職場で使える英語表現を毎週ご紹介するシリーズ
Weekly Workplace Word Wisdom(W.W.W.W.)
第50回の今回は、Curtis講師が勤務評定の場で
上司の側" boss side"（評価する側）の際に
便利な英語表現をご紹介します。
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Personal Review (Boss side)
Many western countries, specifically the U.S. and Canada, have a periodic review cycle. This can be called the “annual performance review”, although some companies can have a “quarterly performance assessment”, and even a “monthly employee review”, depending on the nature of the company and the need to remain up-to-date for product information or industry-wide trends.
In the past, a performance review consisted of the employee sitting in the chair, listening to their manager’s complaints and comments. More recently, the “360-degree review” includes the employee’s assessment of the manager. And there is also the “employee self-assessment”, where the employee grades their own performance for the year.
Even in the U.S., we find it difficult to say negative things to someone, although they may have done a poor job during the year. We use “honestly”, “candidly”, and “I hate to say this, but” to indicate that we’d prefer to say something positive, but we have no choice but being negative. Occasionally, we also use the same language to indicate that the employee had done a better job than we’d expected.
Saying something negative:
Candidly, your performance has been declining recently.
To be honest, I expected you to do a better job on the xxx project.
I hate to say this, but while your performance has been average, the rest of the team has done much better than that.
Saying something more positive than expected:
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from you, but you outperformed my expectations.
Candidly, I thought that you might not do well this year, but you were my best engineer.
When we tell an employee how their performance was, it may help to make our statements sound more personal, or as if we are giving an opinion instead issuing a flat statement. Phrases that start with “I think that”, “I feel that” and “I believe” all have the nuance of being an opinion rather than a statement of fact. An advantage of these phrases is that when used for giving praise to someone, they imply that the supervisor is being sincere in what they’re saying. These phrases can be used with both positive and negative statements.
Positive feedback:
I feel that you have made some great improvements in your performance in the last year.
I think with time and a little more experience, you can become the next project leader.
I believe that you have potential, and that if you apply yourself, you will be able to join the management track.
Negative feedback:
Generally you have fulfilled the minimum requirements of the job, but there is still room for improvement.
I feel that there are areas in your performance that can be improved.
Looking at your performance over the last year, I think that there are a few things that need bolstering.
Overall, I believe that you can do better than you have, recently.
The key point in the above examples for negative feedback is that all 4 sentences address the employee’s performance, without directly attacking the employee themselves. By focusing on performance, the employer is avoiding direct confrontation with the employee, and the employee will be more willing to change their behavior in the future.
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＜本日の単語＞
up-to-date 【形】最新（式）の、最近の、今流行の
honestly 【副】正直なところ、実際［本当］のところ
candidly 【副】ざっくばらんに、腹蔵なく言えば、率直に、ずけずけと
indicate 【動】〔人の希望や意図を〕述べる、表明する、〔対策や必要性を〕暗示する、示唆する
outperform 【動】～よりパフォーマンスが優れている、～より効率が良い、～をしのぐ
bolster 【動】〔支えることで～を〕増強する、支援する、強化する
＜本日のイディオム＞
I hate to say this, but... こんなことは申し上げたくないのですが…。
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先週ご紹介したWWWWでは
勤務評定を受ける"employee side"（評価される側）の際に
便利な英語表現をご紹介しましたが、
http://ameblo.jp/pegl/day-20091202.html
今週は上司の側でした。
上司とはいえ、
評価の際の英語表現には気をつけて、
部下のやる気を削がないようにしなくてはいけません。
Curtis講師のkey point
"4 sentences address the employee’s performance, without directly attacking the employee themselves"
ここに注意して、
本日紹介された英語表現を
使ってみてください。
事務局・山口
