Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why would we expect an "average" employee to get a 3? It's one of the flaws of this kind of rating system. People have been taught to expect everything to follow a "bell" curve but the reality is a bell curve should not fit a group of employees. Think about it. A bell curve requires bad employees. Most managers aren't going to intentionally hire bad employees. If they do find one who is, they will work to replace him. So you wind up scoring people low just to force a bell curve on a non normal distribution.
Of course you are not going to intentionally hire a bad employee, but there are plenty of employees who don't live up to their interview/fail to perform, which puts them in the "1" or "2" category.
The worst thing is to let some scale or some person claim how valuable (or not) you are. You know yourself better than anyone else, and see what you do throughout the day (that might get ignored or overlooked by others). What you actually contribute and perform, and what the company sees or wants to see, are often two very different universes.
Go with your gut. Companies have their own agendas. Sometimes it even boils down to personalities. You might be the optimal employee from the work/company needs, but if some jerk manager doesn't like you, that will overrule anything else. So don't expect things to make sense or be fair.
Most companies I've worked at will rate all employees around 3-3.5 when it comes to evaluations. It's usually just based on "check the box" BS (some of it is very subjective) that has little to do with my daily activities, as it typically consists of some silly corporate-speak metrics. The higher up managers who come up with those things have no idea how things actually work for workers with boots on the ground.
Of course you are not going to intentionally hire a bad employee, but there are plenty of employees who don't live up to their interview/fail to perform, which puts them in the "1" or "2" category.
If so, why are they still there at annual appraisal time? You should have gotten rid of them already. If a company is making that many bad hires, they might want to relook at their hiring process.
We were never rated a five out of five. We were told no one ever gets a give. I never understood the logic in that.
.
I had my supervisor tell me that. I then replied "OK, then I'm not going to #%^&$$ exert myself more then the minimum. After all, why bother busting butt when I get no extra pay, or benefits?"
He actually tried to convince me that I still should......
The scale is
1 - Unsatisfactory
2 - Needs improvement
3 - Effective
4 - Excellent
5 - Outstanding
I got a mix of 3’s and 4’s
My boss had me rated a little higher than I had myself.
This is a sales support just and my first year.
I thought it was a good review but then a friend said it’s better if you get 4’s and 5’s
I’ve had many reviews in past jobs and I’ve usually been between a 3.5 and 4. I would think that is considered a good review?
Don't take these things seriously. The only time they are useful and that's for the company when they want to do a layoff, they may take everyone who gets a 1 or 2 and get rid of them.
The only thing that really should matter to you, is if the increase in compensation is competitive to the marketplace. That scale has no meaning outside the company. It isn't like that information is useful to your landlord or mortgage company.
I've worked in places where some longtime employees always got above average. They worked hard but a new system of metrics came in and management only had so much influence in the final grade. The poor stats weren't her fault but her department has that responsibility. Long story short she was rattled, almost cried at times and never looked at the job the same after. It's too bad because they were extremely helpful, courtesous and efficient.
I look at this way. If you jump 3 feet this time they'll expect 4 feet the next. And after that 5. Unless you're gunning for a promotion, transfer or raise in the end most companies don't over emhasize or focus on evaluations. The same individuals still wind up with the overtime, bonuses and promotions etc that supposedly require a perfect or above average evaluation. Stay out of trouble, do the job competently and honestly and job security shouldnt' be an issue in most but not all companies. Some actually excel at the job no matter how hard it may seem to others. Others fumble throught every single day, problem, encounter etc.
It all depends what the employer and yourself want out of the job along with a paycheck.
At my current job it doesn't matter how much work I do. I just get a satisfactory rating. One year I did a year long study that was way over 100 hours of work all while doing my regular work. Still just got a satisfactory review.
Yes, there is no perfect system because companies that have done away with goals and perf reviews get downgraded by the younger generation for not being feedback or career focused enough. Yet we can all agree the 1-5, everybody gets a 3 unless you are being fired or promoted is outdated 2.
I somewhat like the way my F500 does it. COLA has zero to do with performance, and 100% to do with where your pay falls within the salary band.
A bonus pool is funded by the company, and ones position in combination with their performance dictates how much of that bonus pool they get. Of course, there will always be bias when humans are involved, so don't put personal worth on these ratings.
I say this humbly, but I've risen to a level in corporate America that is higher than all my previous bosses have risen to. I say that to validate that all the nitpicking negative things they have said over the years doesn't mean a damn thing. The more you ignore it, the better.
That's opposed to constructive criticism from someone that has earned your trust, which can actually be valuable. None of those valuable nuggets has ever come via a performance review for me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
