Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 April 2005 22:23:25
This week I'm doing appraisals for the staff on my project. It's a chance to look in-depth at their work over the last year, how well they've done, praise their performance and suggest improvements where things haven't been so good. I also get chance to recommend people for bonus payments. All quite enjoyable, when you manage as nice a bunch of people as I'm lucky to.
So while I'm at it, I thought I'd do an appraisal for Our Tone, before we all get the chance to in a month's time. He's done substantially less well than most of my staff, and could do with re-grading.
Performance against standards of organisational competence
Customer focus: unwillingness to listen sometimes displayed followed by contrite admissions, which are increasingly unbelievable.
Team working: generally authoritarian but oddly submissive to Gordon (who you do also line manage, remember).
Communication: remember that this involves listening as well as talking. It appears that most communication is an attempt to mask the truth rather than telling it. This only fools people for so long. Did you ever work at Enron?
Influencing: you can influence anyone on a good day (apart from your own backbenchers). If you can influence the G8 on global poverty and climate change, I might be prepared to give you another chance.
Financial awareness: Little chance to show this in your current role, you sensibly just take Gordon's word for it. It's worked so far.
Achieving business objectives: We'll have a look at whether you met the targets set previously next time.
Overall, this is poor performance. You need to trust other people more, both your team members (yes, I accept that this is hard at times, but you did appoint them yourself), and the shareholders. I gather the shareholders are having a meeting soon to decide whether they're going to keep you on or not. Based on this, their vote could be close.