Imagine you head a team and will be conducting performance appraisals of workers in your organization. You have a diverse group of workers from different cultural backgrounds.

How would you handle giving feedback of performance to workers with individualist and collectivist cultural orientations?

You should focus on strategies for conducting performance appraisals for both highly individualistic and highly collectivistic workers. The following information will be useful in describing your strategies.

According to Hofstede:

• In individualist cultures, work and personal relationship are separate.
  • Relationship between employer and employee is a business transaction.
  • Feedback on performance, positive or negative is given directly, and no personal feelings are involved.
  • Poor performance or a better offer from another company are legitimate reasons for terminating a work relationship.
• In collectivist cultures, the workplace could become an in-group environment in an emotional sense.
  • Employer and employee are seen as a family relationship with mutual obligations in exchange for loyalty.
  • Feedback is given indirectly; saving face is more important.
  • Poor performance is no reason for dismissal.