Poor performance review resulting in no salary increase.

[mykiddies]

A while back I received a poor performance review. I spoke with the person who performed it asking for examples of why I received a lot of needed improvement. The answers I got were trivial. The review was most definitely critical and unfair. I basically bust my ass doing work for this guy and this is the thanks I got. I was marked down for stupid things like not bringing in documents one at a time when they were done instead bringing them in all at the same time! Only happened a few times. Timekeeping needing addressed when I had been on time for 3 months on the trot etc. etc. I went to line manager to express how unhappy I was with this and she said she would see into it. Not long after redundancies were made. Having been one of the selected for redundancy at the meeting regarding selection criteria etc I referred to my review not being resolved and again she said she would ask about this. Nothing was ever done as redundancy consultations were then ongoing and to be honest I kind of forgot about the review as I was concerned now about whether I had a job or not. Salary increase letters have now been handed out and surprise surprise I did not receive one. Nobody had known if we were getting one or not until now.

I need advice on what I should do now about it.

Are you saying that despite your poor review which you did not formally challenge at the time you were in the frame for redundancy but didn't get made redundant because of the intervention of your line manager?

What is it that you would like to do now?

I did not get made redundant as another person volunteered to go. Redundancies came up after reviews.

If I were you I'd keep my head down and be very relieved I still had a job. It's a shame about the no salary increase, but think about what could have happened if your colleague hadn't volunteered for redundancy. The same sort of thing has happened at my work, and although I've not had a salary review letter yet, I am expecting no increase (and my performance review was 'satisfactory').

I see where you're coming from and I thought the same myself being relieved as I v well could have had no job but considering everyone else got an increase I find that unfair especially since the work I produce is to the same standard.

I think you've missed the boat here. Next time there's a review and you are not happy with the outcome, you should challenge/appeal it formally.

You mean I should have put it in writing instead of verbally raising it. I realise it's now too late and they had no intention of doing anything about it. Could this be the only reason for no increase? Would you ask was the review the reason or just leave it.

I'd join an union pronto - if you're not already a member of one - and start seriously looking for another job. Being a member of a union can really help if you're being unfairly treated at work.

Why do you think the review was so unfairly critical? Does this manager have a problem with you for some reason?

If your manager said she'd look into it, then she should. I certainly wouldn't just forget about it.

The review was unfair because the reasons were very poor excuses. Not viable reasons at all. I no longer work for him as I worked in another team but did his work for him. Now I work specifically for the team I was meant to work for in the first place. He did not like me questioning his opinions so decided to not have me working for him any longer (his opportunity when the other girl left).

Sounds like an appalling boss I knew. She couldn't stand being challenged in any way (when in fact people were just interested in doing a good job - she never got that or valued it). She sacked lots of people on tenuous grounds.

Does the crap boss have any hold over you now? Do you get on well with your new boss? Do you have to deal with him at all? Do you like your job?

Like I said if I was you I'd join a union.

If it was me I'd request a meeting with my boss, and then put what was said into an email so you've got a written record of it.

I think it's now too late. I no longer have anything to do with him anymore and I am so glad, relieved and less stressed out. Obviously my best wasn't good enough. I heard him today trying to explain what he wanted to his new person who said they were confused and then he said like this do you understand in the same patronising way he did to me. The girl before me even told me once I don't know how you stick him. I'm so glad I no longer work for him. So says a lot. I think it all depends on the person who does your review. If I had been doing the same work in the same way for another person I can guarantee I would not have got the same review. There are also girls who are quite friendly with their bosses and some who are bullies whose bosses would actually be scared in giving a less than satisfactory review.

Personally I would ask for a salary review. I did this once when I had a not-great appraisal followed up by a 0% pay rise and they did give me something (1.5% - which sounds OK now but was minimal at that time! The company had announced everyone would get a pay rise, performance was 25% above plan...then I got nothing.)

They may come back and say your review wasn't good enough, but they may also have a bit extra in the pot in case anyone asks. In the current times they are probably trying to get away with the lowest pay rises possible.

I also think you should get a letter whether or not you get a change in salary, it should have been "reviewed" anyway, even if they decided in the end not to change it. It would be reasonable to say "I haven't had my letter, please may I have it".

I worked for a company with flaky HR once and they sent us all letters in the post saying "I would like to congratulate you on your new salary of xx", xx being exactly what I was on before! They could at least have done two different letters for the cases where people did and didn't get raises.

Good luck with it. I truly believe if you ask politely and assertively you have nothing to lose. Asking for a pay rise when most other people got one is not inconsistent with being happy to have a job.

AllarmBelly everyone did receive a letter. It just stated sorry your salary will remain the same if you have any comments to make see xx or xx. I would say the reason was the poor performance review. I believe everyone got the minimum and am not sure if any other people received no increase like myself. Obviously their excuse for not giving me one is my performance was poor (according to my boss at the time).

Sorry what do you mean by asking for a salary review?

I think you deserve an explanation as to why you received a poor performance review, and how you can improve.

You seem convinced that your work is to the same standard as those who received a salary increase, however, it's clear that the decision makers above you don't.

Impress them by asking again about how you can improve, and meet their standards, and do everything you can to make happen what they suggest.

But whwatever you do, don't winge at them! Clearly you haven't impressed them to date, you don't now want to appear arrogant and that you can't take criticism.

Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh. I speak as a CEO - I would always, always offer advice and measurable outcomes expected to a person that came to me askig how they can improve.

However, if someone was vague, whiney or unwilling to take the criticism, I'm afraid i'd probably put them down to being a bit of a winger.

Yes I never did receive an explanation as to why my performance was considered poor but I dont know if its a bit late in the day to be asking that now when it was a month ago. The only thing is the review was done by the person I no longer work for so they would have to go to him again. To be honest the office manager isn't much good. You go to her with any grievances and she just says either i'll find out for you or i'll let you know. There was a bit of contradiction in the review like producing work to a high standard with minimal errors was ok but yet another point similar got a lower rating. It's my fault I didn't push it further and keep going back to her for an answer because redundancies were announced and that threw me off a bit.

At the meeting re redundancies I mentioned that as far as I was concerned my review still needed resolved so how was that going to effect the outcome. She again said I'll find that out. Then voluntary was announced so I had to wait to see if it was accepted so that I was ok and all these redundancy meetings were going on and I couldn't go to her about the review. I suppose after it was all finished I should have went back and said what about the review but I forgot about it. Now i'm working for different people as a result of the redundancy made. Not sure what I should do next.

The thing is, the company should have formal procedures for grievances. This should include writing them down, setting out how they will investigate them.

What they shouldn't do is informally raise grievances, it just annoys, to be honest.

If your poor review was only a month ago, i would chase it up. Perhaps in writing or by email in a calm and measured way. Does the office manager have a manager you could go to if you don't get any satisfaction?

I am not sure who would be above the office manager. The firm runs its grievances v poorly. If you're unhappy about something you just go and have a word with her and she says i'll find out for you/i'll speak to whoever and get back to you. There is also a bullying issue with another member of staff that has also not been dealt with properly. The person voicing the grievance just goes and has a chat and the person has been spoken to but that's it and it still continues. Nothing is ever done formally.

I thought resolving the review issue was too late as salary reviews have already been done.

As a CEO I would always take the position that it's never too late to deal with a grievance, especially if not dealt with by the responsible manager at the time it was raised, and that if a grievance is upheld, and that it was found to be unfair not to give you a raise, a small amount of re-forecasting budgets is not going to break the bank, if it retains the good morale of the team.

However, you are taking the risk that they don't uphold your grievance, and decide that the action taken has been fair, and you will have to live with it.

Sorry kiddies I read your OP as you did not receive a letter, my mistake. I meant you could make out you thought they had forgotten the letter as a lead-in to asking for a pay review.

I agree with hairy that you should ask for an explanation of why the review was poor, and do it in a positive way (I would like to know how to improve etc.) Push it and make sure you get some answers. If they try and fob you off ?well things have changed now, it doesn?t really matter? you can say ?well it does matter because this has affected my pay increase?.

Not sure if when you went to the office manager you were specific about things like the inconsistent marks between the different categories, but if you haven?t done this yet I would do it. You need to make it easy for the manager to reply by email about specific questions, whether they are going to reply to you or to the office manager.

IME a month after a performance review isn?t that long. It takes my manager about 2 months to write up the appraisal form after the meeting. I don?t think you have missed the boat. I also agree with hairy that morale is important - particularly after a round of redundancies. It's a problem for many cos that after the redundancy round more employees leave because they are fed up, just when the company wants to make things feel stable and positive.

Ok so if I go in tomorrow to the office manager I am just gonna say I need to speak to you firstly about my poor performance review which I raised with you on 2 occasions and I still have received no feedback. Do I then say also I did not receive a pay rise and I need to know if my poor review was the reason for this or do I not mention I didn't get a pay rise and see if this is what she comes back with?

I would go in and ask if you could please have half an hour of her time to discuss an issue that is bothering you.

Then, when she/he has given you the time, approach it like this.

'I raised some issues about my poor performance review a couple of times, but unfortunately I haven't yet had any feedback. I would really like to know more about why I was marked as I was, so that I can improve my performance for the future. I'd also like to know if this is the reason why I did not receive a salary increase'. Would it be possible to set a time for you to go through the performance review with me so that I can understand the reasons I was marked as I was'.

If she says the salary review was not as a result of the poor performance review, then ask what the reason was.

ask if you could also set a timescale for improvement, and have it set out clearly what and how they expect you to improve, in writing if possible.

Don't go in with the attitude 'I need to speak to you about xxx' it sounds a bit confrontational.

That sounds good I'll do that then. Thanks for your advice.

Very best of luck mykiddies