unfair performance appraisal

u751904

I attended a regular meeting the other day and was presented with a discussion on performance. The meeting was then minuted and sent to the senior manager. There were three items which were brought up as inadequate performance. One which I can document as not being anything in my control (and explained this but it was still minuted as a performance issue) the to other two were very petty. So I am required to do weekly reporting. At the same time there is minuted /agreed that my level of work was extraordinary. I am in total shock and feel quite ill / stressed. I didn't expect this and don't agree to it. I am one of those employees who work late and do eveything I possibly can. There are organisation issues which will mean the role will probably go in a few months. I've spent the night writing my response to the minutes line by line to counter / substantiate my response. I'll sit on it for a few days before I submitt. I have lots of colleagues who can't believe these issues are valid. I've also just joined the union.

So any advice on how to tackle this, do I ignore it hoping it will blow over do what they want and keep my head down. Or do I argue my case, or a bit of both. ???

When is a performance review official or not.

THe role wasn't fully defined when I started and they state this, there are now targets etc defined either. Always I have kept my manager up to date with progress...

I am really stressed and upset by this..

KiKi

All discussions on performance are 'official' - anything at work is. It really depends what happens with this information and the consequences of it.

You need to find out the consequences of the things that you've defined as 'petty' (they may not be petty to your manager / senior manager), and take advice from your union.

Equally, staying late doesn't make you a great employee (I'm not saying you're not a great employee, just that staying late doesn't make you good).

For whatever reason, these performance issues have been picked up on. No doubt you feel they're unfair, but I would find out the consequences of them first, before taking any other action. As you have to report every week, hopefully they can see you're delivering what you need to, and have no need to submit a counter argument to the discussion you've already had.

KiKi

u751904

no consequences were mentioned. I've been a line manager myself in the past so I can see this from both sides. So I think kiki you are saying it's not worth making any more of this unless the consequences are to go on my record - guessing what you mean here?

KiKi

Yes - if they're going on record, then I'd counter them. If it's just a line manager highlighting a potential issue and trying to nip it in the bud (and getting you to report weekly to prove you're performing) then I'd probably keep quiet rather than cause a fuss.

However, if you think they are going to use this against you then it's probably worth getting something in writing, perhaps just on email to your line manager rather than putting anything 'formal' on record.

Your LM might just be overzealous, or having pressure put on them, as well. Have a conversation on Monday, but don't stress yourself out too much. If you carry on performing and, if as you say, these are minor issues, then there won't be much they can do about it.

How long have you worked there?

HTH
KiKi

u751904

not that long, less than a year. It's complicated and I don't want to go into too much detail. I think there is a org change issue behind this. I think my line manager is inexperienced and I don't want to stress her or it will get worse. Oddly I don't actually work with her directly so she doesn't really understand exactly what I am doing. Her statement to me was full of contrdictions and I could to be honest really rip it to bits, but that might not be a good idea in the long run. I think after my initial shock and upset I will put a mild statement in an email together and keep my head down. I don't have a problem with reporting progress, folks have done it for me, I've done it for others..

KiKi

If she's inexperienced she's probably either doing what she thinks is best (but doesn't understand) or, as you say, just doesn't know enough about the job and is on a little power trip!

I'd do as you say: a quick email to counter some of her words, keep your head down and see what happens. With less than a year's service (employed pre-April this year) they can dismiss you for almost any reason anyway, so probably best not to rock the boat.

Hope it gets better for you.
KiKi