If review season feels more like your favorite drama - plot twists, unexpected exits, tense showdowns - you’re doing it wrong. Surprise is the enemy of effective reviews. It breaks trust, triggers defensiveness, and drives your best people away.

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The kicker? It happens even when managers have the best intentions.

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Why?

- Because we delay feedback.
- We don’t connect it clearly to performance.
- We don’t always understand how promotions or compensation decisions are made.
- And we forget to align with our own manager and peers.

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To help you lead better, here are five common types of performance review surprises and how to prevent them.

1. The Blindsided Direct Report

"Wait… I thought I was on track for a promotion."

This kind of surprise cuts deep. It erodes trust and morale.

Prevent it:

• Ask early: “What does success look like to you this cycle?”
• Use quarterly self-reflections to stay aligned.
• Understand and clearly explain how promotion and compensation decisions actually work at your company.

2. The Emotional Response

Tears. Silence. Shutdown.

When feedback is both unexpected and high-stakes, it can overwhelm even your most resilient team members.

Prevent it:

• Normalize feedback through regular check-ins.
• Use emotional labeling to acknowledge and diffuse stress.
• Build in buffer time before and after the conversation to allow space for processing.

3. The Manager Misalignment

You submit the review. Your manager disagrees. Now you’re scrambling.

It’s hard to backpedal without undermining yourself—or your report.

Prevent it:

• Check in monthly on team performance with your manager.
• Share early drafts of reviews.
• Ask: “Where do you see this differently?” to calibrate early.

4. The Off-Base Peer Feedback

You get input that’s vague, personal, or totally irrelevant.

Now you’re stuck explaining comments that don’t reflect your own view.

Prevent it:

• Ask peers for feedback that’s behavior-based, not personality-based.
• Use specific prompts to guide responses.
• If something feels off, clarify or exclude it before finalizing.

5. The Disengaged High Performer

You offer praise, and they look... bored.

The surprise? They’ve grown, but their role hasn’t. And they haven’t been recognized for it.

Prevent it:

• Make growth a year-round conversation.
• Explore their goals, not just their performance.
• Provide stretch opportunities and real-time feedback—not just annual kudos.

🚨 Got a Pending Surprise?

If you suspect someone may be surprised by their review, act now. Here’s a script you can use in your next 1:1: “Hey, I want to own something. I haven’t been giving regular or clear enough feedback about [X], and I don’t want to surprise you in our upcoming review. Can we talk openly about where things stand?”

Honesty builds trust. Even when the message is tough.

If the topic is especially sensitive (like a change in promotion expectations or new critical feedback), loop in your manager or HR early. And if you’ve made a promise you can’t deliver, work with HR on retention strategies.

Checkpoints, not cliffhangers

Performance reviews should never be season finales. Done right, they’re just another checkpoint in an ongoing conversation about growth.

Let’s keep the drama on Netflix.