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Performance review experience
2

Performance review experience

Performance review experience

(OP)
Hi,

I attended the performance review of a colleague that is in my team (by the way a good performer).

Through my career, delivering performance review results has always been through a "one to one" discussion (private).
But the performance review I attended here was organized and done with 5 people present in the room.

Reason for this, in my view, was:
The a$$hole who organized the review had the intent to "hijack" the meeting from its primary purpose / essence. That is to say, use the meeting as an opportunity in order to deliver a speech meant at other attendees (example: showing what a role model can be to make some others look very bad, of course without dropping any name). The performance review is supposed to recognize the subject employee (being good performer), but here it turned out to be a disgusting moment and an improvised circus.

I don't want to continue working for a company with such poor work ethics ; the subject employee is a really good worker and did not see concern with the way this was handled. But myself, I did not appreciate the type of operation.
Any thoughts?

RE: Performance review experience

Did they get a raise?

RE: Performance review experience

> How did that make anyone look bad? Unless there is a "nudge-nudge, wink-wink," how does anyone know who the manager is talking about.
> This is really not "poor work ethics," per se, but perhaps poor management, but you also do not say whether this was a one-off, or a company-wide policy.
> Just as there are a few shining star engineers in any given group, there are only a few shining star managers in any given group
> Bad management practices, because of the previous item, abound. One manager was enamored with "racking and stacking" of engineers regardless of seniority or inherent value. So, unless you were deemed to be more productive than most engineers in the group every year, you might not get a raise at all; the premise was that such an approach would allow more junior engineers to get larger raises. Of course, he failed to recognize that while the dollar amount might not incentivize a senior engineer, the actual fact of a raise does, so reducing or eliminating raises on a year-to-year basis might actually disincentivize the senior, and more valuable, engineers.

TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers

RE: Performance review experience

Not cool. Reviews are confidential. Out-of-bounds for management to share without the employee's permission.

RE: Performance review experience

I have not made a conscious effort to stay up to date with what the latest trends are in training coaching strategies to, say MBA candidates, but this sounds like it might be one of those.

RE: Performance review experience

(OP)
1gibson,
Yes the employee got a raise and even a promotion.

IRstuff,
> This is really not "poor work ethics," per se, but perhaps poor management, but you also do not say whether this was a one-off, or a company-wide policy.
I don't know if it is a company-wide policy, I need to find out. I would say I have some doubt.

What I am myself used to is: sit with Manager, in a more or less private set up, and then go through the manager's assessment against employee self assessment. Since my reviews have always been sort of positive so far, it was a matter of reviewing face to face each point and cover any area of improvement / development needs and summary.
At the end of the discussion, employee would validate the review (with or without comment) and cycle can be closed. Understand this style has not to be universal but anyway I would expect something in the ballpark as a commonly accepted benchmark when dealt with by reputable companies.

I found the assessment framework of my current company solid with not too bad metrics and growth value system. This is why I am disgusted that such show was organized at this occasion. I still think it is not very ethical that the primary purpose of a performance review meeting is diverted. It was organized by a sneaky person.

RE: Performance review experience

rotw, why not ask HR? Or is there any talk of this in the employee handbook or manual?

Please remember: we're not all guys!

RE: Performance review experience

@rotw

You've start something like 4 threads in the past month asking about whether or not your dissatisfaction with your company experience is valid.

I think it's time to start looking for another job.

RE: Performance review experience

I don't necessarily see this as being out of bed from normality. In some large companies, a person might work on several projects during year for different managers, so the yearly review requires each of the relevant managers to contribute to one's review. While this is typically done off-line, I don't see why they all couldn't be in the same room at the same time. It isn't particularly efficient in my view, but that's about it.

You don't say whether what the 5 people in the room were doing. Were they ostensibly in charge of you during any period of the last year? If not, then, yes, this meeting was not a reasonable one to have, and HR should get to the bottom of this.

TTFN
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers

RE: Performance review experience

Conducting personnel reviews within a public setting, whether good or bad content, is in very bad form. I'd never subject my department members to that. It's a recipe for demotivation, resentment, and bitterness.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: Performance review experience

Praise in public, criticize in private. That doesn't stop a good human being from praising in private, but it ought to stop him or her from criticizing in public.

I think rotw's concern had more to do with hijacking the focus of the review for an agenda other than the review itself. Whether praise or criticism was levelled, the agenda was wrong and in poor place.

RE: Performance review experience

(OP)
IRstuff,

"You don't say whether what the 5 people in the room were doing. Were they ostensibly in charge of you during any period of the last year? If not, then, yes, this meeting was not a reasonable one to have, and HR should get to the bottom of this."

This is not about "me", or maybe I don't get what you try to say?
Like I said, the review concerned a member of my team. total number of people was meant as including myself, sorry if I was unclear on this. Regarding the responsibilities, yes all are were in charge in a way or another. its like: direct boss, direct former boss, one over one all the way up till CEO.

This looks unusual, but could be still OK, what I don't find ethical is that, and I believe that, this event was used as an opportunity to target other people in the room. I have respect for the employee's work being real good job and I think the focus shall be 100% to the subject employee.

Regarding my one set of eyes, its a point but I am trying to be as factual as I can, as I have no interest in receiving biased feedback. When I think this event was meant as targeting other people, that one is a gut feeling but I am assuming it.

RE: Performance review experience

I have worked for multiple bosses at once.
I have not ever heard of a Performance Review with more than two attendees.
What you attended was something else.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Performance review experience

Well as he says in his first whine post "the meeting as an opportunity in order to deliver a speech meant at other attendees (example: showing what a role model can be to make some others look very bad, of course without dropping any name). " So it wasn't a real performance review, it was theatre. After all, if the result of the PR hadn't been decided in advance then the rest wouldn't have worked.

So, basically the golden boy got a chance to parrot the right answers to the questions and then got a pat on the back. A bit like the Oscars, hopefully without the tears. The OP is right, it wasn't a performance review. However it may have been a bit of propaganda, but to be honest each year I am forced to click through five or ten on-line learning experiences that are supposed to coach me in the company values. That doesn't seem a whole lot different.


Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

RE: Performance review experience

Sounds like a bunch of BS to me. Corporate world is not simple. There will be instances where those who suck up will prevail. And those who play golf with the president will be your boss.

RE: Performance review experience

At my third engineering job, I was surprised to learn that the jig borer operator played golf with the chairman.

The jig borer was probably more important to the company's survival than I was, but I didn't know it then.

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Performance review experience

(OP)
quote
So, basically the golden boy got a chance to parrot the right answers to the questions and then got a pat on the back. A bit like the Oscars, hopefully without the tears.
unquote

This reminds me of one Engineer that was particularly friendly with the project manager. I remember one morning he went to the PM, and said "hello Dick, how are you today Dick? everything all right Dick? How is the kid? oh by the way great review yesterday, I liked your approach, we are on the right track...well done Dick and then a pat on the back of the PM. It was next cubicle so this why I heard this conversation while doing my own task. A bit overdone but normal stuff right ? I was amazed by this attitude.
At the very next opportunity, engineer got big promotion in the company.
Turned out PM was a very influential person in the company.

RE: Performance review experience

I wouldn't be surprised if the purpose of the meeting was announcing the engineer's promotion and raise to the rest of the team. The engineer & manager probably already had a private performance review (PR), and the manager probably thought that in order to prevent any thoughts that the engineer didn't deserve the promotion/raise that all of the other engineers would know what went into his decision. Other engineers may have requested the manager show them what was needed to get a raise/promotion in the past or during their performance reviews and this was a good opportunity. The fact that this PR brought to attention some problems with you or some of the other engineers behavior may also be a way of your manager telling you that those items may be holding you/them back from getting promotions/raises.

Also, you indicated that the meeting was hijacked by the PR. Without knowing the purpose of the meeting (e.g., if it was a general Section meeting) or who organized the meeting, it's hard for anyone here to know for certain. If it was a general meeting scheduled by your manager, the meeting may have been just for the PR and announcing the promotion/raise for the engineer.

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