring all employees know what skills are needed for advancement, the duration of sustained performance required, and the criteria for demonstrating a willingness to grow. Additionally, each employee should have a personalized development plan to prepare them for potential advancement.
Organizations that invest in fair performance evaluations and define clear paths to advancement are taking essential steps toward creating an inclusive workplace. By doing this, organizations can ensure that all employees, particularly women and people of color, have equal opportunities to grow and succeed. When employees become the best professionals they can be, organizations can also realize success.
