Sample Negative Letter

From: Megan Palmer

To: Inez Anders
Subject: Performance Evaluation: Kyle Houston
Inez,
After reviewing the performance evaluation and asking 15 of his peers to
reflect on his performance, I would like to recommend that Kyle stay in his current
position for more experience and to illustrate his leadership skills. His overall score
on the evaluation had a mean value of 2.42 out of 3 but his specific behaviors and
each category had varying scores that led me to believe he needs improvement
before being sent to Dallas.
His highest category score was 2.83 in a range of 2-3 in the contributing
factor. He is very helpful in offering up ideas and suggestions in meetings, which he
consistently attends. The meetings are very important to the company and
attending them is something that every employee should strive to do. Kyle is one
employee that sets an example for others to show the importance of these
meetings and how they can contribute and have their voices heard. He also
succeeds in meeting all deadlines in contributing to the plans and work orders in the
company.
Kyle also does well as a problem solver. His score in the facilitation of group
problem solving was a 2.18 in a range of 0-3. Though is a higher score than could
have been evaluated, it still shows he has some weakness in this department. He
does well in asking questions to get the discussions going and clarifying what hes
asking in order to keep everyone on topic. He still needs to work on his ability to
give others the floor and let other people contribute some ideas, as he is dominant
in that aspect. His evaluation by his peers showed that he encourages suggestions
from other team members, but also selects the criteria for evaluation of ideas,
which illustrates his need to back down and give others a chance to speak up and
be heard.
His lowest rating in the evaluation was in the listening category, with a 1.96
on a scale from 0-3. Though none of his ratings were very low, this one along with
his score from the group category show he is not performing at his best, yet. He
shows promise, but within this category, he could use a little work before becoming
a team leader. There is evidence that he succeeds in listening well to others and lets
other members talk, but he also may be feeling like he has superiority over other
team members, as he can sometimes try to summarize other peoples thoughts.
While trying to clarify other peoples thoughts is sometimes helpful, I feel that he
should give the team members the option to ask questions and get or give
clarification on their own, before jumping in and rewording the ideas to his own
thoughts.
I am very glad you have given me this opportunity to give my thoughts and
ideas about Kyle and the other team members. It is nice to know my opinion is
valued and I hope my evaluation and recommendation were helpful to you in your
consideration of Kyle for the Dallas position. Though he isnt ready for this position

Sample Negative Letter

yet, I believe Kyle could be ready after a little time in a new, more involved
leadership position in our office. Have a wonderful day.
Thanks,
Megan Palmer, Team Leader