I feel like a lot of people went through the same thing I did and had their manager spring on some serious negative feedback on them that really stressed them out. A friend reached out to ask for advice so I thought I'd share some of what I did here. This is specifically in the context of a Western corporate job so I welcome additional advice 😀
(No need to follow the steps in this order, though that is how I did it)
- If you have work friends, reach out to them to see if you can verify any of the claims made by your manager. Don't mention that you felt blindsided by these claims until AFTER you receive feedback.
- Consider the wider context at the company. Looking back, I realized a lot of people were being promoted because they were well liked by upper management, not necessarily because they did well. So this could mean there was a potential I wasn't well liked enough to be considered for a promotion or on the payroll.
- Start packing. Even if the manager bringing this up had totally good criticism, the fact that it was a blindside is a very bad sign of poor manager skills. You're more than likely unable to switch managers to someone better so its good to start thinking of a new (ideally better) place. its a bitter pill to swallow but its important to consider how this mistake from the manager could easily be repeated because they are less likely to be held accountable for mistakes with you.
- Take time to really emphasize your best work skills. Focusing on this can help you feel better from the sudden ego bash of having your entire career criticized out of nowhere.
- Continue working as normal and improve where you can. If your manager offered you help on improving, take it. Its gonna be a positive sign to them and look better when you leave. Even if you hated your company its better to leave on good terms because HR talks, especially when youre not there. Obviously you'd do this after sorting out valid criticism.
- identify any valid criticism. Look back at your past work and identify past mistakes to see if there is a theme and if that theme matches with what you were told. You know your past work best. If not, then you at least feel more confident in your work.