On a scale of 1 to 5, how do you rank...?

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: sraven

Personally, if you give me less than top marks, I'll give you my two weeks notice. I wrote it the day you asked me to evaluate myself. I simply do not want to deal with the drama . . . that is all it is . . . manufactured drama designed to hire some liberal arts college grad that does nothing and gets paid more than I do for doing it.

Well, unless you agree that (3) "meets expectations" is top marks then you'd probably not be employed long, by your own hand. I don't ask that you (5) "Consistently exceed expectations" across the board, and if you do you're probably in the wrong job classification. And, in this organization you would immediately fall into the "Peter Principle", where you will be promoted until you fail, and you will. Someone will see to it. I do, however, demand that you do your job, to 'meet expectations', because people's lives depend on it.

I guess it's a matter of perspective.

Getting promoted until you fail is not a bad thing. Everyone should strive to do that.

I judge my managerial skill on the number of people I was able to mentor and get promoted.
And more than a few were promoted to levels above me and deserved it.
Three of which became my future managers.

But that had little to do with a performance eval and more to do with identifying talent and training.

originally posted by: TheMirrorSelf
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I go to 11...

I'd score myself all zeros, just to see if anyone was paying attention.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
As I told Augustus. I'm just glad it's you and not me any more. It's why I work for myself. I make less money these days, but I don't have to deal with hiring, firing, employees, or HR. I am HR.

BTW, you are correct in how you handle the review process. It makes life a little easier until you get a bozo who doesn't "get it".

Hey mama, love ya stories!

You rock!

For that I also give you 5’s.

Yes, absolutely! FIVES!!!!! 😎



a reply to: mamabeth

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: TheMirrorSelf

**grin** Nope, sorry...you go to 3.

Yes, but 11 is mooore, you see.

I actually do have something 'real' to weigh in on your thread. I was an Army Officer back in the Civil War (ok, a little after that, but still, quite a while ago). So that world is actually quite competitive, because everyone is trying to get promoted "below the zone". So there are certain promotions that happen on schedule. All 2d LTs get promoted to 1LT at the same time, pretty much also true from 1LT to CPT. But, at that point they introduce a divergence. Some people will get promoted to Major before their peers in that same year group. That means they'll make LT Colonel faster and so on (save for that they screw up along the way...it happens). So you can have 2 people who graduated from say West Point in the same class, serve 30 years, and one will get out as a 4 star general, and the other a colonel. That all starts with your rating form called an OER (Officer Evaluation Report). Like your reports, there are only 5 blocks that your commander can rate you as. But! That same commander only has so many of the best blocks that he/she can issue, so getting a 'top block' is a big deal, because that's going to put you in the category of those who might get promoted below the zone. It can make or break the future of your career (if your ambition is rank, that is).

One more quick thing just because both me and my doctor found this to be sooo stupid. I was recently in UCLA Medical Center for a week. As an aside, hands down the best medical care EVER!! The main doc that would come and see me was a younger guy and he would have to ask me some standard questions that always began, on a scale of 1 to 7. We would both just start laughing. 1 to 7. Arbitrary much??

a reply to: TheMirrorSelf

I just had to go through months of physical therapy. Every two weeks they gave me this evaluation form, same for the surgeon's office, and it asked a series of questions...

"On a scale of 1 to 10 how painful is it when you (insert movement / action)? (1 being no pain at all, and 10 being the worst pain you can possibly imagine)?"

That process made me almost as crazy as the review process in the OP. How the hell could I know what the..."worst pain I could possibly imagine" was?!?!?!

Was that like being lit completely on fire, or eaten alive by Amazon piranha's, or going feet first through a wood chipper...what? Or was it like getting my nuts repeatedly smashed with a meat tenderizer, or waking up with my arm trapped under Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper engaged in some twisted psycho mating ritual...with clowns? (oh wait, that's the same thing!)

Even better, what was a 9, one notch less than that? Or, even two notches??

So, I chose a 5. Soon they always asked why I always said 5. I guess I mumbled something about Anderson Cooper, wanting to be engulfed in flames and a wood chipper. They said maybe I should pick 7 instead. What the hell is a 7?? I guess that must be somewhere between getting shot and getting stabbed, I dunno.

I chose my trusty old "3". Life returned to normal.

Seems to work for about everything!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Holy poop...that was freakin' funny. You had me laugh out loud laughing just now...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Oh my, I know the dread you write about. You have to tell them your worst pain. Like "I once broke a leg and that was to most pain I ever felt, judging by this, this is a 9" sort of thing.

i was just as fed up as you and I was a little dumbfounded when the doc said "If you tell us your worst pain we can relate better to your number". Because I told them the same, how can I know, and how can they decide on it. And it clicked.

The question is same worded in my country "On a scale 1-10, what is your current pain level, while 10 is the highest you can imagine". I am not sure if it asked like this by intention. It may be more geared towards your mental perception about pain in general.

Like, if they stab you with a little needle and you tell them that was a 6, well they might exchange looks and check the box that says like, if it exists "Littly crybaby".

Do not understand me wrong, this post is not in answer to your pain rating. I had these thoughts a while ago when I was in rehabilitation for my back injuries from long ago. I prevented certain moves to not feel pain but it made it worse elsewhere after time. Literally translated "relieving posture pain".

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Glad I'm a Journeyman.

Our work speaks for itself, you can stand back and look at it at the end of the day.

Our rule of thumb is "You're only as good as your last job, and, you're always as bad as your worst job".

Reputation.

No need for Senior Managers OR Human Resources.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Exactly! That's the other thing too...your position changes the pain level.

Question: "On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being no pain at all, and 10 being the worst pain you can possibly imagine), how painful is it for you to wash your back (or undo your bra)?"

(real question BTW)

Answer: "Well, first of all, I'm not even going to attempt to do that, because if I do I will probably start hurting people and busting sh## with my good arm!! I can't even move my arm enough to even scratch my nose, and you want me to try to wash my back??? What, are you crazy???? Oh, and regarding undoing my bra...that phase was over for me a long, long, time ago!"

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Lol. My answer was like "oh, that's easy to find out, imagine being cut open without anesthesia that's the 10 in my range and we're talking about a 5-6 now, constantly. And keep the drugs for yourself I don't want them, I want this splinter out of my back because I am sick and tired of taking painkillers".

A month later I got surgery.

(lol about your answer to them, not about your pain)

a reply to: MykeNukem

I started out in the trades myself. Excellent way to learn, develop great work ethics and a strong moral foundation.

Spent many years doing trade work in construction. In fact, most of the experience I draw upon is from my time working in trades, not college. Common sense is a large part of that.

Only time I really draw on my college experience is when we get into very complex math and scientific principles. Of course, I went to college back when you could still actually "learn" something...something other than hate, disrespect and self-loathing.

ETA - Oh, and I forgot...revisionist history too.

i always undersold myself, a combimation of shyness, cultural ennui and classic british reticence.

i'd score myself 2 on a good day.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: MykeNukem

I started out in the trades myself. Excellent way to learn, develop great work ethics and a strong moral foundation.

Spent many years doing trade work in construction. In fact, most of the experience I draw upon is from my time working in trades, not college. Common sense is a large part of that.

Only time I really draw on my college experience is when we get into very complex math and scientific principles. Of course, I went to college back when you could still actually "learn" something...something other than hate, disrespect and self-loathing.

ETA - Oh, and I forgot...revisionist history too.

Yea, I did it backwards I guess.

I went to college first and worked Corporate IT for a few years then moved on to the family trade.

I respect Managers with credibility, that have been there and done that.

I'll give us a 3 as per the expectation.

a reply to: MykeNukem

I'll give us a 3 as per the expectation.

You "get" it!

**nod**