Performance Reviews 4

[EngineerDave]

This is the first year I disagreed greatly with a performance review I received.

Specifically to tell what happened is that in November we received our performance review. Before we are reviewed we are supposed to rate ourselves in several areas. Then our direct supervisor rates us. However on top of it this year they made a change and had some of the lead executives also rate us. I was told during the interview that because of this everyones reviews are much lower than the previous year.

In any event, there was more of a disconnect than I expected. I do think I rated myself highly, but after this review, my result was already 20% lower than the previous year.

Then the top executive who hadn't weighed in yet, decided to further adjust the employees reviews. Presumably while under pressure to greatly limit raises.

So now my ranking by points is 30% lower than previous year.

Why this bugs me so much is that I've had to work longer and harder this year than ever as one coworker was suspended and off work for over 2 months for a reason that i believe most other companies would have fired him for.

I believe to no small degree having to cover for his work and my own at the same time is part of the reason for a lower effectiveness rating.

At first I wrote no major comments of disagreement, but after the top executive who has little direct contact with my work lowered the score yet again, I wrote a very polite letter stating what some of my disagreements were. I don't think it will have any effect other than making me feel better for stating how I feel about it and how the review process lacks accurate metrics.

Have you ever disagreed with your review? This is the only time I can think of that I've had major issues with one.

 

[jmw]

One problem is to agree the "KPIs" or metrics.
It is very easy to choose the wrong metric and then work to meet the metric and hence become less productive, even if more acceptable.
We can already see how an engineer has been moved from being a "team player" always ready to help others to someone exclusively concerned with his own metrics.
yes, the degree to which task management has suffered due to helping others and not maintaining control over his own workload has been penalised in the review but is he going to be a better asset to the company now or a lesser asset?
What the review might have done is build on the strengths and address the weaknesses but what we seem to have is a lot of square holes that have to be filled with square pegs.

A typical example of poor metrics is found in how companies measure their performance (as part of the "customer Service Mantra") on something as simple as monitoring delivery of gods or services to the client. All too often the metric chosen is how well the company achieves its acknowledged deliveries. Thus, once an order is received it is loaded onto manufacturing and manufacturing then looks at all the lead times and comes up with a delivery date.

The company then measures how it performs against this delivery date.

But, firstly, they count early delivery as a bonus. Not always so. if the goods are part of a project and the project has been planned based on the quoted delivery then an early delivery may mean there has been no storage space allocated, they can't use it until some other actions have completed and they have to pay for it early (one of the reasons for early delivery is to boost sales).

Late deliveries are an easier problem to recognise but even then we have a problem.
The order was received based on a quotation and the quoted delivery may be different to the acknowledged delivery which also throws a schedule into trouble.
SO should we measure also the difference between quoted and acknowledged delivery dates? OK, so you quote 12 weeks and acknowledge 10. Is this a problem? It may be if the client has specified not a lead time but a delivery date and based his order placement on the quoted delivery. Too often the manufacturer will start work once the order has been received, not adjust the start time to match the required delivery.

Most important of all though is that what should be measured is the clients expectations. For commodity items what he wants is ex-stock.

So here we can see that the wrong metric gives a completely false measure of performance and instead of working toward improving the real measure of customer satisfaction the production people are working toward some other metric and chances are that the only way to improve is to acknowledge longer deliveries. Thus, they may also up the quoted deliveries so they don't disappoint with significantly different acknowledged deliveries from quoted deliveries and thus they can be sure to nearly never deliver late and they count early delivery a success.

What isn't measured is the effect of long quoted deliveries on sales, especially if they should be manufacturing and selling from stock instead of made to order.

Now these guys who set such useful KPIs for manufacturing are going to set some equally valuable metrics for performance reviews?


JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[KENAT]

Or of course, when different people have conflicting metrics, this happened at our place. One guy had a quality/cost driven metric while another had a schedule driven metric. The eternal triangle of 'better faster cheaper' got invoked and one of the guys was unable to meet his metric.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[EngineerDave]

On Dec 29 jmw posted the following

"
You might ask if you are being set up (maybe not you alone) for the lead role in any "restructuring" management decide upon as they seek to improve profitability by cutting overheads (people) while still expecting the same or increased "delivery".

I wish I had realized at the time that jmw was right. On 2/24/09 I found out I was going to be one of two people in a layoff.

This is a tough time, but I'll rebound and end up somewhere far better. I just wish I had already started looking around back then.

 

[KENAT]

Sorry to hear that Dave, all the best.

We just had to do our reviews, not much incentive to put much effort in when they've told us there are no merit or cost of living pay raises, and (while I don't believe it) supposedly they're done with lay-offs for the forseeable as we're down to the bare minimum.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[EngineerDave]

Thanks to all for their kind words.

Although I wasn't looking for a new job and I found out word I'm being laid off 2 days after I got engaged, I can't say that long term leaving this job isn't better for me. It's been a very negative place. Last year I was more angry at situations than I've been in any technical job since I started working in engineering in 1993.

There is one thing that aggravates me to no end though. But I have chosen to let it go. I have a co-worker who spent most of the year studying in his office for an accrediation exam (not the PE, but something very specific to my line of work)and then upon passing arrived at work drunk and was on probation. He is lazy and dangerous. He is not being laid off. Apparently his alcohol offense puts him one step away from firing, but he's under protection with regards to the Americans with Disabilities act. There is no way I should be let go instead of this guy.

From a business model I can see how they can lay off one person. If my drunk coworker was ever diligent and pulled his own weight, the job would be more manageable for everyone. I think another colleague may leave soon. Rome is burning, but I won't be there to put it out anymore.

Off to better things.

 

[EQguys]

All the best EngineerDave Hang in there !!

 

[jmw]

Hi Dave,
sorry to hear your news and good luck in the future.

What are the terms under which you are being let go? I am unfamiliar with what benefits, if any, you get where you are (I didn't do too badly here in the UK; partly because of the law but mainly because of the contractual agreement).

If you get something, some form of redundancy payment, then don't worry about the co-worker... management probably reckon he will do something else that will let them dismiss him for cause with no benefits and no reference.

I've seen this policy enacted here in the Uk and so long as he actually doesn't cost the company money while they wait for the other shoe to drop, it is sound. Of course, even if it cost more to keep him on than he would get in benefits they'd still probably do it that way just to be sure he personally gains no benefit.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[EngineerDave]

I'm not sure. I talk to HR on Monday. I think it is considered a "layoff" not a dismissal with cause. I will have to see then.

Severanace pay is pretty poor as Ive only been there a little less than 3 years.

 

[debodine]

EngineerDave:

I guess it is too late for YOU to show up drunk and get re-classified into another government "protected" class? (Just kidding, but seriously I wish you the best in finding placement somewhere else that is much better for you.)

 

[TDAA]

Just ask HR if this layoff is due to your alcoholism.

It will make them think.

 

[EngineerDave]

Yes, my former manager who hired me is shocked that this happened. He also happens to distrust several people in my department including my immediate supervisor who is letting me go.

The former manager also joked that I should come in drunk to work. He was the one that told me my colleagues behavior and the alcohol classes he's taking now classify him under the "Americans with Disabilities Act".

Who knows. It is all pretty disgusting to me. I will find something better. Just wish I recognized the warning signs earlier. I was in denial, probably because I totally disagreed with the performance review, especially in light of the fact I did so much extra work over the year while the coworker was out.

 

[corus]

"I think it is considered a "layoff" not a dismissal with cause"

I don't know about other countries, but in the UK being made redundant is equivalent to being dismissed, ie. you can take your case to the employment tribunal for unfair or wrongful dismissal. Under the law here, the employer must give good reason for the selection process for those to be made redundant, whether it's on a 'last in first out' basis or some other unbiased method, or simply because your job no longer exists. It's fairly simple to take the matter to court here, but elsewhere I don't know if the law allows you that right.

corus

 

[KENAT]

corus, workers in the US generally have no where near the level of protection in the UK.

Not sure if that's where Dave is from but many American Employees are 'at will', which basically means the management can fire you without having to give any reason, no notice etc. In theory it means the worker can quit without notice etc. too but it doesn't seem to work out like that as much.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[SomptingGuy]

I witnessed a dismissal without notice in the US once. The person had recently been roundly praised for their work in turning chaos into an organised system. One day soon after I noticed the office manager pop into her cube for just a minute. Then I heard them tell their neighbour that they'd just been fired.

Our lot have just published all the required details about the upcoming selection process and timing of the whole thing.

- Steve

 

[KENAT]

Good luck sompting, depressing times. You come across as pretty smart on this site if that's any consolation.(spelling?)

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[SomptingGuy]

@KENAT,

"consolation" - Check.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. We've (my group) been told that we aren't affected. However, has anyone told our customers that we aren't?

- Steve

 

[sdz]

When I was on contract I got a weekly performance review. If I got to come back Monday I had passed.

 

[EngineerDave]

Anymore no matter where I work, I feel like I'm my own organization.

How I got laidoff is still a matter of shock to me. I never had a sick day, showed up on time and delivered. Never complained openly until I disagreed with the performance review.

Things are looking up. Have been in contact with a few places that are planning to hire.

 

[Pulpeng]

On the flip side just for laughs - I had a performance review and I said before he began that I wanted to clear the air.

I told him my performance had been lacking due to motivation and attitude but I thought I had figured out the problems and was correcting them. I went on to say a bunch of other self-worth things etc.

He let me finish politely and then as if he hadn't heard a word said - "We've reviewed your performance and we feel you've done an excellent job, great motivation etc and out of the 20 employees in the department you are only one of three who are getting a raise in this troubled economic time."

I said thank you and left bewildered.

 

[jmw]

Pulpeng,
just think how bad the rest of them must be!

By the way, I think I've heard that "....you are only one of three who are getting a raise in this troubled economic time." before - it usually accompanies a pitiful, miserly raise which is intended as a cheap way to keep staff without having to pay them any better. This is usually an attempt at ego manipulation. If everyone got a nothing pay rise then they might expect some problems but if each one thinks he/she is "special" then no matter how miserable the increase, it makes them think kindly of their boss and forget to keep their CV/Resume current and out there.

The pay rise with a message is the one that just tips you into a new taxation bracket so that while you apparently get more, the actual result is you get less.

Sorry, I didn't start life as a cynic, management made me that way.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com