Alberta_Rose

I recently started a new job .... the job I applied for should have been (almost) my "dream job" ... the job I am now doing is NOT.

I reluctantly agreed to do this job as I have done it before elsewhere and know the ropes, although it is new to our site. That's why I was the obvious choice, so we could get up and running as smoothly as possible.

I also pointed out that because I HAVE done this job before, for a year, I KNEW that I didn't like it, and it was not what I wanted to do in the long- or even mid-term.

Every now and again my manager swings by, and asks me how it's going. "I hate it" is my reply. Another time she said I didn't look too happy.. "that's because I'm NOT, I HATE it" I explain. I am hoping that she will hear the capital letters and eventually get the point if I beat her over the head with it hard enough. I don't want to move jobs again.

Does that count as a performance review?

helcat12

Sad to say, but your boss will probably pay no attention to what you say unless/until she gets the resignation letter on her desk. Then you can bet she will say, "Why do you want t leave?"
This could be because she is completely incompetent and has appalling man-management. But, not to insult you or your work at all, sometimes bosses do this to try to make people resign. Has she got something against you?

BristolUK

OMG they moved the DWP over here.

The4BellsLondon

he he - yup DEMAND manners is the right line - god forbid there is no please or thank you . . . . .

Souvy

In small organisations, appraisals are a waste of time and can be counter-productive. Letting someone do something wrong for a year and then spanking them is silly.

Appraisals are of more use in large structured organisations. They are used to compare groups of people at the same level and then rank them in order of suitability for promotion. The military uses appraisals for that purpose and I believe that most of the public service does too. They are complicated documents and must be written very carefully because there is usually very little difference between the people in the promotion zone. A wrongly prepared appraisal can wreck a person's career. I saw it almost happen with Souvette.

Atlantic Xpat

Agree with that and much of what has been written before. Performance appraisals can be farcical, pointless, ill conceived and damaging. I recall some years ago in Ford, they tried to roll out a forced ranking system where, based on a pareto, some were A's, most were B's and some were C's. The C's, if they didn't shape up were going to get the boot. Suffice to say, that initiative died a death quickly.

Often, appraisals require the tortuous filling in of forms trying to relate one's behaviour to the objectives, personality traits, hang up's and wierdness that the company values. Or some HR wonk somewhere values. In my last job, my Manager (The COO) simply asked me to complete it and send it to him so we could send it on to HR. When I enquired whether he wanted to get together to discuss it, he responded 'No need for that'. It was at one level refreshing not to have to waste too much time on bullshit, but on another disappointing as one realised that how much of a payrise one was going to get or not had no relation to your performance.

PR's are also a pain in the butt for us Middle Managers (A term that is never used as a complement......) You have to recycle the same trite crap over and over and hope that your employees don't compare PR's and find out that you essentially wrote the same thing about them all.

Zoe Bell

I turned my last performance review completely around by telling my bosses the things they needed to do differently in order to do my job more effectively.

It worked except I've managed to streamline my job so much that it is really not a challenge anymore, and quite frankly I'm bored 90% of the time

Steve&Tanya

I had my first perfomance review this year (after being with the company a year and half it should have been my 2nd!) The scores were 1 - 5. Too many 1's you get fired - fair enough, but I was told too many 5's and you get fired for being "too good"
"aim to be at 3 for everything and you will be fine" is what my supervisor told me, so she gave me 3's!

helcat12

Just one more political minefield to negotiate at work. It is a licence for constructive dismissal or a perfect bullying tool for unscrupulous/incompetent bosses. Sad.

Zoe Bell

Is there such a thing as "constructive dismissal " in Canada?

I was under the impression that you could pretty much get fired for anything and there wasn't a whole lot you could do about it.

Almost Canadian

It does exist in Canada. But try taking such a case to trial. Your biggest difficulty will be finding a lawyer that is prepared to take such a case on a contingency fee agreement, as most won`t, way too risky for them. Paying privately would be prohibitively expensive. All the employer has to do is bombard you with days of Discoveries and, unless you have deep pockets, you is stuffed

JonboyE

To an extent I agree - especially about letting someone do something wrong for a year. In a small business performance appraisal is a continuous exercise. If you lead by example, are open with and receptive to your employees, correct things that are wrong as they happen and frequently praise things that are done well a formal appraisal is completely unnecessary.

Hooray. At least someone can see an appraisal for the opportunity it is.

Zoe Bell

yeah , unfortunately , changing my bosses methods of working isn't the problem. Have rapidly come to the conclusion that the rest of the stuff that needs to change here never will, given the nature of the organisation.

My attempts at identifying the top three problems that hamper the efficiency of the admin staff in general were met by thinly veiled accusations of being " an instigator"

We seem to have the complete opposite of the union system here , teaming up is not approved of

helcat12

Annual reviews are supposed to be a two way street.
In my business, as well as being a review of the year prior, it is a chance to identify the Professional Development that you as an employee would like in the following year. You agree your targets for the coming year with your boss and this is supposed to make it a positive document for both parties.
Unfortunately, I have worked for bosses who have agreed targets with me and then failed to do what I needed them to do to achieve those targets. One target was to set up a programme of community language tuition. After doing lots of research in the area on demand, finding a suitable tutor and getting everything organised for it to start, my boss then failed to sign the cheque required to pay the tutor for the sessions to begin.
At the review, this was freely admitted but not apologised for and no reason given. So all my work was wasted and I could not add this achievement to my CV.
If you work for a good boss who is happy to see their employees prosper, who encourages initiative and feels it is part of their job to help good employees get on then you are going to find Performance Management reviews very helpful and rewarding.
If you work for a poor boss who is threatened by competent staff and who takes any suggestion for improvement as an insult to their own management ability, then Performance Management reviews will be frustrating, pointless and demoralising.

dbd33

You have a nice enough boss, you've done a good job and the boss says so. The company needs exactly the same thing doing next year in exactly the same manner. There's no money for a pay increase and, anyway, why would the same thing be worth more next year?

The process is frustrating, pointless and demoralising, the same as always. It's no one's fault except for the creators of the review process, they've failed to acknowledge that work is shit. It's not supposed to be rewarding except for the shareholders.