Performance Reviews

[Silk]

My present job is the first one in 40 years in the work force that has yearly performance reviews.Normally I have worked for small companies where I can tell the boss what I think of him to his face....and he can fire me on the spot if he likes.I prefer that to being a number in a larger company.

Now as number 32 I get an interview every year (just two so far).I think it's a bit stupid....my superiors see me every day,why can't they give me a pat on the back or a kick in the arse as they walk past?

 

[crinkles]

6 monthly here.

never had a bad one. really just reviewing what is going on etc.

last year though, boss skipped reviews and everybody only got 1.5% payrise.

maybe he was afraid of getting an earful. maybe he was busy, but it is a serious breach of company policy. i wanted to know why we all got hammered on the payrise. a month before i told myself if i don't get 10% i quit, but here 4 motnhs later i am the sucker working for less than i should...

 

[Shannow]

Actually, thinking about the comments so far, I've never worked where there is a straight "performance review".

Ours are annual performance and development plans, where the target setting is the start of the year, so if done right, there are a bunch of duties, tasks and training that are up to the bloke, or me to arrange/do.

Up front, each year, we both sign off on what's to be achieved (e.g. work will pay our eng graduates way to get chartered status, and give them pay increases as they get assignments in to the Institute of Engineers, they sign off on doing monthly safety walks etc.).

Review is a check on what's been achieved in the "contract".

 

[crinkles]

shannow... chartered status in my line of work is baloney. IEAUST feels like a money pit i am not prepared to pay for when it is not needed...

 

[JustinH]

I work for a major corporate financial monster. The company has a terrible reputation, a tanking stock, and two black eyes.

I have worked here for 3 years. Each time I am rated as "effective", or a 3 on a 5 point scale. 1 being superior, 5 being fired.

90 percent of fellow employees get "effective" ever year.

It doesn't matter what you do, the management is instructed to stick with the status quo of giving out effective if you are doing a good job.

Pay raise? We are told that the company is in shambles, this is going on 2 years in a row.

I've never worked with a group of grumpier people, and rightfully so.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
shannow... chartered status in my line of work is baloney. IEAUST feels like a money pit i am not prepared to pay for when it is not needed...


They (IEAUST) gave me 1 year when I left Uni all those years ago.

I've felt no need to become chartered...and wouldn't as they will ask for 20 years of back pay as I didn't "resign", as they have tried for colleagues.

We've got kids, who work will pay to become chartered, and get pay rises based on it, and will let them do their assignments in work time...and they don't.

Still, as they say these days "51% is wasted effort, 49% a wasted year".

 

[crinkles]

funny, i actually resigned... didn't get the rag for 6 months, but it's started up miraculously again... they'll prob hit me up with a bill soon...

 

[Spector]

Perfromance reviews are tough on everyone and unfortunately not always tied to compensation. the real joke in my past was setting goals and objectives for the next year. We spent so many hours revising that form and it was never used to evaluate for compensation. Many times human resource depts are just jokes, there to protect the co and all about CYA for the company. You should look at your personnel file though to see what is in there. Most companies do not permit anyone to place anything in there without your knowledge but sometimes it happens and you should see what is there to avoid surprises

 

[JHZR2]

A bad review is a bad sign. There should be basis/reason, and a smart employee should be able to see the writing on the wall when it comes to their performance.

If a boss is a jerk, or has to fit a distribution, then sometimes folks get the short end of the stick, but I feel this to be an exception to the rule. In this age of electronic communication and logging everything because you can on our computer, CYA and basis can be kept far easier. There likely is reason.

One thing to consider is that everybody thinks of themself as a "good person", a "good driver", a "hard worker", but not everybody truly is. So, the argument that it is time to look for another job is somewhat faulty in that the same thing will happen again if the issue is truly on the employee side. It is best to get the reason/basis and then re-assess hard. A boss may be happy seeing marked change. Just changing jobs and nievely taking their comments as [censored] is not smart. It could cause you to end up hopping through a lot of jobs, which at some point does not look good.

 

[bigmike]

Well I have probably the best position here when it comes to this aspect. I work for the state and the status quo is unbelievable. Performance reviews go something like this:

Boss: I've reviewed last years review and I see that we discussed you looking for some more indepth training. Have you looked into this?
Me: Yep. I think it's going to take a little while longer for me to decide which direction I'd like to go with this.
Boss: Ok, we'll discuss your decision at your next performance review.
Me: Thank you for giving me the professional courtesy.

This is how ALL the questions and answers go. Now, I do usually go and do things to enhance my resume, but it rarely ever gets discussed because it's all meaningless.

I find it all very amusing. I've never been observed at my job function and if my boss comes to me about something, I tell her she can email me or set up a meeting to discuss it. Nobody here does anything unless it's in a public forum.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I just had to have my supervisor do a performance review on me. If she hadn't, I wouldn't have been eligible for the minuscule raise that the college says it's all it can give us next year.

 

[CivicFan]

I didn't know there was performance to review in state agencies. I've had a few MBA friends who tried to work for the state and they just couldn't handle the desire to keep the status quo, the low amount of work, the slow pace and high level of office politics. They estimated that the work could be done with about 30% of the number of FTE-s if they actually did any work.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
I didn't know there was performance to review in state agencies. I've had a few MBA friends who tried to work for the state and they just couldn't handle the desire to keep the status quo, the low amount of work, the slow pace and high level of office politics. They estimated that the work could be done with about 30% of the number of FTE-s if they actually did any work.


I believe this is an idictment of the idea for expanding the size of an already bloated government, but I could be wrong.

 

[Kestas]

When I was younger I got a performance review where my boss told me that I push through a lot of work, but don't go into enough detail on the tasks. Now that I'm older I got a performance review where I was told that I go into too much detail on each job and I don't handle enough tasks. You can't win!

In my latest performance review my boss told me, "Kestas, you don't suck at your job". It's about the best review one can expect.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

My boss basically says in my review that I met my objectives, details those objectives and what I accomplished, and that I had a very productive year.
My Customers enjoy working with me and that I develop good relationships and help come to common sense solutions.
It goes into much detail but for my first formal performance review I thought it was good.

 

[Mr Nice]

I got an $8000 raise my in base pay today, but I wasn't expecting too much of an increase due to the economy. I've always been a hard worker but never into politics or self promoting butt kisser.

 

[fdcg27]

As a boss, I hate doing them for those three who report to me.
I try to give continuous feedback, but I also refrain from the type of comments I sometimes want to make.
I got a really lukewarm review from my theoretical boss, who knows how to do nothing, and does even less, but senior management is well aware of who runs our department.
It is no fun having a guy with no cajones stick his chest out when he feels safe. I am going through that with the theoretical boss right now.
I am tempted to tell him that four out of four women in our department told me independently and separately that he has no balls.
I usually really like my job, but on a rare off-day (like today), I really wonder why I am where I am.
On balance, though, life is good.

 

[bigmike]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
I didn't know there was performance to review in state agencies. I've had a few MBA friends who tried to work for the state and they just couldn't handle the desire to keep the status quo, the low amount of work, the slow pace and high level of office politics. They estimated that the work could be done with about 30% of the number of FTE-s if they actually did any work.


It's ALL politics. I love days when I don't have to speak to anybody!

I've learned that when people do more than expectations, they're the ones who get nailed to a wall. I came into this job thinking I might be able to "make a difference, change the agency, etc." and that ends about month #2.

 

[kb01]

Pretty much everywhere I've ever worked has had some kind of annual review. It's not a bad idea but in reality, pretty much everyone get's a "good" rating with some people getting "excellent".

No matter how mediocre or poorly somebody performs, they always manage a fairly decent rating for the official review, since managers (including myself) don't want to deal with that aspect of the job. The real reviews always came in the form of Christmas bonuses and pay raises.

If somebody actually got a bad review, it would be a very bad sign and that person would surely be out the door. Once the decision to fire somebody is made, documentation of poor performance is created at that point, and the poor annual review would be part of that decision.