This is a great topic. I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma with the unfavorable performance appraisal. I don't remember where I found this statement, but it basically said that an employee's purpose is to "take the monkey" off of her boss' back. An employee is there to minimize her boss' headaches - a walking solution to the boss' problems.
Prior to reading this, I always thought that I was just there to work hard and get results because that's what the company was paying me to do. This is true, but the "company" is too broad – it’s your boss that you really work for. When I figured out that I'm there to be a part of the solution (for my boss), you wouldn't believe the perks I received.
Perhaps your boss simply has different objectives, work style, work ethic, etc. than you. Is it possible to take an objective look at your manager's comments and perhaps see things from his/her view? I know it's tough...but when you initially get past the reactions and defense mechanisms, there could be an opportunity for growth. At the very least, the growth could be to simply understand and accept someone else’s opinion about you even if you disagree.
However, based on the current economy, the poor performance appraisal could be a prelude to a layoff. I know this sounds really negative, but I know of a local company that gave low appraisals to several employees (who were previously rated satisfactorily) to have documentation to justify laying them off. Be careful and pay attention to clues as this could be another possibility.
Good for you for writing your rebuttal comments on how you disagree with the appraisal, and always keep copies for future reference (along with previous years’ appraisals for comparison).
Good luck.
D. Robinson
www.careercougar.com
Careercougar.wordpress.com
Daphne
of CT
@
Jun 26, 2009 16:29:56 PM
HR's Problem
Suzanne,
An interesting and thought-provoking column. My take: HR should not be regarding employee responses as whining but should be acting in as objective a manner as possible. There are plenty of terrible supervisors out there who are known to HR and yet nothing is done to correct or terminate them. That is not to HR's credit.
I would not regard any internal complaint mechanism that carries an inherent bias in favor of the manager as being a credible complaint mechanism.
Thanks for surfacing this topic. It deserves a lot of discussion.
Michael Wade
of AZ
@
Jun 26, 2009 10:33:40 AM
excellent, as always
This column is a good example of why Suzanne rocks and why her blog (Evil HR Lady) is some of the best reading you can find on the topic.
Ask a Manager / Alison Green
of DC
@
Jun 25, 2009 18:50:33 PM
Daphne of CT @ Jun 26, 2009 16:29:56 PM
Michael Wade of AZ @ Jun 26, 2009 10:33:40 AM
Ask a Manager / Alison Green of DC @ Jun 25, 2009 18:50:33 PM
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