Appraise, then leave?

Dear Bob …

I am a manager for an IT team for 17 years. I have just been given my separation notice and I am being asked to do performance reviews for my previous team. The team already knows I have been let go. I am struggling with whether I should be giving these reviews. Impacting this decision is that while I have already rated my staff my management (who just let me go) wants to change my ratings to something less that they feel is more appropriate.

Given such little information does this make sense to perform or should I just say “No” to the request?

– Reviewing and Departing

Dear R-and-D …

So long as you’re being paid by your soon-to-be-former employer, you have an obligation to accept whatever work assignments they give you, so long as they are within reasonable range of your job description. This assignment fits that description.

Except for one point: Accepting work direction does not extend to mis-stating your honest opinion regarding staff performance. Among the many reasons is this practical one: Legal liability. I don’t think anyone would really take you to court. On the other hand, employee performance appraisals are legally discoverable documents, and one that was deliberately falsified to understate an employee’s contributions, ability or character could, I imagine, could be construed as libel.

I’m not an attorney. I don’t even recommend you consult one. Just inform those who are telling you to mis-state your opinion that if they want you to perform the appraisals, they will have to accept your honest opinion.

Before you go ahead with the assignment, you really should talk it over with your manager. It’s entirely reasonable to ask him/her whether it makes sense for the company to have a lame-duck manager provide performance appraisals. It would be a reasonable question even if your manager would accept your assessments, because every one of your employees will ignore whatever you say.

After all, the most important part of any performance appraisal is setting goals for the upcoming appraisal period. You won’t be there to monitor their progress or give them the support they need to achieve whatever goals you set, and their new manager will have entirely different ideas and establish a different set of goals.

My advice is to make the case that it makes more sense for you to provide whatever information you can to help make their appraisals meaningful, but that someone who will be around for awhile should deliver them, in order to make them credible with the employees who have to live with the results.

If they don’t take your advice, do a professional job of it.

So long as they pay you to do it.

– Bob

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