Aaron, an American, is a first-rate engineer and manager. Sent to Germany on a three-year delegation, his tasks: knowhow transfer, process integration, build cross-Atlantic teams.
The first year is up. Time for Aaron’s first formal performance review. With Martin, his boss. Aaron expected a B+. And Martin saw him as a B+. But German feedback is not American feedback.
Their meeting did not go well. Aaron was disheartened. Martin confused. Neither understood why. Nor did they figure it out over time. They continued to work well together. But they could have achieved far more.
Aaron, an American, is a first-rate engineer and manager. Sent to Germany on a three-year delegation, Aaron’s job was to increase technical knowledge transfer, integrate critical processes, and to build a cross-Atlantic organization based on transparency and trust. A very tall order for the particular organization he worked in.
After the first year it was time for his structured feedback discussion with his German boss, Martin. The employer, a German multinational, has a systematic and detailed approach to such evaluations. They influence to a significant degree compensation and further career path.
Central to its effectiveness is self-evaluation. Team-members measure themselves against the goals they formulated a year prior together with their team-lead. Aaron is focused, understated, not one to put himself front and center.
Questions
Do Americans and Germans give, and receive, feedback in the same way? If not, in what ways are their approaches different?
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