Appraisals that make no difference

MyRealNameToo

EnPointe said:

<Snip>

Undervalued said:

tir21 said:

Work has sent me an appraisal form. We get them every six months. It asks whether I require improvement, meet expectations or exceed expectations.

Should I reply that it's a bit rich expecting anyone on the minimum wage to exceed expectations?

Presumably, those that exceed expectations are more likely to be considered for promotion when the opportunity arises?

Agree it can be a motivation but it can also backfire; remember in my call centre days there was a lass that was fantastic at cross selling and when the deputy team leader job came up hers was the first application in. They immediately declined her, she was more valuable being on the phones doing sales than she was off the phones reviewing other advisor's decisions and authorising payments 

 
" Aces in their places "  has a point and value, but not where you  stifle the development of individuals  to solely  to be about service provision.

There is that aspect  and it is also why  sometimes people have difficulty in moving away from  roles which are seen as more coaching / training   than  directly  supervisory or managerial  (  despite the coaching riole being a mandated step and having to demonstrate  abilities to lead the function and direct staff in the absence of Managers  and  also to undertake technical roles  otherwise reserved for Managers )  becasue of their value  as a coach / trainer and in maintaining standards 

Well she moved on to be a trainer next, which was a higher paid role than a team leader and in theory had its own career path within training. I went off to uni shortly after her promotion so dont know what happened next and dont recall seeing her on the first summer I was back but then wouldnt have had much dealing with the training team.  Still remember to this day the "U BalRed" and all the other codes you had to do in the archaic system. 

There's lots of other technical career paths that face similar problems of getting stuck. A colleague at a previous client had gotten stuck having gotten his MA from oxbridge, done his time at the big 4 consultancies and worked as a programme director on a six figure salary but didnt have a single days line management experience and so attempts to go to a divisional executive position were knocked back.  So it's not just minimum wage jobs that can be dead ended. 

Beeblebr0x

tir21 said:

So could I get in any trouble for saying I'm not interested in exceeding expectations?

I'd choose 'meeting expectations' although I totally get why you feel that way.

If you let on how you really feel, don't be surprised if your employer has to let people go in the future and your name is on their list. I'd keep my feelings to myself and just go along with their silly games. 

tir21

Tabieth said:

tir21 said:

So could I get in any trouble for saying I'm not interested in exceeding expectations?

Do you want to stay on your minimum wage job forever? Would you like to earn more money and move into a more interesting / fulfilling role? No judgement whatsoever if the answers are “no”. (I’m a firm believer in work-to-live, not live-to-work.) But extra money is always nice and we spend so much of our time at work, it helps if it’s interesting and at least reasonable enjoyable.  

I like the job it's just I'd like to get paid more than someone who starts tomorrow !!!!!! around then leaves in a few weeks

Marcon

tir21 said:

Work has sent me an appraisal form. We get them every six months. It asks whether I require improvement, meet expectations or exceed expectations.

Should I reply that it's a bit rich expecting anyone on the minimum wage to exceed expectations?

Entirely up to you, but bear in mind how hard it will be to get another job if your employer decides to dispense with your services...

tir21

Marcon said:

tir21 said:

Work has sent me an appraisal form. We get them every six months. It asks whether I require improvement, meet expectations or exceed expectations.

Should I reply that it's a bit rich expecting anyone on the minimum wage to exceed expectations?

Entirely up to you, but bear in mind how hard it will be to get another job if your employer decides to dispense with your services...

I'm one of the few who do anything

General_Grant

tir21 said:

Work has sent me an appraisal form. We get them every six months. It asks whether I require improvement, meet expectations or exceed expectations.

Should I reply that it's a bit rich expecting anyone on the minimum wage to exceed expectations?

I'm trying to understand the system here.  

Is the form one which you fill in about your own performance?
To me, as you ask about replying, it suggests that it is.

But judging whether performance meets or exceeds expectations is always something I've seen as being judged by the subject's manager and is part of the feedback to the employee.
Or are you asking on here whether you should respond to the judgement which has been made on your performance?

rollingmoon

General_Grant said:

But judging whether performance meets or exceeds expectations is always something I've seen as being judged by the subject's manager and is part of the feedback to the employee.

You would think so, wouldn't you? I work for a local authority and I'm overrun with nonsense like this; we now have two appraisals a year (as well as monthly 'catch-ups'), and you're supposed to prepare for them (when?) and answer ridiculous questions like these. My reply is always that surely this type of question is for others - such as my line manager - to answer, and not for me to have to play stupid games guessing what they think. And, no, I'm not interested in promotion either!

elsien

I’m with the OP on this one to a degree.
My appraisals are a token gesture. We do have to fill in a form rating ourselves.

I am good at what I do and my managers value me. I do exceed expectations as a rule ( in part because some of my colleagues, you wouldn’t have a lot of expectations of in the first place) but also because I think self-development is important to keep me motivated and stop me from stagnating.

But I don’t want to go up the management ladder because I’ve been up and come back down again. I’ve done all the qualifications my organisation offers. It doesn’t  matter how much I exceed expectations  because I’m at the top of our pay scale anyway so my Appraisal rating doesn’t Make any difference to my pay.

My  appraisal form tends to be a tad tongue in cheek and when they ask about my personal development goals  I just put down retirement.

But I can only get away with those replies because I am good at my job and my employers don’t want to lose me. If I was minimum wage, easily replaceable, I’ll probably find myself on a performance management plan instead.
if you don’t want to go over and above that’s up to you. But be very careful how you phrase it.

EnPointe

tir21 said:

So could I get in any trouble for saying I'm not interested in exceeding expectations?

you've just written yourself off  for any  decent  secondments /  interesting secondary duties , acting up or a temp promotion to coaching roles ...  you  may as well have  said to your boss " i'm a Plodder, only here for the money" 

rollingmoon

EnPointe said:

you've just written yourself off  for any  decent  secondments /  interesting secondary duties , acting up or a temp promotion to coaching roles ...  

Which all sounds like a load of extra unpaid work to me... anyway:

tir21 said:

I don't want a promotion