Voice or Exit?                                                            April 2002

Annual performance appraisals typically result in anxious moments for all, especially the person receiving the appraisal. Yet others can be drawn into the anxiety circle that can have ethical or not-so-ethical overtones. Consider an employee who works in a federal agency as a staff member for a Senior Executive Service executive and who is routinely expected to provide "input" for the SESer's annual evaluation. And, suppose the staff member's input goes directly to the SES's secretary and thus to him--is anyone going to say anything but glowing things about what happened under his watch? Probably not.

Now consider an even more uncomfortable situation. Suppose you, as the best writer on the SESer's staff, were given the task of polishing the draft of the SESer's performance evaluation which had been put together using the "input" that everyone had provided. Trying not to violate your own ethical standards, you simply edit it, correcting grammar and rewording so it sounded smoother. You return it to the SESer's secretary who shares it with her boss. Then, the boss sends it back to you and pronounces "it is not good enough" with instructions to "make me look like a god."

Would you voice your ethical concerns or exit the agency? To whom would you voice your concerns?