Good News / Bad News

beardog03

Well I have good news and , well....
let me explain....

I have worked my **** off again this year....let me start from the beginning..
I make it short..

In `98 I went to work in the shipyards, working swingshift in the toolroom.
After the first year, I was running the backshift and became a journeyman Machinist..
The next year, I was asked to help in Purchasing...entering purchase orders,and working as an expediter.
The following year, I was the Rental coordinator, expediter, and took a draw from the union so I could go salary and get a yearly bonus along with a pay raise.
The following year, I had Junior Buyer added to my list of duties, and I am the one that reviews the invoices, and okays if they are to be paid...I now gained signing authority..
Merit Raise twice, and writtin praise from the GM the next year...bonus still was in the "blow me" catagory, but I still got one..
I told the GM to "go pound Salt",and the Vp to "go f^ck yourself" twice to his face, and on the phone (in those words), and it get worse..
I was told I have a "anger management problem"...
I disagree...I handled myself quite well...IMO..!!
My duties continued to grow, and I now am responsible for almost everything that happens in the facility..anything that is bought, rented, paid for , okay`d, including picknic`s and parties, etc.
I hired and fired to "bosses" this year, because they couldn`t handle it...and I didn`t like them anyway...
Did I metion I work very hard, long hours..including weekends 12-16hrs +, and only get paid for 8hrs five days a week=being salary blows..
I am highly underpaid..



Jump to today..
I was told today that I am going to be awarded on Thursday at the Christmas party, as the employee of the month for September, and also employee of the year..!!
**yah beardog...do the dance**
I was also made the new Purchasing Manager..!!
**beardog still doin the boogie**

Now the bad....
*I need some guidence here..*
I have to do my first review..
My assistant...she works very hard, does what I ask her to do , and I have pushed through two merit raises ($ 1 ea time), and a few hundred in safeway gift cards and 2 bonus`s this year...she deserves it, and is still underpaid, but corporate doesn`t give raises, merit or otherwise, easily...
I want to give her very high marks, but was told to keep it , on a scale of 1-10, between 8`s and 9`s..
I`m sure this is also a test to see how I handle this situation..
She will surely get upset, and her feelings hurt, because I can`t give her what we both know she should get..

What should I do..?
How should I handle it ?

It`s not right, but it`s what I was told to do..
I can`t give her all 9`s because her total score will not total out correctly...which means I have to give some lower marks somewhere..
and she deserves better..
I`m not a corporate punk, and I don`t want to appear so, now that I have the position..
I do have to go to school and get my degree, per corporate...after I hire a Jr. Buyer of course..
Be careful what ya work for...ya just might get it...

so whaada ya think guys...
do what I think is right, and appear as though I `m not capable of doing what , and how Mngmnt expects, or do what I know won`t fly...what I think is fair ?

Thanks for letting me Vent...

Robert

MacLeod

I say fill out her review the way you see fit and then submit it to the bosses. If they wish to tamper with it, thats their problem. You did what youre supposed to. If they dont want people getting 10's on their reviews then the rating scale should only go from 1-9!

dorokusai

Congratulations and my condolences.

Welcome to the corporate world....you have been assimilated.

I have RARELY met an employee, EVER, that I thought should get a "9-10" or whatever the merit increase equal may be. Sprint Nextel uses a 5 tier ranking system....3 is the standard.

High marks are for employees stepping out of the box, and going above and beyond their NORMAL duties. Your job is your job, regardless of how well you perform it. Everyone feels they deserve more, when in reality they deserve to be employed.

If you rate someone high, it sets the bar for the next review....they would in effect have to perform even better than they did previously to achieve the same level of recognition.

You should rate her as you feel is appropriate, but remember that next year will most likely be more difficult. The corporate guidelines are in place for you to do what you have to do, I'm sure of it, follow the guidelines. If you have an incentive program available, utilize that to enrich the lives of your employees, not the merit review.

Merit reviews are BS anyways.

RuSsMaN

Ask her to eval herself, and see what she comes up with.

Then, sleep with her.

masanz1

being in management myself (and yes 8 hours pay for 12 hours work does suck)grading somebody between an 8 and 9 on a 1-10 scale IS a very high mark. Unfortunately one cannot be too buddy buddy when it come to people you oversee. Giving somebody a 10 means there is no room for improvement. Best way to evaluate is to be honest and not worry about the emotion they will give you. Men normally handle things worse when it comes to evals. We are taught to start with negatives and end with positives. [ie. your attendance has suffered this year. You have missed 4 days in 4 months. It has improved greatly over the last 2 months however and I know you have the ability to keep this up.] I really feel for you, I worked for 16 years with the crews I now manage. One of the hardest things for me to do was to evaluate or discipline people for things I myself have done. Good luck

Frank Z

RuSsMaN wrote:

Ask her to eval herself, and see what she comes up with.

Then, sleep with her.

Deduct for snoring....

dkg999

Beardog - first of all congratualations! It sounds like you very much deserve it! Not many employees in medium to larger corporations anymore that have worked their way up and actually have an understanding of how a business really runs!

As for the review situation, it is a test and will tell your managers a lot about their choice to promote you. Performance reviews are always tough, and as mentioned previously the high marks are reserved for someone who went above and beyond during the review period. Everyone else hovers around the middle so that HR ends up with a nice bell curve when they plot all the reviews. That makes them feel all warm and fuzzy in their little beds at night. Always approach the performance reviews as an opportunity. Be honest about why you are ranking them the way you are. As much as we don't like it, there are a lot of games played in the corporate management realm. I will only worry when you truly start to like the games! I would suggest a trip to Borders/Barnes & Noble and look for some books on managing employees. I like one called Top Grading, however it may be a little more than what you need at this point. Stay away from anything that involves the One Minute Manager! Listen to Pink Floyd's Animals CD and it will get you primed for the management role! Good luck!

Dennis Gardner

Rate her honestly, tell her what she does great and what she could improve on. Be honest with her that your level of influence on her situation might be limited due to your new position, but if she sticks it out with you throughout the next eval period, as you gain clout, she will be along for that ride. Talk about your teamwork together in the past, and how much you look forward to bringing her along with you.

Welcome to management, where you get credited for all the good work your team does and blamed for all the failure your team goes through, both unjustified.

beardog03

Thanks for all the responses guys..

I guess I just needed to be reassured as to what my role in this eval is..
I will give her the marks that I feel she has earned..not what will make her happy.

I`m sure she will be disappointed, thinking that she deserves better..as we all have at one time or another...

I agree with Mark...Merit reviews are just a yearly formality anyway..

At least my hard work is going to pay off, and allow me to save for my new tube amp much faster..!!
I`m hoping for a good bonus this year..
and I`m sure my eval is not going to be what I would expect it to be either

Early B.

Bear -- don't follow your heart. Just do what you're being told to do. Be straight with your assistant by telling her you're just doing your job, then give her a bunch of 8's. And stop getting emotionally involved in such a POS job. Your bosses and/or the company apparently don't give a damn about their employees, so as a manager you've got to fall in line and function the same way. If you don't like it, get yourself demoted or join another company.

F1nut

Just play the game and keep in mind, Daddy needs new gear!

steveinaz

Re-evaluate the rating system and in areas where you feel she's exceeding the standards, be prepared to back that up with facts, numbers, results.

When I was the NCOIC of a 60 man shop, I made it a point to regularly counsel people on their progress---weak & strong areas, and what to do to correct the weak areas. Consistency and honesty are key, anything else makes it harder on you and is unfair to the employee.

Regular counseling and hard, firm, but fair ratings are an incredibly powerful management tool, especially when you have a "problem child" as we called them in the Army. It also makes for real satisfaction for the employees who score well---they know they've earned it.

shack

In 28 years I have yet to evaluate anyone that deserves a 10/10 (including myself - I know it's hard to believe, but true). 9/10 are few and far between. Many workers believe if they do their job they should get a "superior" rating for simply doing what they are paid to do. It is often easier for the reviewer to placate the employee with a glowing review in order to not get any bitching back. This makes the review process worthless. Average work should equal an average review, superior work equals a superior review and compensation should be comensurate to performance. Be honest with your employee. Tell her exactly where she exceeds, meets and needs improvement in her job requirements. Anything less is unfair to the employee. I am amazed at times when I see employees on the brink of being fired...but yet have no clue as to the reasons.

Congratulation on your achivement and recognition! I'm sure it is well deserved!

mhardy6647

You might want to take a look at a book called "Managing from the Heart" by Bracey, et al. Unfortunately, you can't be buddies with your reports, but you can be thoughful, sensitive, honest, and ethical..., and, yes, empathetic.

steveinaz

I've had friends that were also my subordinates; though generally not recommended, it can work as long as there is an understanding up-front that work is work, and play is play. In fact I had to recommend disciplinary action on a close friend of mine once, not a fun thing to do, but he understood that he f***ed up and I had to react as I would with any other worker.

The moment I sense that an off-duty relationship isn't working, I end it immediately. You've got to reserve that sort of thing for people you are confident can handle it, and you've got to be a good judge of character.

Skynut

Lot of good advice here.

I tend to totally agree with Doro's comments.

If you rate someone high there is no room for improvements.
When I have to do this I tell the person that an average is good because it is what you are expected to do, anything over that is better and below that needs improvement.

Alot of an eval is how you phrase what you say, you can elaborate on your ratings as you go.

Evaluations suck big time, I hate to give them even when they are good and I hate to receive them even when they are good.

Good luck to you.

Skynut

Oh and let me say that I am sorry for your luck and congratulations on your hard work.

Strong Bad

I love corporate BS! Especially this rating system.

Most companies already have your raise figured out long before the review process takes place. You could give the person all 1's or all 10's and it wouldn't matter one tiny bit. Thats most companies, not all.

Tell her she did a great job, but you have to go through the motions and give her a score based on what the company wants to see.

Stupid **** companies have no idea how this rating system hurts employee morale. I wonder what numbskull created this **** anyway.

John