First appraisal at work and marked not so good

[failedbluecup]

Only been at the job a few months and nothing really of concern raised.

However I got rated 2/5. At the time I agreed... but that's not a negative right?

Hardly any information to go on. 2/5 for what? What are you being marked against? Who did your appraisal? What did they say? What is it that you agreed to? Have you been feeling out of your depth? Your post doesn't really give much if anything to determine if yabu or not.

Apologies I should have written it correctly.

The comments section was good - just the score is bad. But that's expected in the early stage?

It depends are they rating you compared.to long term members of staff performance wise or as a new member of staff? What's the benchmark

To be fair doesn't sound that great. Certainly room for improvement. What have they said?

Hi written comments are "good start to the role.... you will do well".

So I'm being unreasonable.

I don't think we can say based on that to be honest. Is this where they expect you to be at this point? Did they raise any concerns? Have they told you what they want you to improve on?

Are you sure it's not 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is the best?

Did they give you any indication of what the scores mean for example

1- not meeting goals
2 - working towards
3 - meeting
4 - exceeding
5 - excelling

It doesn’t appear to make sense. They say you are doing well, but you have a 2/5 for effectiveness? Even a few months in, that seems low.

Ask for an explanation.

Unless it’s a score 1 to 5, with 1 being top - in which case a 2 is fine. But still, get an explanation of how it works.

"Working to expected standards".

It's a bit like 1-5 you are doing ok, no concerns. But if you are working very well I'll give you a 5.

1 is not meeting standards.

In my organisation, we also have a scale with 5 points.
5 = exceptional
4 = exceeds expectations
3 = meets expectations
2 = meets expectations in some areas/working towards required standard
1= does not meet expectations (requires performance management)

For someone a few months into a new role it wouldn't be surprising to get a 2, because it's too soon to be up to speed with all aspects of the job. Most times the person will get a 3 the following year and after that may even get a 4 if they are doing really well.

From the written comments, it sounds like that would apply in your case (?)

In my last company you were marked every year on the following basis:

1. Not Meeting Expectations (likely to result in disciplinary)
2. Partially meeting Expectations (this is where I would expect a new starter to be)
3. Meeting Expectations (you are doing the job well)
4. Exceeding Expectations (you were going way above and beyond)
5. Excelling (as far as I could tell you needed to save a baby from a burning building to get this)

If it's a similar system I'd say you're doing fine!

You need to ask work .

people online can only guess but it doesn’t sound great tbh

Our version of 2 is "partially meeting expectations or developing". I've rated people 2 if they have just started and it's too soon to tell how they will perform. If the emphasis was on the development side then I would say it's ok.

I'm private sector, but we'd only give a 2 if there were performance issues, irrespective of how long they've been in the job. Weird to say "you've only been here a while so not sure you're doing the job properly". Unless there's a forced distribution of ratings and they've let newbies take one for the team. Still a bit odd IMO. Everywhere's different I suppose.

Perhaps they don’t give out higher marks to start with, otherwise you’ve got nothing to work towards. If the comments were good, then I’d just carry on.

Hi written comments are "good start to the role.... you will do well"

Well that sounds like they see potential and that you have begun well.
Probably the 2 means you aren't fully up to speed yet and they probably aren't expecting you to be at this point.
Maybe you should ask for clarification.

Thanks. Yes it's the same wording so I'm not giving away my company.

A 2 in my company would be normal for new starters as you haven’t had a year of goals or performance yet. Every new starter I’m aware of has been given a 2 if appraisal falls within the first 6 months, and in most cases within the first year.

I’m only guessing though as don’t know your company - you will have to ask what their ratings equate to

Sounds about right,