I felt like I worked my rear end off this year and went above and beyond in my job duties and the actual review text spells this out, but the final rating score does not and is basically a "C" for what I thought all year was "A" work.

Of course this affected my merit increase and bonus.

I feel like this guy right now:

Don't worry - the bonus and merit $ you would have received will be put to good use by the organization.

Did you ask your supervisor why your lower rating/performance was not pointed out or discussed earlier in 2018? It sounds like the verbiage does not match the actual rating.

Do what my employees used to do when they didn't get the Outstanding rating they expected. Ask what you can do so that your next rating can be higher. Put the ball in their court.

To take RogB's suggestion one step further - if you feel it will not upset the person, at some time mention you feel the write up does a good job of capturing areas where you feel you went above an beyond but that does not seem to be reflected in the raise or rating.

But it does work best if the focus is on what did you need to do to have a higher ranking.

There have been times that I went above an beyond (including lots of unpaid overtime) in areas I thought were valuable that management thought were secondary.


Hang in there - if it was me, I'd be pretty bummed.

This is my first year in middle management in this capacity.

I understand where you are coming from.

I second ROGB's post about asking what needs to be done to get that Top Performer bonus and raise.

Unfortunately, sometimes it's just just not there yet, due to others you are up against blowing it out of the water, sometimes it's because you are at the top of your range already.

Either way, the manager should have suggestions for you to be able to get what you want.

PASig,

Sorry to hear about your review/raise/bonus. This is just a corporate way of getting out of giving you the max raise and bonus. Don't take it personally and I agree with RogB about asking them what you need to do for a max review next year.

Without going into too much detail, there are 4 ratings you can get which (to me) equal A, B, C, D

Last year I got a B

I’ve never gotten an A, and it’s pretty rare, something like 1-2% of all employees get that.

If you suck and barely can do your job, you get a D

This year I got a C, one rating level above “you suck” but the write ups we do to document our jobs and goals and my manager’s comments don’t (to me) correspond to a C

It’s a racket and I suspect that my manager who is pretty new, didn’t stand up for my group when it came time to hash out all these ratings, we competed with groups in CO, VA and CA for a bucket of ratings and money.

quote:

Originally posted by RogB:
Do what my employees used to do when they didn't get the Outstanding rating they expected. Ask what you can do so that your next rating can be higher. Put the ball in their court.

I have to disagree with this - at least as far as my experience goes.

Example #1: Nailed everyone of my performance goals. My internal clients raved about me. My colleagues raved about me. My manager raved about me. Then I sat down for my review with the Dept VP and was told that the corp was looking to cut costs, so he was changing my score from "Exceeds Expectations" to "Meets Expectations" which meant I did not get a raise.

Example #2: Had my performance review. Was told that I was "invaluable", I "excelled in every performance category", and that I had "single-handed turned an unhappy client into a happy client that was sending more business to the firm", etc. At the end of the review, my rating was "Meets Expectations".

In my experience, the whole performance review process is bullshit.

I had this discussion with one of my guys. He was looking at the A B C D as well.

In my case, 10% could be A, 20% could be B, and 70% are C. You didn't want any D.

The guy was a B last year, but I rated him as a C (albeit a very high C). In his case, I didn't knock his merit or bonus, and I made sure to let him know that. I made sure he knows what is expected for him to get back to that B range.

Im sorry your manager left you down. All I can suggest is keeping the communication open. Don't let this fester, as you don't want it bringing you (and your performance) down.

quote:

Originally posted by RogB:
Do what my employees used to do when they didn't get the Outstanding rating they expected. Ask what you can do so that your next rating can be higher. Put the ball in their court.

At my company I am not allowed to answer that question. Seriously I cannot tell my team what they need to do to get the highest rating. Just keep working and producing and Ill let you know at the end of the year if it was enough. (Spoiler Alert... It wont be)

The more I think about it, this may be a sign that it’s time to move on.

I’m going to dust off and polish up my resume and very quietly start looking outside this department first and maybe outside the company.

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:

Example #2: Had my performance review. Was told that I was "invaluable", I "excelled in every performance category", and that I had "single-handed turned an unhappy client into a happy client that was sending more business to the firm", etc. At the end of the review, my rating was "Meets Expectations".

So you saw my review then...

I received my one year review last Sept 2018
I was soo freaking pissed
I did A-, B+ work and got a shit review which like everyone else affected my merit raise

I say A- to B+ because I basically had to train myself for this job and I am still training myself.

The pisser is that individuals with less experience in Law Enforcement, forensics etc.. and who are late almost every day of work got near perfect marks.

So, I am the lowest paid but have more experience than most
That is why I am tired, fed up and leaving within a few weeks.

I am just wore out physically and mentally working 50-60hrs. Basically tearing my body down for nothing and they do not appreciate us. It is not like i am kicking down doors or back in AFG.

I'm sorry to hear about this, PAsig. It REALLY sucks to bust your ass for a whole year, only to be poorly reviewed, simply to justify not giving you the increase you deserve.

I've gotten bum raises before, but was fortunate enough to have my boss acknowledge verbally and in writing that I was a top performer. That meant at least something to me. I ended up leaving anyways, for more money and professional growth, but with my head up, at least.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, but "attaboy" from your SF friends, even if you don't get it from the boss!

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

So you saw my review then...

It's as if I was there.

You deserve better. Best of luck on your search.

Take a tip from the scarecrow, be outstanding in your field

I once got written up and a raise in the same meeting.

Yes, retirement is as nice as you may think!

It’s what the country has become. Keep the scores lower. Keep the raises smaller. Just went through the same thing. More money for the top levels to split among themselves.

I feel your pain. A couple of 4’s came down to 3 just because they felt that they could this year.

Best of luck in the path that you choose.

The last review of this type that I had, was many years ago. My manager took me to lunch and at the appropriate time he opened a folder and took out my review form.

Top marks in every category. Everything was a 10. Then he told me what my raise was. 1.5%

I looked at him and asked if this was some sort of sick joke. He looked embarrassed and said that's the number that came down from top management (owners of the company).

I said, "If the company doesn't think I'm worth more than that, there's no point sticking around. Do you want me to finish out the day, or should I just leave now?"

He tried to tell me that I shouldn't feel that way. I just pointed out the new cars that each of the four owners was driving, and asked if they would be able to afford these luxury vehicles without the efforts of the troops who were doing the work. "Good luck finding somebody to finish the project on which I have been the lead designer."

We finished lunch and I left, never to return. That was a Wednesday. I took the rest of the week off and started my new job the following Monday.