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Question about year end review 1

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DaveZR2

DaveZR2

Mechanical
Aug 6, 2008
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Hi all,

Have my review coming up and my manager is asking me to be prepared to discuss my plan to educate/develop myself personally (as opposed to professionally). What do you imagine that he's looking for? Seems like a work review doesn't really need to touch on my personal life.

Thanks.
 
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I'm guessing your boss is looking for something that says you don't go home and become a couch potatoe with no outside interests. Personally I think it should be your buisness and not his, but I also am a big fan of life long learning. Tell him you are taking a cooking class to learn to eat healthier, or studying the history of the american revolution (or pick a suitably patriotic hisorical period for your country of origin). I think he's just looking for general pursuits that make you a well rounded person, you know that same lame reason why engineers need to take non-technical electives.

-Kirby

Kirby Wilkerson

Remember, first define the problem, then solve it.
 
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Tell them politely that you do whatever you think is necessary for your well being. However, you do not intend to invest your private time and money for the company's benefit. You meet your obligation of working for 40 hrs a week and any paid overtime.

Also ask them how would they help, to compensate for your addtional investment of time, money and effort for the company's benefit.

If you get a irritated response, look for another work place. There is no need to succumb to undue pressure or imperialism.

Rafiq Bulsara
 
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Asking about your personal life seems odd to me, like the other replies have said.

Are you sure he wants to know about your personal home interests and not about your personal work interests? I have to prepare a development plan each year and it covers what my interests are, how I'm going to achieve them, and when I'm going to achieve them. Gives management an idea of their employees interests and where they envision themselves in the years to come.

For instance, any training courses that people are interested in taking would be put in the development plan.
 
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I am almost certain he meant to ask,

What do you *personally* want to do in terms of furthering your training, i.e., do *you want* to get into detailed piping design take FEA training, etc...what *interests you*?



Regards,

SNORGY.
 
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Or even tell you boss(es) you like to spend time with your family in your personal time, your "other" obligation in life, and that allows you to recharge and come to work next day with full energy! And see the expression on their face!

Rafiq Bulsara
 
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Hopefully you misunderstood him. Your boss/company has no business asking how you plan to develop outside of work.

Now looking at this from another angle you could play this to your benefit. What do you like to do after work. Ride a bike, work on old cars, go to church, ..etc.

I'd give some thought to it and come up with an idea on how you can spend less time at work and more time pursuing a hobby and still get paid.

Here's a pitch... Yeah boss I like to be physically fit as it helps me be more productive at work and cost the company less in health insurance. To that end, I propose working 10 hour days Monday - Thursday and taking off on Friday so I can go down to the river and Kayak with my bro's.

Good luck.
 
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Perhaps he means:

"Fred, besides your request to take a class in 'Advanced Widget Design Analysis', maybe you'd consider also taking a class in 'Developing Positive Team Leadership Skills' ."

This is while the cartoonist draws the thought-bubble over his head with the words "Take the hint, Fred, I need someone to run the new $100M BigCo Inc. contract next quarter."

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering
 
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I think you should say you're thinking of taking a grant writing class, subtely alluding to the fact that you are thinking of applying for a grant to study the feasibility of hostile takeovers of large engineering companies by smaller ones. It's a new concept in economics you are developing for your church group.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
 
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Soft skill or hard skills, if it is not on company's time or not being appropriately compensated or rewarded for, the employer has no business formally asking what do you do outside the working hours.

Just remember that a promise (or carrot) of future promotion is not a reward or compensation. In fact these are usually just excuses for not giving you enough raise or a full bonus. No one is perfect in the world. No one should expect perfection.


Rafiq Bulsara
 
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rbulsara,
I don't understand why you assume that this is an invasion of his privacy. I don't see anything here to "go to the matresses" over. I'm betting that it is just a misunderstanding on the part of the OP and if he follows your advice he'll be labled as some sort of activist and nudged out of any responsible positions until he can be terminated.

If the OP doesn't ask his boss what he meant by his question, then he probably deserves to be pushed aside. It is irratating that he asked the question here and that hot heads have chimed in with the assumption that "The Man" is screwing the "Little Guy" out of his "rights". The whole "I work 40 hours/week and what I do on my own time is none of your damn business" approach can only put everyone on the defensive.

David
 
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zdas04:
OP has already clarified, the Professional Development is separate.

I draw a line when someone asks me about my private life/time/hobbies while on a lunch/dinner table or while driving together. The employer has no business asking these things formally during a review. Why do they need to know what personal efforts are made for "their" benefit?

I already said, one can always respond I do what is necessary for my personal well being. One has every right not to think about the work after they leave the office. It should not be a yard stick to measure any work related rewards.



Rafiq Bulsara
 
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To me that questions smells of HR. As such, it would get the vague type of answer that a similar question would get in the highering process.

Pick a hobby that you enjoy, show a little passion about it, and spin it to show a positive influence on your work. Maybe you are really into fishing, and you work with a lot of composites, you could go off about how you have been researching the latest and greatest rods, and how the techniques they use to make them could be applied to contract XXX. You will have shown that you don’t go into a vegetative state when you leave work, and will have really told them nothing about your personal life, other than you like to fish.


Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance.
-A R Dykes
 
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I agree with Yagonyonok. There is clearly an expectation of an answer, so give them one that is worthy of a job interview that effectively tells them nothing.

I would consider following that up with an honest and sincere inquiry into why they are asking this and state that you are curious how this has an impact on your annual performance review.
 
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Are we sure it's not the distinction between personal professional development, and development within the organization?

For instance, your company may be in a sector that is exempt, so don't care about PE. However, personally, you might want to get it.

Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​
 
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Just don't mention the new camera and the little viking suits, or the windowless van with "Free Candy" written on the sides.
 
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