My last review I scored something along the lines of ‘consistently performs as expected’. Great I thought, let’s end this conversation here then. Not so, my line manager wanted to set a development plan so I could move up to ‘consistently performs above what is expected’. Got upset when I asked why I would want to do more than what was expected of me (and what I am paid for)? They couldn’t understand why I would be happy doing what I am doing for the next umpteen years and not want to ‘progress’? Well I have zero stress, can do what little work I have to do blindfolded with one arm tied behind my back and I get paid more than I spend. Why would I?

This is timely for me, currently staring at my own PDR/PDP

Finding it difficult to not be insanely negative. Perhaps I should put down “must work on negativity.. bet tough on negativity, and the causes of negativity”

*thinks* regularly want to machine gun my place of work …must work harder at harmonious relationships with colleagues

This year I have put that my aim/PDP is to “remain happy to be GP for next year, and that my own survival relies on factors above and beyond pushing myself to constantly improve year on year”!

Last time I had a development review from my professional body I crapped out a load of reflective guff onto their website the night before it was due for submission (was based on fact; I didn’t lie). Scored 90% or something.
Sorely tempted for next time to put in an entry reflecting on how I have no faith in such a poorly run assessment process

hmmm, maybe not

Most people claim their top priority is money, but in reality it tends to fall down the list.

I’m always honest: it’s in the top 2. The only other thing I want are new challenges.

But, as a senior manager (in name – pretty sure I’m middle management really) I’d be happy for people to work for me who give a shit but aren’t desperate to climb the ladder. The challenge for me is to give them interesting stuff to do and to act as a filter for the senior management insanity that I have to deal with.

12 years till I retire, not to foul up so badly that I get sacked. Zero chance of a technical promotion, zero desire to go into management (have you tried herding cats) and zero chance to utilise my current skill set properly and apprentices are basically being trained as card changing chimpanzees so my skills are not required, until the ex-apprentices hit a fault that cannot be fixed by a reset or card changed.

Actually 11 years 360 days left….

The `”What do you want from work / my career” question?

1. From work – enjoyment.

2. From career – as much money as I can earn while I still can. See point 1.

Simple.

Anyone says anything else different is lying or clueless … 🙄

What do you want from work / my career?

Just to keep getting away with it before anyone notices really 🙂

Funny thing is in theory I am supposed to have an appraisal every year and do a pdp. I never have in over 30 years. Never once.

Ohh this is good..
I’m approaching yet another PDR, appraisal whatever you want to call them.
Utter utter waste of everyone’s time.
I shall ask them to refer to the last 10 or so appraisals as they’ve wholly failed to help me achieve what I’ve wanted yet I seem to have been forced into things I hate..

Looking forward to it!

Cor blimey I love this time of year. PDR’s are emphatically piss poor at assessing anyone’s actual interest in the role they play within an organisation. I have to set and read 18 of them this year ( last year was 35) then they’re read by my (side) vertical colleague (for balance and appraisal) then comments passed back to me to assess then pass back those “independent” views plus my own.. and record the whole lot.
To be blunt, I can tell what 80% of them will write and know that 100% of that is just generic corporate goo cut n pasted off the previous years PDR. The other 20% range from “engage more with the business” crap to “I need guidance to achieve my goals” as this is a recorded document my team know how to play to the rules all too well.
I reason to them that whilst it’s a painful process, it’s also an opportunity to step back once in a while to have a good hard think about both application to the role and whether you like doing it, or see yourself doing it all again for another year.
We get too involved and too caught up in daily “stuff” to be objective, this is one small way of finding or seeking objectivity.

I’m fairly blunt in mine, if I’m seeking a move or opportunity or oppose a directional shift I’ll happily say so.

I have to do this shite and also inflict it on others, and enjoy neither thing. But, I can’t believe there are many jobs you can just stand still without getting out of date, losing skills, whatever? And if you are doing something that doesn’t engage you don’t you want to move on to something that does? Either means gritting your teeth and doing something about development, maybe even with a plan god help us? If only I wasn’t so **** busy…

So glad I’m self employed.
So much crap is spoken over these appraisals.
Speak your mind and you probably get labeled as ‘not a team player’ ‘lacking ambition’ etc etc.

Surely the correct answer is: “To reduce the amount of bullsh*t in the business” 😉

My appraisal – boss leans across from his desk: “You all right?” “Yep” “OK, back to work”

I go to work for money. Thats it.

It’s a bonus if the people I’m working with aren’t pricks.

As a freelancer, I am usually on a job for 3 months to 6 months so can suffer it if necessary. It’s not always necessary though.

My appraisal – boss leans across from his desk: “You all right?” “Yep” “OK, back to work”

Which is how it worked in the old days. Boss says “he’s a good lad” and you get a bit extra in your pay packet. Trouble today is managers don’t do hands on management they just spend their days in (general “virtual”) meetings with little close contact with their teams. Hence the need for boxes to tick.

Many years ago I got involved in getting the small company I worked for through adoption of QA procedures. We were all a bit dubious but at the end of the day it put in place some excellent improvements in our processes. On the back of that we decided to go for IIP (Investors of People). When properly implemented the PD process which came out of that was indeed aimed at helping staff with their aims. It was their development and it was up to them what they wanted. If they wanted to do the same job for 20 years that was fine.

In recent years my Mantra has been to

A) Do something I like doing. SO even if it’s hard work, it’s not always bad.
B) As long as it pays the bills who cares what the money is.
C) To get to the point where I don’t have to do it 5 days a week

I’ve got A & B, helped by a bit of luck
C is looking likely within the next year or so.

How people work in offices all their lives is beyond me. Yes I have tried it. Not nice.

Work for yourself- its like having a mortgage on a house that you will one day own

Dont work for someone else its like renting a house

Salaries dont make you well off

Pension Funds and Property make you well off (when you are 50+ and knackered they give you options)

I’m increasing flexibility and agility in order to broaden my market offering and I need to up sell private dances in order to optimize my revenue.

Really I want to chug about in an old land Rover mending stuff and that, but given I’m working in corporateshitsville that ain’t happening.

Really I want to chug about in an old land Rover mending stuff and that, but given I’m working in corporateshitsville that ain’t happening.

You are me ? I fly around in shitty old planes fixing shit instead. It pays better. I save the difference ATM.

tjagain – Member
How old are you?

My line is now “to pass on my skills / knowledge / experience before I retire”

POSTED 23 HOURS AGO #

tjagain – Member
Funny thing is in theory I am supposed to have an appraisal every year and do a pdp. I never have in over 30 years. Never once.

POSTED 15 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

?

^^^

i’m starting to think tj and jamabalaya are one and the same jeykll & hyde type character…

I do wonder why companies still bother with them. Been a contractor for the past 10 years or so but wherever I’ve worked they seem to be a demotivating exercise for all concerned. Mainly because the management have pre-determined allocations of grading, no rewards or pay rises to hand out, and it’s mostly used to determine candidates for redundancy. A low point in the year!

Despite having recently gone permie I still have a contractor attitude to it all. When I get bored of this job and want something different, or think I’m worth more, I’ll go find something else to do.

Yes Bikepawl – both are correct. I was told a few months ago I would be having an appraisal. thought about it a bit and then decided that would be my line but the appraisal never happened.

Why are you stalking me?

Why are you stalking me?

It’s your long, flowing, luxuriant hair, unfettered by helmetage.

It’s like catnip for weirdos.

Salaries dont make you well off

Pension Funds and Property make you well off

Umm salaries fund the pension/property/investments.

Umm salaries fund the pension/property/investments.

Unless mummy and daddy does that for you.

I leave mine blank. The company will do what it wants anyway and they don’t like my answers when they call me in for meetings. Last week I was summoned to the global hr boss office to explain why it was blank. Saying all the options on the table look ghastly did not go down too well. Also telling them that the job I do makes limited difference to me but the location and package do.
The most interesting job in the world is still crap overall if it pays nothing and you can’t spend time with family or friends. Different things motivate different people but most corporations want to see a drive for ladder climbing.

To make it to the end of the day/career without being blown up.

Why are you stalking me?

Well, he is a panther. Probably comes naturally.

Aww FFS, just reminded me I’ve an appraisal next Tuesday.

Its going to be a balance of honesty and lies. They need to know a little, but not too much.

Curious thing for me, my previous industry I stuck out for 15 years, the current one is supposed to be the more rewarding, but in reality it really isn’t. It’s just a flippin ball ache and if I left I wouldn’t miss it.

Why are you stalking me?

Well, he is a panther. Probably comes naturally.

🙄

I like this: I go to work for money. Thats it.

Thats it indeed….anything/everything else is a bonus or not, whatever the case may be.

tjagain – Member
Why are you stalking me?

POSTED 3 HOURS AGO #

I’m not, I was just curious. I can if you want though, I’ve got a bit of spare time.;-)

I’m a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I’d like to put more in that jar. That’s where you come in.

Nothing to add apart from my pay rise this year, as a vaguely insignificant public servant, is £566.

Won’t someone think if the children crippling house renovation costs?

Won’t someone think if the children crippling house renovation costs?

“A house? You were lucky”.

A previous manager said “we all work to put a lot of Jan on the table”. That still holds true today, everything else is just garnish.

I dream of £566 – a vaguely insignificant public servant.

I always disliked the side of this that I saw as corporate bullshit but felt there is value in taking time out to look at what you’ve done and what you want to do next or want out of your career. So it was valuable with a good manager and rubbish with a mediocre one.

After about 15 years working for big companies I now run a business with a small number of employees. It’s a family business I didn’t start up but I did introduce a very short and simple appraisal because I want to know the answer to the question, because I want to try to give people what they want out of their jobs and I want to know if they want to move on to do the kind of jobs I want done in the future. It’s not an easy balancing act to get the process right but I like short and simple and I don’t score people. However I do want some structure to make sure the conversation is useful and people are treated fairly. So far I think my team find this refreshing in comparison to not having it and I hope it’ll make their careers more valuable to them.

Had my appraisal recently and this cropped up lol!
It essentially turned into me saying that with rising living costs, failing pound and competition paying more, I’m keeping my eyes open.