Before you begin …
Invite two volunteers to the front of the class. One of them should conduct a very short development review with the other. Before you begin, make sure they have a specific job in mind – it could be a humorous or unusual job (e.g. a circus acrobat) or it could be the interviewee’s real job. The other students should watch and take notes of the good and bad techniques they observe during the review. Point out that the aim of this exercise is to experiment with different techniques – you are not expecting a perfect performance at this stage. In fact, it will be useful if they make mistakes, as this will generate some good discussion later and help students understand what not to do in a real-life review.
After a few minutes, you could ask a different pair of volunteers to take over where the previous pair stopped. Afterwards, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the review with the class and elicit any tips for conducting an effective review.
11
Students discuss the task in pairs. After a few minutes, open up the discussion to include the whole class.Suggested answers Advantages:
employee friendly c, d
neutral or shared space b, c, d no risk to confidential documents a, c private and confidential a, c
relaxed and informal d
Disadvantages:
formal and possibly intimidating a
imbalance of power a
lack of privacy b, d
possibly noisy b, d
risk to confidential documents b, d
12 a
Elicit from students what Cindy’s job title is (Answer: she’s an HR manager – see Exercise 8b). Students then discuss the question in pairs, including justifications for their answers. Afterwards, discuss the question with the class.Suggested answers
2 should not be discussed in a development review. 4 and 8 would be illegal and contrary to equality legislation in most countries. 5 would be inappropriate unless part of a 360 degree review process. All other options are possible depending on the type of scheme.
b
Go through the questions with the class and then play Audio 7.4 for students to find the answers. They discuss their answers in pairs before feeding back to the class.7.4 pages 103–104
Answers
1 previous year’s performance (11) 2 He is generally positive.
c
Students discuss the five questions in pairs before listening to Audio 7.4 again to check their answers. Then ask them to compare their answers in pairs before going through the answers with the class. You could ask students to discuss what would have happened if Ian had been more critical, and even role play this situation to see how it develops.7.4 pages 103–104
Answers
1 Feedback from participants.
2 They need to evaluate the pilot scheme first.
3 There were positive and negative aspects – there was some resistance in some of the sessions and there wasn’t time to convince everyone the programme was good.
4 It reinforced the idea that the review scheme was created by and for the benefit of HR.
5 They can now realise the importance of engaging managers and work on this in the future.
Extension activity
Ask students to look at Audioscript 7.4 (on Student’s Book pages 103–104) for examples of Ian being positive towards Cindy (e.g. Yes, you did a great job …) or offering a non-judgemental response (e.g. Uh-huh, in what way?
in response to Cindy’s disappointment about the briefing sessions – … to be honest, they were a bit of a mixed bag). Discuss with the class why it is important to avoid judgements, especially negative judgements, during a performance review.
Suggested answers Positive:
●
l Yes, you did a great job and the participants commented on this, too. I know you researched it carefully before setting up the scheme, so thanks for all your hard work.
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l Seeing that it has been such a big success, …
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l You did a great job within the limits you were set … Non-judgemental:
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l Uh-huh, in what way?
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l I see, and have you any thoughts about …
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l The wrong approach?
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l So you think it would have been better if …
Note
Being judgemental or critical creates a confrontational atmosphere within the review. It is likely to lead the interviewee to be defensive and less willing to discuss weaknesses and training needs. They are likely to come out of the review feeling negative and demotivated, and believe that the process is a waste of time. From the manager’s point of view, it achieves nothing.
13 a
Discuss the questions with the class.Answers
1 suggests a possible future action.
2 talks about something which did not happen in the past.
Extension activity
Point out that the two sentences are both in the passive and elicit from the class why this might be (Suggested answer: to avoid putting the blame on a specific person who could have done things differently, to keep the discussion focused on avoiding the problem).
Ask students to suggest the active equivalent of the two sentences, with you as subject, and the grammatical structures they each use:
… what you could do differently. (could + infinitive)
… what you could have done differently. (could have + past participle)
b
Discuss the questions with the class. Point out that both could have and might have can also be used to criticise, but this meaning generally comes from context or from (criticising) intonation. In 2, should have in this context is always used to criticise a past mistake.Answers
1 and 3 describe a possible alternative action in the past but which did not happen.
2 criticises a mistake in the past.