It’s year end performance review time again

[cantdrv55]

The management consultant who thought up the employee self eval process ought to be shot. End of rant.

[MBAtarga]

Where I am, it doesn't matter what you document as your accomplishments - whatever pay "raise" you get is what the boss thinks of you compared to others that he has to share/distribute the funds to.

[billybek]

I wanted to say that my goals for this year was to keep covid free....

[Scott Douglas]

I am soooo glad those days are far behind me.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

The management consultant who thought up the employee self eval process ought to be shot. End of rant.

I hate the self eval part of the year.

I worked someplace once where we were supposed to do a self eval grading ourselves on a scale of 1-5 (5 is good). I gave myself a couple of fives. I was told "you can't give yourself a 5. A is only warranted for someone who really goes above and beyond and does a lot of extra work that isn't asked of them, and pretty much no one does that."

I worked another place that also used a 1-5 scale, and before I worked there, managers had to set 20% as "5", 10% as "1" and the rest in the middle somewhere. (or maybe I've got the percentages backwards, I don't know for sure). I know a guy that had been a manager at that time. He told me that one year his whole team was amazing, all of them were great with no one that wasn't excelling, but he still had to pick someone to be at the bottom of the list who therefore got reduced compensation. He said that his team was blowing all of the peer teams out of the water. He said that he went to HR and argued and lost. Apparently several folks quit including folks that hadn't been in the bottom group. I don't blame them. Fortunately, when I was there, that was no longer a requirement (or if it was, it wasn't "official" and I wasn't ever in the bottom of the list).

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Where I am, it doesn't matter what you document as your accomplishments - whatever pay "raise" you get is what the boss thinks of you compared to others that he has to share/distribute the funds to.

I also worked at a place where near the beginning of the year, you had criteria given to you by management (do X, Y and Z this year, these are minimums, there are good and anything extra is great, these are a big part of how you'll be evaluated at the end of the year). I usually blew all or most of those items out of the water. I also worked a ton of OT. My manager knew that any time they needed someone, they could ask and I'd be there. I had a buddy that also was at the top of the list for all or most of the criteria. I was always graded in the middle of the pack. My buddy got one step below avg one year, and blamed that on a bit of a personality conflict with his manager. The next year, (different manager) he said "screw it, I'm going to ignore all of the criteria, and pretty much intentionally tank all of them. But I'm going to make nice with all of the managers (we had several, think "Office Space"). He did, he was pretty much the next to last person on the list for every criteria that year, and he got a "5 rating overall with a good raise and bonus.

And yes, the manager of the group was given a pool, and the manager divvied the pool up how they saw fit. I always worked OT. I always got a dead center rating. I always got a modest raise. I never got a bonus (you worked X amount of OT, so are ineligible). I know guys that sometimes got better than avg ratings and sometimes worse than avg. Those guys sometimes got bonuses, but also sometimes got nothing including not getting a modest raise.

Fortunately, we both eventually moved on from that team to other teams and eventually other jobs that were far, far better. After I moved teams, I don't think I ever got an average rating.

[Ayles]

One perk of working at a startup is dispensing with that formality.

Also worked at a large gaming company for many years that didnt have a review process.

[URY914]

Another one is "Stating your goals for next year"

This year my goals have to be able to be measured and align with the companies goals.
Good Lord

[legion]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Where I am, it doesn't matter what you document as your accomplishments - whatever pay "raise" you get is what the boss thinks of you compared to others that he has to share/distribute the funds to.

Yep. In my previous job I would ask my boss every year when pay decisions were made. It was always BEFORE we did our required end of year Employee Performance Review. I asked why I was expected to spend several days documenting what I did for the year when it had no bearing whatsoever on the raise I got. Then I got told that I wasn't a team player.

It also pissed me off that the first time my boss would learn of much of what I did was after she'd already made a decision on my raise (or lack thereof).

My new job? My boss does the eval for me. We meet weekly and she actually knows what I do. I did have to do an eval for one of our interns, but I felt like that was way easier than doing it for myself.

[stevej37]

I'm giving myself a 100
no problems with getting out of bed in the am.
having fun every day.
able to get to sleep easily every night.

That's all that matters.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by URY914

Another one is "Stating your goals for next year"

This year my goals have to be able to be measured and align with the companies goals.
Good Lord

Yep, standard practice.

[Nostril Cheese]

I didnt work on any 944s, Land Rovers or Jettas. 100%

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I'm giving myself a 100
no problems with getting out of bed in the am.
having fun every day.
able to get to sleep easily every night.

That's all that matters.

[stevej37]

^^^ Thanks...retirement is so awesome!
Every day I wake up thinking 'what do I want to to do today?' There is no limit.

[rfuerst911sc]

I retired 3 years ago from Lockheed Martin we had been doing self evaluation for a long time . I quickly learned it was corporate BS and I played the game . Took me about 15 minutes to cut and paste all my achievements for the year . I just kept a spreadsheet started in January with EVERY achievement , performance bonuses , positive comments from co-workers and customers .

Basically I baffled them with BS . They wouldn't take the time to disprove anything ........ I was the best thing since sliced bread 😁 . I got a healthy raise for 15 years straight ! Others around me struggled . Play the game boys and girls . I don't miss that stupidity at all .

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

The management consultant who thought up the employee self eval process ought to be shot

I totally agree. I generally turn in a duplicate of last year's with a few mods to make me look special. When you're in my profession, it's hard to list accomplishments.....I did a really lot of debits & credits this year.

What I hate worse is doing my people's reviews. Sometime I just want to say "you suck!" But I try to be motivating with a little critique mixed in.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by billybek

I wanted to say that my goals for this year was to keep covid free....

I could say that, but my boss couldn't...2 weeks off !

I whole heartedly agree on the self evaluations, I keep writing down a different version of the same crap every year.

[DRONE]

Haven't had to do one all year, Retiring 12/31/2020 after 35 years, that was my one and only goal!

[pwd72s]

One month to go and I'll have kept breathing through 2020. Success!

[vash]

i typed out one i should have used GREEN font. my boss was like, "you sure you want me to use this one?"..i said, "YES!".

i never heard even a whisper. i dont think anyone reads ours.

this year, i am explaining how to make the perfect meatball.

[jcommin]

I don't put much into reviews. Budgets for raises are a zero sum game. The budget is finite. And it largely depends on the company's performance for that year that determines the pot of money. I did not get a raise this year - I could have had a personal best in terms of accomplishments and it wouldn't have made a difference. I'm actually more concerned with the yearly bonus - it is tied to performance of my company.