Don’t lie on peer feedback just because their manager sees it

(Warning: if you’re not experienced enough to know if you’re working in a culture where following this advice will hurt you, don’t follow it yet).

“Suzy’s manager has requested peer feedback about her from you.” When you see that, you may think:

“I’m worried if I say what I’m really thinking, their manager could use that information to give them a lower rating and a worse performance bonus. I don’t want to be the reason they get paid less!“

So you write fluffy compliments instead of real actionable and helpful feedback, thus selfishly robbing them of the opportunity to improve. You butthead.

Never hold back on sharing your true perspective. Their manager knows that’s all it is: a perspective. It’s one piece of information. They can choose to act on your feedback, discuss it, or dismiss it. Analyzing all of the information and translating it into a well-informed rating is the manager’s job. Trust them (and their peer managers, in calibration) to do their job.

Believing that your feedback alone is important or compelling enough to change someone’s yearly performance rating or compensation smells a little self-absorbed. But say somehow that does happen. Is that really so bad? After all, that which can be destroyed by the truth, should be.