Evaluation / Judgment Conflict

It is not a surprise that managers need yearly vacations to un-wind. Managing people can really make one’s life difficult. You are expected to be patient, wise, understanding as well as assertive and competitive at the same time. It could mean adjusting many different personalities in one person. Hence, managers often tend to compare their employees on job performance, leading them to commit evaluation or judgment conflict.

People have varying personalities. Some will be reliable, responsible and helpful. Others will be smart, intuitive and will be good at taking initiative. Most people will like to work with such kinds. It is very natural that managers love to have such types on their team as they are easy to manage. However, there will be some who will be aggressive, intimidating and will have their way always. It is also very natural for managers to avoid such types, or wish for them to change to former types.

There is no problem in wishing. However, it can create problems. The types defined earlier are, though, easy to manage but they do not say anything about their performance. Neither does it say anything about the performance of the latter type. These are the qualities which every manager desires in his team; however the conflict arises when the evaluation is biased because of these traits, as they have nothing to do with the performance of job.

It is very likely that a person having aggressive, intimidating behavior may be getting his way around the retailers, and is achieving his sales targets continually. He may not be amiable and nice to work with, but he is getting his job done. When managers compare employees, they unduly judge their performance on their behaviors. When this evaluation conflict occurs, it may unfairly cause you to lose an effective employee, which can be detrimental for your organization in the long-run. Hence, you might have failed as a manager.

This evaluation/judgment conflict can be resolved by setting up clear goals for all the employees. Employees should be made aware how their performance will be evaluated and what measures will be taken to assess their performance. Always remember to evaluate performance rather than behaviors. Make sure that you acknowledge and reward the results, so that it gives all the employees a clear message that results are important. It is very essential that all employees feel themselves as part of the whole process, and a means to the end result i.e. overall organization’s success.

Comparing people is very natural. However, care must be taken that comparisons do not intimidate your performance evaluation of your employees. Having judgment conflict is not the problem; not handling it effectively is a manager’s concern. A well managed judgment conflict is actually more productive for the company, rather than having healthy relationships and a lost business.