When your performance rating does not go your way
In one of the teams I used to work with, a Change Consulting team, there was an unwritten rule: only if you contributed to department initiatives would you get an “exceeds expectations” in your performance appraisal.
If you did the job you were hired for or were being billed for, you would have just “met expectations.” You’d have to go out of your way to invest time and energy in department and company-wide initiatives.
I was assigned challenging, complex, and high-stakes projects during my first year in that team. I worked more than 12 hours every day, just trying to rescue the sinking projects. It took up all my physical and mental bandwidth at work, and I had none to spare for departmental initiatives.
During my performance appraisal, my manager said, “Your performance rating is “Meets Expectations”.
“But that was a critical project, and I turned it around. There is so much good feedback from my stakeholders.”
“But that is your job. You did your job.”
“Well, no one else in the team could do that job. That is why I was assigned to the project. The other project managers failed to do their job on it.”
“We have high expectations of you, and that is why we hired you for the job. You did your job and met the expectations. Everyone is supposed to contribute to departmental initiatives, and you did not.”
That year, I walked out really mad at my manager. This conversation blindsided me, and I did not see that coming.
The performance rating was crucial to the salary hike and bonus. As someone who was already on the lower end of the salary range offered to my peers, I was keen to get a raise that matched my peers, performance and skills.
I needed the money.
The following year, I participated in a Diversity and Inclusion program, and my team won the award for the best employee-led initiative of the year across the company.
Then, during my performance appraisal, my manager said, “You did well, but you missed the deadline for the mandatory training, so I have to give you a rating of “Meets Expectations.”
I was livid. I had stretched myself so hard to work on demanding projects and these company-wide initiatives that I had burnt myself out. I had missed out on doing the training by a day, and that nullified everything I had done. Worse, I did not get the sense that my manager had my back or wanted me to do well.
Do the ratings in the performance appraisal matter to you? If so, why? How do they affect the work that you do?
There is no right or wrong answer here.
If you are keen on getting a certain rating because it gives you a good bonus and hike, can you admit that to yourself? If you can admit to yourself, you can throw all your energy behind it and maximise your chances of getting that hike and bonus.
The problem is that most of us want something, but we delude ourselves into thinking we are not the kind of person who wants that thing.
We think we are beyond the performance ratings, and then when the year-end rating does not materialise the way we want, we are very upset. For some of us, this sets us on a downward trend of disliking the job, becoming cynical or withdrawn, or endlessly complaining about how unfair our manager has been.
In this case, I wanted a salary rise, but I did not speak to my manager and ask for a raise. I did not insist on getting clear goals and objectives at the beginning of the year. I did not ask him how to ensure I could get a better rating next year. I did not have him partner with me in my quest for a salary hike and bonus.
I expected my work to be noticed, assessed fairly, and given a rating based on data, not opinions or perceptions.
Yes, the manager’s job is to provide timely feedback, give you the right goals and objectives to work with, and be fair. But it doesn’t work that way in real life.
It was easier to put my head down, do my work, and pretend that I was beyond all of this, only to be very angry and surprised after my conversation with him every single year. Because I badly wanted to be rated well but dared not admit how important it was to me.
This can be aptly described by a quote attributed to Albert Einstein, “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results when, in fact, the results never change, is one definition of insanity.”
If you want something, you have to pursue it. You can’t wait for it to be handed to you—be it a salary raise, performance rating, or feedback.
Do the ratings in the performance appraisal matter to you? If so, what systems do you have in place to ensure you are on track to get your desired rating?
Next week, we will examine how we can implement systems to ensure you have a good working relationship with your manager and team and are in a position to achieve your work goals.
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