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Yippeee... I'm A "Fully Meets Expectations"

Going back to a theme started several posts ago, I want to end the suspense by closing the loop and sharing the results of my annual performance review given by my boss, Ms. Gruff.  As leaked by the title of this post, and to absolutely no surprise, the total score of my performance review landed me in the "Fully Meets Expectations" category.  I feel so relieved and fulfilled - NOT!

The total score is a summation of rankings in five "competencies", each on a 1 to 5 scale.  Understand though that practically no one ever receives a rating of 2 or less, or 5.  For to do so would require extra work on the part of the supervisor conducting the review.  What supervisor is likely to bestow extra work on themselves?  Not too many I know!  Rating someone 2 or less requires that the supervisor develop a corrective action plan for the employee.  On the other end of the spectrum, the supervisor must develop and present a case before a committee of his/hers peers in order to propose giving someone a five.  Given this background, I'll give 'ya one guess what 95% of people at MyCompany are rated.  If you guessed somewhere between a 3 and a 4, bingo, your right!  Between a 3.0 and 3.9 is deemed "Fully Meets Expecations", and between a 4.0 and 4.9 gets you into the esteemed category of "Occasionally Exceeds Expectations".  After 26 years of reviews, I received one 5 ("Consistently Exceeds Expectations") and all the rest were between 3.0 and 3.9.

I think you see the point I am making.  The whole system is rigged!  95% of the workers at MyCompany are artificially squeezed into the narrow Fully Meets Expectations Category.  Oh sure, some receive a 3.2, and others a 3.8; however, the end result is that practically everyone receives the same rating - Fully Meets.  The way I see it, this "system" does not achieve what should be its objectives -  a) rewarding good performance (encourage continued high performance) and b) penalizing poor performance (encourage change toward better performance).

Instead, MyCompany's performance review process encourages mediocrity among workers!  After all, why should anyone work hard if chances are they will receive a Fully Meets rating.  And, why should the poor performers change their ways, when they see they are being rewarded essentially no differently than coworkers who go the extra mile to accomplish and contribute more.

That Time of Year (continued)

Yup, it's indeed that time of year!  I just finished drafting my review and forwarding it to Ms. Gruff so that she can copy-and-paste it into the official company performance review system.  Yeah, we'll sit and chat about it all for about an hour or so next week, she'll submit it, and we'll both sign-off on it, then forward it on to her boss and her bosses boss; all before the magic deadline imposed by HR.  And, nothing will happen relative to performance until the nonsense starts all over again a year from now.

Sorry to sound a bit apathetic, but I've been dragged through this process or a slight variation of another name for over 25 years now in MyCompany.  I trust you can understand how I may feel a bit more apathetic each year.  The whole process breeds apathy, discontent and mediocrity.  Perhaps worst of all is that the process does next to nothing to improve or affect performance, which is what the freakin' process is supposedly aimed at.

To close this post, I want to share another aspect of the process which is a joke:  Next week, I and everyone else will sit with their respective supervisors and get ratings, on a scale of 1 to 5 in several "competencies".  During these meetings, the bosses will pretend  the ratings are open for discussion.  In fact,  the  bosses all got in a room this week for 1/2 a day and collectively  decided what the ratings of all people in the department will be.  So, the ratings are cast in stone before the sessions with the supervisors are held; thereby making the sessions a moot, meaningless point!

Hope you're understanding more why I feel a tad apathetic after 25 years of this B.S. !!!

It's That Time of Year Again (oh, Joy)!

Right on schedule, this, as the first week of the new year, my boss sent me and everyone on the "team" (as she calls it in a forced, fake way) an email asking us to prepare our performance reviews "input" and "thoughts", in time for the middle of next week, when she will begin sitting with us for our reviews.  What she is really asking us to do is to essentially write our own performance reviews so that she may do some editing as she sees fit before they are finalized and submitted to HR; thereby making her job easier.  This process is a joke, in plain English!

Isn't part of a supervisor's job- a significant part at that - to monitor and review his or her employees?  the boss (not the employee) should take the first crack at drafting reviews, not vice-versa as in MyCompany.

A huge part of the problem, when it concerns my boss and the majority of others whom I have worked for over the years, is they literally have no clue what there employees do or how they do it.  For this reason. my boss would not be able to write reviews  of me or probably any of  the people on her  "team".  To do so would require her to  know enough about her peoples' skills and accomplishments.  Sadly, she's out of touch.

I suspect it's the same at many companies.  I know this is type of situation is prevalent throughout MyCompany.  The folks is charge; the supervisors, managers, and directors really have very little clue about what gets done or how it gets done.  Most of them do a good job at pretending and I suppose that's how they got to and stay where they are.

I suspect I'll be posting more on the subject of performance reviews over the next few weeks as I go through the annual drudgery of writing my review and then sitting with my boss to discuss her thoughts and be told of her rankings of me in the various competency and goal categories.

A Final Word (for now) On Performance Reviews

So, there ‘ya have it folks - the wonderful world of performance reviews at large companies, one of the biggest farces and wastes of time going in corporate America in my opinion.

 

And the real shame is that every few years of so Human Resources forms a task force, hires some consultant who gets paid big bucks, to study the current review process and develop a new and “improved process”. In the over 25 years I’ve been at this company, the review system has gone through re-vamping at least 6 times that I can remember. But, guess what? Nothing substantive has really changed! Yeah, the system may have a new name and new names of rating categories, in addition to other superficial “window dressing” modifications. However, the same old deficiencies still exist, with a system which continues to promote mediocrity and apathy. No matter what name it goes by, the system doesn’t achieve its objective of rewarding high performing employees and motivating low performers to improve their performance.

 

I just don’t get why this is so. Why is it apparently impossible to have a performance review process that achieves these good objectives. The only thing I can conclude is that it ain’t the fault of the defined process. The performance review manual generally contains all the right steps to achieve the process. So, the only thing left to conclude, to place blame on is the fearless :”leaders”, the supervisors and managers who are charges with following the process. These fools I and you work for don’t follow the processes, they take the easy, fearful way out because they are not true leaders, they are, as we say in this blog, FOOLS!

 

What say you? Let’s hear your stories, experiences and opionions on performance reviews. Am I the only one who feels these silly reviews are not accomplishing their objectives?

More On Performance Reviews

OK, so I had to write my own review. “Big frickin’ deal”, you say. So, I can write anything I want and give myself a glowing review with a high rating that will result in my receiving a hefty raise. Not!

First you should know that, although as I said the rating system runs from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best; virtually no one ever gets a 1, 2 or 5. In order to give an employee a 1 (“you really suck”), the supervisor has to justify it with a lengthy written report which includes a detailed plan for getting the employee back on track. Similarly, the supervisor must prepare a written recommendation and present it to his peers, boss and division vice president in order to rate an employee a 5 9”walk on water”). Let’s be real - how often will a supervisor want to invest the time and effort necessary to grant either the worst or best ratings?

The other thing that frequently takes place, which irks the living B-geeus out of me is supervisors get together in advance and determine ratings of all the division’s employees BEFORE employee reviews are conducted and BEFORE employees even submit their input. I know for a fact that this is what happened this year. I and other employees were asked on a Monday to submit their draft write-ups by Friday and; on Thursday, the management folks all got together in a room and agreed on the ratings each employee would receive. Talk about a bunch of fools! I don’t object to management as a group discussing ratings, but to do so prior to receiving employee input (which they requested) is absurd! And, in my case it’s doubly absurd because my boss, Ms. Gruff does not have a clue on what I do so, how can I expect her to be able to advocate in my behalf before the management?

I appreciate your visits to my blog, letting me vent and share my frustrations and views, and also sharing your stories and thoughts!

© 2007, Working With Fools

Performance Reviews Force Mediocrity and Drive Apathy

Greetings from a hopeless, apathetic guy! Believe me, it’s not that I want to be this way, it’s just that I’ve been molded, shaped and conditioned into someone who just doesn’t give much a damned about how good of a job I do. I have fond, distant fading memories of earlier in my illustrious career when I cared a lot and took great pride in my work. Unfortunately, those days are gone. Why is so, you ask? Good question!

I put much of the blame of why I am apathetic on the performance appraisal process we have at the company where I work, which I suspect is not unlike the appraisal system where you are. I’m writing this posting fresh out of just having my review from Ms. Gruff. The review process where I work is stupid and it sucks. It encourages mediocrity by rewarding or not punishing poor performance while, at the same time, the process fails to truly reward and recognize high performance.

The performance system where I “work” is, quite frankly, a joke; for many reasons. Can you actually believe that in most departments, including mine, people like I actually have to write out own reviews? I kid you not, this is no lie! Isn’t writing reviews supposed to be a job of the person’s supervisor? But not at my Company; there the process is ass-backward. Each person must prepare written examples pertaining to each “competency” which we’re rated on from a scale of 1 to 5, and the write up is submitted to the supervisor.

When I sat down with Ms. Gruff for her to “give me my review”, she actually started by thanking me for taking the time to write up such through comments that were done in a way that allowed her to just cut and paste into the review. She couldn’t thank me enough for making her job easy.

Reading between the lines, Gruff was really saying, and it became clear during the review, that she had little or no idea about what I had worked on or accomplished during the year. Had I not written the review, Gruff would not have been able to complete a review with any meaningful content. I knew that going into the process and so, even though I feel the process is screwed up, I knew I had better play the game to ensure I would not be negatively impacted.

Yep, the performance review process is a joke and, a performance appraisal system that has employees writing their own reviews is just one of many reasons why. I doubt the process was designed to be conducted in that fashion, it’s just that the fools in my management change allowed it to become that way.

I appreciate your visits to my blog, letting me vent and share my frustrations and views, and also sharing your stories and thoughts!

© 2007, Working With Fools