to think you can't come back from a bad performance review?

[Figamol]

Short version, 1st annual review at very male global company. I have a very demanding frequently unreasonable big boss but who has always complimented my work although does get irritated at processes and timings that are out of my control. But I always take the blame as he never wanted to listen to why and it never seemed a big deal.

My line managers always shrug off his behaviour as his usual difficult self and I never had any indication that anything was up. In fact the opposite - the end result of my work has been of a high standard that has always made him look good and he is not good at compliments but has sometimes said so. And I often have to complete work in a telepathic manner as he never gives any input directly - it always comes through my line manger.

I get a lot of compliments from the wider company and would have great feedback from any other stakeholder in the business.

Roll on December I made a mistake that he blew a top about, but it had no financial or legal impact, more one on his ego. I apologised and he accepted. Unfortunately it was the same week as our performance reviews started.

This week I got my two scores. The one for goals being the lowest you can get and the one for behaviour a good mark. I had 12 goals and 9 of them I met or exceeded expectations. 3 of them I got the lowest mark.You would imagine I would get a score on the average. But no - I got the lowest mark you can get with feedback from the top basically saying I don't understand my bosses style. I do, its volatile ;) And also the reasons my mark was so low don't correspond to my goals in any way.

Its all very contradictory and thoroughly confusing.

The lowest mark means no bonus and you're effectively on your way out. I have some pride and the self esteem is taking a big knock. The worst case scenario I can cope with - its not an industry I want to be in.

Trouble is I havent been put on a performance plan, its clear Im not fired (yet).And he also put me forward for a visible project on behalf of the region.

Are they sending a sign to look for something else? Or are they using cynical tactics to distribute their rankings and avoid paying a bonus.

I don't understand big company culture and could really do with some advice here.

In the short term I need to stay - it would put us in big difficulty without my salary. Could I up my game and fight to stay? Maybe, I can definitely hold the mirror up and find some ways to improve, but he has the character of someone that you can never please and who holds small mistakes against you. Would it be worth the effort knowing that I could wipe it out with a few spelling mistakes one day? Do I pull up my line managers on how it got to this point? Surely a score like that shouldn't come as such a surprise, as it did? How come I thought things were going ok and was seemingly so far off the mark?

Happy to hear what anyone else would do in my shoes. Im off sick for two days with the flu (nice timing) and genuinely don't know how to handle the next meeting with my line manger :(

I made a big mistake at work a few years ago and got an awful annual review. A bit like you it was one mistake and everything else was great but they still gave me the lowest mark out of badness. I’ve come back from it, I’ve been promoted twice since the incident and it’s all forgotten. I suggest you consider a few options:
Do you jave the ability to appeal your review?
Can you get monthly feedback for the interim period which is documented and minuted so any issues are identified quickly and can be discussed
Can you ask for a different reviewer next year

Stressful situation. In my experience once the ego takes a dent it's time to leave. I've almost left in the past when I got "meeting expectations" feedback when I felt I had gone above and beyond. In your case it doesn't seem like feeding back that you are most unhappy about your review would be of any benefit ? If you go down that route I think you have to be prepared to leave.

*MotherOfDragons90

Do they rank you on a bell curve? (Forced distribution)

My company does this, essentially ranking employees from best to worst and the bottom x% get a performance improvement required mark and no bonus or pay rise.

Problem is, the majority perform at least satisfactorily (and are told so by managers throught the year) so it always causes upset come year end when someone HAS to be bottom.

Maybe your mistakes make you an easy target?*

THIS is the case on my company. These systems are brought over from companies who want a high ‘churn’ and fit badly in companies are broadly hardworking intelligent people especially when they have run for years and poor performers have already been taken from the pool.

My experience is this:

1. To meet the distribution, it is perfectly possibly for an individual to have met all their targets and be ranked bottom
2. There can be a mismatch between what an individual has achieved and the language or label given to the bottom ranked eg ‘needs improvement’ can be a label for a lower rank score when the lower ranked have all met all targets
3. In an evaluation situation with all targets met across a group managers will look for a hook to hang a hat on as they say. Sounds like the feedback from this man has provided a reason to differentiate between you and others
4. You are new. This may be a reason in itself for those calibrating you against others to bottom place you based on needing more experience. Annoying but on the flip side the conversation with your line manager can be around being skilled to needing to hone how you land your contribution in an environment you are not familiar with.

These schemes are rubbish and adversely effect people’s wellbeing. It’s game play that distracts from the real work and reduces manager responsibility for recruiting well in the first instance and managing poor performance as and when it occurs. Don’t panic. You can get over this though I feel for you

Damn phone isn’t letting me preview.
Apologies for typos and mistakes. Hope you could make general sense of the post. Feel free to bottom rank me and label ‘moderate contribution’

I had this one year. Huge corporate. Laddered ranking. One mistake....close to ranking... unfortunately it upset someone personally (which I regret). I was so mad as people in my team who didn't work hard and caused delays to the project were ranked higher. This actually impacted on my promotion which I didn't get. I was able to move to a new project with a new manager and next ranking I was top. I had to suck up a lot. Work with the system...tell your manager you want to improve. Ask for regular feedback. And at appraisal time you need to produce evidence for every point you are marked on....do not expect your bosses to know what you do. If this job works for you due to hours and salary then suck it up. And if, at a later stage you find something else you want to do then you can apply. Sorry also make sure you understand the criteria too....evidence of challenge might not mean questioning decisions your bosses have made.....good luck.